Why Write a Dev Log?

I have rarely ever kept a diary, although I know that it would be good for me. So why don't I do it? I guess I am not keen to write something each day, just for myself, if no one else is going to read it.

I also know that when I am working on a project, or learning something new, it would be a good idea to write and publish a dev log from the very beginning.

I realized this while reading about the video game Gunpoint. To my mind, Gunpoint was successful largely because the developer blogged about it starting very early on. He grew a community around the blog, and received feedback every step of the way. Many people contributed and helped him to improve his game, and I guess that most of his fans bought a copy when the game was finished!

It seems to me that blogging from the beginning is the single biggest factor, that can help a project such as an indie game to be successful. Even if the game turns out to be a flop, the blog itself might have value. Even so, I have not been able to write a substantial regular blog by myself. I have tried before, but I didn't keep it up.

This time is different.

My kids want to make a computer game, which sounds good to me; and I want them to learn some programming. Based on my own experience, creative programming is fun, it's good for the brains, and it can help children to learn and apply many topics in mathematics, well before they are covered at school. So I am teaching my kids how to program, we are learning to make games, and we are blogging about it as we go along.

I think that blogging can help us in many ways:

• When we explain something to others, it helps us to learn.
• We do better work when we are going to show it to people.
• As we practise writing, we are learning to think clearly.
• Writing is a very useful skill to develop in itself.
• When we forget something, we can go back and revise it.
• Other people may enjoy reading our posts.
• Other people might learn something from reading our posts.
• Other people can comment and might teach us something.
• Feedback from our readers can guide us in a good direction.
• Some people might join in and help us with the project.
• We can make friends, and maybe build a little community.
• One day we might turn our blog posts into a book.

Do you agree that it is useful to write a dev log?

Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

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Contents: Game Dev From Scratch