This is great. I struggle with coming up with ideas for my posts, especially when I realize that something has been written already that is similar to my thought.
Even if someone else has written something, you can still write it in your voice, from your perspective. Unless you are blatantly plagiarizing, you'll come up with your own spin on an idea. You can also try a different spin on it. Maybe a different format, or a more specific direction. For example, earlier I was looking up how to do some things with forms in React, and I saw at least four different coding styles, patterns, and libraries used.
Something else to consider is that once you write something, even if someone else wrote it, it's part of your body of work now. Well-written and thought articles can be just as valuable as a good portfolio piece.
Great advice! Another small thing I would add is that even if someone has written about your topic before, things change a lot in tech. I know when I'm looking for a resource on something I definitely favor newer resources/articles over something more dated. (Pretty sure Google does, too. Generally speaking.)
This may not hold up as well for posts that are less technical, but in those cases Glenn pointed out a myriad of reasons to do it anyway. Go forth and write!
This is true. Writing about the latest technologies can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's novel and useful. On the other hand, that means what you write also runs the risk of becoming out-of-date. Which isn't the end of the world. Plenty of people work on out-of-date stacks and legacy software, and still need help with older technologies.
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This is great. I struggle with coming up with ideas for my posts, especially when I realize that something has been written already that is similar to my thought.
How do you combat that?
Short answer: write it anyway.
Longer answer:
Even if someone else has written something, you can still write it in your voice, from your perspective. Unless you are blatantly plagiarizing, you'll come up with your own spin on an idea. You can also try a different spin on it. Maybe a different format, or a more specific direction. For example, earlier I was looking up how to do some things with forms in React, and I saw at least four different coding styles, patterns, and libraries used.
Something else to consider is that once you write something, even if someone else wrote it, it's part of your body of work now. Well-written and thought articles can be just as valuable as a good portfolio piece.
Great advice! Another small thing I would add is that even if someone has written about your topic before, things change a lot in tech. I know when I'm looking for a resource on something I definitely favor newer resources/articles over something more dated. (Pretty sure Google does, too. Generally speaking.)
This may not hold up as well for posts that are less technical, but in those cases Glenn pointed out a myriad of reasons to do it anyway. Go forth and write!
This is true. Writing about the latest technologies can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's novel and useful. On the other hand, that means what you write also runs the risk of becoming out-of-date. Which isn't the end of the world. Plenty of people work on out-of-date stacks and legacy software, and still need help with older technologies.