Blog-is-fear
The blogosphere is intimidating. Build confidence through practice.
Note: I originally shared this on LinkedIn as an adhoc New Years 2023 post. I thought it was an important enough message to share in its own blog.
You don’t have the time not to write
Many folks have told me over the years they would like to blog but don’t have the time, or don’t know what to blog about. My usual response… Just do it.
No one has the time. Folks who seem to have the time are merely prioritizing their time differently.
Not knowing what to blog about is a confidence problem. Everyone has something to write about. No one wants to write something that isn’t high quality or isn’t well liked. There is a natural fear of public embarrassment. The first blog you write will not be great and probably will not be well liked. It will also probably not get many reads. Set your expectations low and get ready to practice. Find a friend or two to read your first blog before posting if you’re worried. If you’re worried about your employer, then read your social media policy and/or talk to your manager first. The confidence problem is feeding the perceived time problem because folks think that it will take a long time to find a topic, or a long time to write about something that is great, or to get approval if necessary from their employer. This is a cycle of despair. Break the cycle by doing something.
Compared to most developers, I write a lot. I published 34 blogs on Medium in 2022. I have always written a lot, just not publicly until five years ago. I wrote a lot of poetry in high school. Some of it was decent enough to get published. I submitted a lot of the poetry I wrote to my high school literary magazine. I was the top contributor for three years in a row. I was definitely not the best writer. I just submitted the most writing. The practice, and candid feedback I received helped me to become a better writer. I’ve published some of my high school poetry on my Medium blog. I’m terrified sharing poetry from my teenage years. That is why I share it. It’s good to do things that terrify you occasionally. I care about what people think. I also don’t care about what people think.
To say farewell to 2022, I wrote a final blog on December 30th. I did not really have the time to write this blog. I prioritized my time on the 31st to spend with family to celebrate New Years. By the time I was ready to publish, it was already 2am on the 31st. I published and went to sleep.
I wanted to write this blog to show how unstructured blogging can be. A blog doesn’t have to be Shakespearean or Dickensian to be good enough to share. The blog I wrote is about nothing in particular, but the topics have some common meandering relationships and a final destination… the end of a stream of consciousness. It is a babbling brook, and potpourri. Each topic could have been a blog on its own.
I forgot how to write this blog, but I wrote it anyway. Enjoy, and Happy New Year! If you made a resolution to blog in 2023, I hope I get to read some of your writing. Best of luck!
I am the creator of and a Committer for the Eclipse Collections OSS project which is managed at the Eclipse Foundation. Eclipse Collections is open for contributions.
