Write consistently (ie, set a publishing schedule)
I think this is very counterproductive. Nobody will constantly have something of value to say, and forcing it will sooner or later lead to generating content for the sake of content.
I think there's a lot of value in knowing when to speak and when to stay quiet, and this applies just as much to writing. Knowing what topics are worth writing on and which aren't is essential to building a reputation of quality over quantity.
I definitely agree on this point. I wouldn't encourage someone to write to simply write - I think that got misinterpreted. My apologizes. But building better writing skills, like any other skill, requires dedication and practice. This doesn't mean one has to do it every day or every week, but if they would like every once in a while. Practicing always helps.
Use correct titles (not click-baits) and deliver on your topics
Absolutely not. Use correct titles, but do make them click-baity. The most amazing post can fail to gain any attention if the title doesn't manage to show off how exciting the topic is. What matters is quality. Avoiding inflationary use of words and expressions like "AMAZING" or "WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE" (in all caps, of course) in favour of more subtle techniques (like relating the topic of the article to the reader à la "How XXX can help you with YYY") will make a title "seem" a lot less click-baity, while still drawing in much more attention than something dry like "An analysis of XXX".
Delivering on the topics is, of course, a must. But not lying to the reader should be obvious without anybody pointing it out :D
Recovering interrupter with occasional relapses, lover of spreadsheets, blogger, programmer, adept debugger, conjurer of analogies, and probably other things.
I fully agree, if it's a personal diary and not polluting the web and search results that end up returning the same paraphrased stuff in abundance to wade through to find information 😉
Recovering interrupter with occasional relapses, lover of spreadsheets, blogger, programmer, adept debugger, conjurer of analogies, and probably other things.
How is that gate keeping? Fire better or for worse, there is no gate to keep. And even if there were, what part of expressing a preference suggests a desire to spend time and energy keeping the gate (moderating the web)?
Bottom line is though, any published writing should indeed ideally be a service to others. Therein lies one of the primary (desirable) features if you will of publication. In its absence it is often termed (disparagingly) as vanity publishing. Which is a modern phenomenon with us as the cost of publication came down.
If you are content with the freedom of vanity publishing, then I guess you have also to live with public criticism of it. Two sides of one coin.
By which measure of course you are entitled not to like the criticism too and to express that as well.
Just clarifying that gate keeping has no role to play here. Or better said, if it does then it applies equally to your criticism as to mine and to everyone's... which makes it, to my mind, a useless term.
I would reserve it for genuine situations of exclusion or conditional inclusion. Ironically while neither of these featured in my earlier comments I am a fan of them too... but that is a whole other (longer) story, and if you like I may craft an article on it some time.
Recovering interrupter with occasional relapses, lover of spreadsheets, blogger, programmer, adept debugger, conjurer of analogies, and probably other things.
The gatekeeping is specifically in reference to the value judgement of the word "polluting". I read that word as a passive gate, one that might be read as a subtle discouragement of writing.
I write because I enjoy it. I write blog posts because I enjoy it. I publish that blog because I enjoy it. A happy by product is that some of those posts others might find useful.
Sure, and I encourage you. But if all you are doing is rehashing the same stuff Google already shows without any significant value add, then polluting it is). Personally I don't imagine any dev doing that... unless they are pinned to a publication schedule or rewarded for same. Then I fear, and in fact see, the by products of that endless drive to publish.
Sure. As long as we distinguish, as I have (indirectly) noted above) between writing and publishing. Write when there's something you want to write. YES! Do it! Brilliant idea.
Publish when you feel you've written something that adds value to the community, that will help someone else, that will have an appreciative reader or readers. Equally brilliant idea!
I agree strongly with one aspect of what you are saying but offer a counter to it as well. Writing consistently is very important to being a good writer but knowing when to publish and only doing so when you have content worth publishing is the key.
It is important to keep yourself writing on a schedule but feeling compelled to publish everything you write or feeling like you always need to generate 'content' doesn't help anyone. As you say it causes the writer to focus on quantity over quality thus losing much of the personal value of writing and, for lack of a better word, pollutes you output with lower quality content thus losing the 'social' or 'branding' value of writing.
For someone intending to make writing into their profession, this is probably true, but for your average developer, it's probably more than enough to simply write whenever there is something worthwhile to write about.
Just an article or two is already a good bit of effort, and if it's about a topic that can't be googled in 5 minutes, there will probably be a good bit of writing, deleting and re-writing involved.
Combine that with other writing tasks that just come with the field, like writing documentation, and you'll already be doing a solid amount of writing practice, certainly more than many other professions.
Recovering interrupter with occasional relapses, lover of spreadsheets, blogger, programmer, adept debugger, conjurer of analogies, and probably other things.
I think to Art & Fear: The ceramics class and quantity before quality; in which the professor split the class: half would be graded on quantity of output, the other half graded by one single piece (e.g. quality). The end result, those who focused on quantity had the best quality.
Quantity. Hammer away at the thing you want to get good at. Not to the point of grooving an easy path or just mailing it in. You need to challenge yourself routinely with hard things, by stretching your skills. But the more you do, the better you’ll be.
If you are writing for "branding" or "social" value, write all the more. You can't know what will "catch". Put it out there as a song sung into the wind. You may find someone echoing and responding in song or verse.
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I think this is very counterproductive. Nobody will constantly have something of value to say, and forcing it will sooner or later lead to generating content for the sake of content.
I think there's a lot of value in knowing when to speak and when to stay quiet, and this applies just as much to writing. Knowing what topics are worth writing on and which aren't is essential to building a reputation of quality over quantity.
I definitely agree on this point. I wouldn't encourage someone to write to simply write - I think that got misinterpreted. My apologizes. But building better writing skills, like any other skill, requires dedication and practice. This doesn't mean one has to do it every day or every week, but if they would like every once in a while. Practicing always helps.
Also:
Absolutely not. Use correct titles, but do make them click-baity. The most amazing post can fail to gain any attention if the title doesn't manage to show off how exciting the topic is. What matters is quality. Avoiding inflationary use of words and expressions like "AMAZING" or "WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE" (in all caps, of course) in favour of more subtle techniques (like relating the topic of the article to the reader à la "How XXX can help you with YYY") will make a title "seem" a lot less click-baity, while still drawing in much more attention than something dry like "An analysis of XXX".
Delivering on the topics is, of course, a must. But not lying to the reader should be obvious without anybody pointing it out :D
Precisely the problem with today's blogging culture. Endless trash being written and rewritten and copied and paraphrased.
Write when you feel you have value to add to the community.
I offer a refinement:
Your writing need not serve anyone else.
I fully agree, if it's a personal diary and not polluting the web and search results that end up returning the same paraphrased stuff in abundance to wade through to find information 😉
Not a fan of the gatekeeping phrasing of "if it's a personal diary and not polluting the web"
How is that gate keeping? Fire better or for worse, there is no gate to keep. And even if there were, what part of expressing a preference suggests a desire to spend time and energy keeping the gate (moderating the web)?
Bottom line is though, any published writing should indeed ideally be a service to others. Therein lies one of the primary (desirable) features if you will of publication. In its absence it is often termed (disparagingly) as vanity publishing. Which is a modern phenomenon with us as the cost of publication came down.
If you are content with the freedom of vanity publishing, then I guess you have also to live with public criticism of it. Two sides of one coin.
By which measure of course you are entitled not to like the criticism too and to express that as well.
Just clarifying that gate keeping has no role to play here. Or better said, if it does then it applies equally to your criticism as to mine and to everyone's... which makes it, to my mind, a useless term.
I would reserve it for genuine situations of exclusion or conditional inclusion. Ironically while neither of these featured in my earlier comments I am a fan of them too... but that is a whole other (longer) story, and if you like I may craft an article on it some time.
The gatekeeping is specifically in reference to the value judgement of the word "polluting". I read that word as a passive gate, one that might be read as a subtle discouragement of writing.
I write because I enjoy it. I write blog posts because I enjoy it. I publish that blog because I enjoy it. A happy by product is that some of those posts others might find useful.
Sure, and I encourage you. But if all you are doing is rehashing the same stuff Google already shows without any significant value add, then polluting it is). Personally I don't imagine any dev doing that... unless they are pinned to a publication schedule or rewarded for same. Then I fear, and in fact see, the by products of that endless drive to publish.
But most people will usually want to write when they feel like they have something to say.
I'd say a better rule would be
Sure. As long as we distinguish, as I have (indirectly) noted above) between writing and publishing. Write when there's something you want to write. YES! Do it! Brilliant idea.
Publish when you feel you've written something that adds value to the community, that will help someone else, that will have an appreciative reader or readers. Equally brilliant idea!
I agree strongly with one aspect of what you are saying but offer a counter to it as well. Writing consistently is very important to being a good writer but knowing when to publish and only doing so when you have content worth publishing is the key.
It is important to keep yourself writing on a schedule but feeling compelled to publish everything you write or feeling like you always need to generate 'content' doesn't help anyone. As you say it causes the writer to focus on quantity over quality thus losing much of the personal value of writing and, for lack of a better word, pollutes you output with lower quality content thus losing the 'social' or 'branding' value of writing.
For someone intending to make writing into their profession, this is probably true, but for your average developer, it's probably more than enough to simply write whenever there is something worthwhile to write about.
Just an article or two is already a good bit of effort, and if it's about a topic that can't be googled in 5 minutes, there will probably be a good bit of writing, deleting and re-writing involved.
Combine that with other writing tasks that just come with the field, like writing documentation, and you'll already be doing a solid amount of writing practice, certainly more than many other professions.
I think to Art & Fear: The ceramics class and quantity before quality; in which the professor split the class: half would be graded on quantity of output, the other half graded by one single piece (e.g. quality). The end result, those who focused on quantity had the best quality.
If you are writing for "branding" or "social" value, write all the more. You can't know what will "catch". Put it out there as a song sung into the wind. You may find someone echoing and responding in song or verse.