Programmers are really in the communication business. We communicate with machines in an arcane language to tell them how to do our business. We must share our requirements and our efforts with others, co-workers, bosses, co-founders, and customers.
Definitely agree with that. As a fledgling programmer, I am glad I have decent enough communication skills to convey my ideas or problems I'm facing. It helps my learning process so much more, as well as hopefully helps others teach or guide me better.
Any tips or strategies to force yourself to write more?
Hi, I'm Richard Schneeman. I write code for Heroku. I'm a Ruby Hero, created CodeTriage.com, I run @keeprubyweird & maintain Sprockets. I'm married to Ruby, literally.
Try to make writing into a habit instead of a core. Also find things you want to write about.
This is some previous advice I gave in another comment section:
Almost everything I write about with the exception of the feature work I do for open source has already been written about by someone else. The reason why I write about it is because I haven't written about it before.
You bring a unique perspective and experience to the table. Even if you do nothing but make a summary blog post about all the other people who have written about that thing, that's still adding value. If not to other people, than at least to yourself.
Even if no one else finds it valuable, then you'll have learned something in the process of creating the piece.
I feel like I don't have enough experience or technical knowledge to be writing about it
The secret is that I really don't know what I'm doing. I've also been writing semi-regularly for the last 5 years. It's taken me that long to get a consistent tone, voice, and set of things that other people find interesting.
Adam Keys who I worked with at Gowalla told me that he would sign up to give conference talks on things he didn't know about because it would force him to learn them. While you might not know as much as an expert when you give the talk, you'll know much more than when you started. Also you'll be in a better position to teach beginners than an expert many years into the field. Not sure if you saw it but my "4 Year Typo" touches on this schneems.com/2017/04/19/the-four-y....
As for how I find inspiration: I look at what I'm working on. What am I frustrated with? What am I happy about? What technologies do I wish existed in the world or what do I wish someone had told me X years ago.
If you don't think what you're doing is interesting, why not? Could you be doing something you would consider worth reading about? Don't sell yourself short. Try picking some "boring" topics and writing about them. You may surprise yourself. I never know which posts will do well before I publish them and get them into the wild. I just have to try.
Definitely agree with that. As a fledgling programmer, I am glad I have decent enough communication skills to convey my ideas or problems I'm facing. It helps my learning process so much more, as well as hopefully helps others teach or guide me better.
Any tips or strategies to force yourself to write more?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Try to make writing into a habit instead of a core. Also find things you want to write about.
This is some previous advice I gave in another comment section:
Almost everything I write about with the exception of the feature work I do for open source has already been written about by someone else. The reason why I write about it is because I haven't written about it before.
You bring a unique perspective and experience to the table. Even if you do nothing but make a summary blog post about all the other people who have written about that thing, that's still adding value. If not to other people, than at least to yourself.
Even if no one else finds it valuable, then you'll have learned something in the process of creating the piece.
I feel like I don't have enough experience or technical knowledge to be writing about it
The secret is that I really don't know what I'm doing. I've also been writing semi-regularly for the last 5 years. It's taken me that long to get a consistent tone, voice, and set of things that other people find interesting.
Adam Keys who I worked with at Gowalla told me that he would sign up to give conference talks on things he didn't know about because it would force him to learn them. While you might not know as much as an expert when you give the talk, you'll know much more than when you started. Also you'll be in a better position to teach beginners than an expert many years into the field. Not sure if you saw it but my "4 Year Typo" touches on this schneems.com/2017/04/19/the-four-y....
As for how I find inspiration: I look at what I'm working on. What am I frustrated with? What am I happy about? What technologies do I wish existed in the world or what do I wish someone had told me X years ago.
If you don't think what you're doing is interesting, why not? Could you be doing something you would consider worth reading about? Don't sell yourself short. Try picking some "boring" topics and writing about them. You may surprise yourself. I never know which posts will do well before I publish them and get them into the wild. I just have to try.
Great advice. I will definitely keep it in mind when writing. Appreciate the response!