After a two month “blogging dry spell” it might be a little ironic that now is when I decide to write a blogpost about blogging. But I’d like to get back into the habit of writing regularly, and I think you should consider it too! In this blogpost I will explain why.
After a decade as a front-end developer I finally started a developer/tech-blog in february 2021. Why now? Why not 5 years ago, or 10 years ago? The short answer is “imposter syndrome”. I felt like everything was written before and/or I didn’t know enough about a subject to blog about it. None of these are good reasons for not blogging.
1. You have a unique point of view
It does not matter if you have worked as a developer for years, or if you are just starting out. Your point of view are unique. Your ways of explaining something is unique, and even though there are hundreds of blogposts about a subject your blogpost might be the one that will help someone else.
In my experience I can read multiple different blogposts about exactly the same topic, and only one of them makes sense to me. Thats why I decided to add my voice to the mix – and thats why there are always room for more bloggers!
2. We wan’t to learn from someone at our own level – or just one step above
Have you ever read a blogpost and thought “I feel like there is something secret written between the lines, and I don’t know what it is”. This can typically be a problem when an expert tries to write something for beginners. The expert have forgotten what it was like when they just started out, and take a lot of knowledge for granted – and without even thinking about it they leave it out of their explanations.
Thats why you should write about stuff as you’re learning them, or right after. When you still remember all the questions you had, and what type of challanges you met.
3. You get a deeper understanding of the subject
The process around writing a blogpost will give you a better understanding of a subject. And probably about some related subjects too.
For most of my blogposts I try to find some good resources that the reader can benefit from – and that means I have to locate and read those resources myselfe to make sure they are relevant. If I was not blogging I probably would not read as many other blogs either – and I would miss out on the knowledge other people share.
Writing things down also helps you to remember it better. And it gives you an reference you can go back to later. Like my github cheat sheet I use (and update) regularly.
4. You help others avoid the issues you have encountered
At some point in your developer journy you have probably encountered an issue that you have trouble finding good resources on. You know, when you actually go to page 2 on google out of desperation “Someone must have solved this before!?”. And after hours (days/weeks) you are finally able to fit together small pieces of information from multiple sources – and find the solution to your issue.
The next time this happens you should write about the issue – and the solution – so the next person that is googling it doesn’t need to spend as much time on it! Sharing is caring!
5. It can give you opertunities
A lot of developers have portfolios to showcase what they can do. But if you don’t have time to create multiple portfolio projects a blog is a great way to showcase your knowledge, and highlight what you’re most interested in.
A blogpost can also be a great outline to a conference talk, or even a workshop. You can use it as a baseline if you are sending in a call for papers, or creating an online course.
6. You can earn some money
This is not one of my reasons, and it is not a goal for me right now. But that does not mean that it can’t be one of yours. Lots of people make money of their content, here are some great resources you can look into:
- “How I made $80,000 on side projects in 2020” – Emma Bostian, compiled.blog
- “5 ways developers can make money through blogging” – Edidiong Asikpo
Maybe one day I’ll take this blog ‘to the next level’ and monitize it, but for now I’m happy with keeping it simple and don’t overthink this blogging thing. 🙂
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Also, if you have any feedback or questions, please let me know in the comments below. 🙂
Thank you for reading, and happy coding!
/Eli
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