I've been toying with the idea of writing an article for a while. I'd like to find a way to translate the topics I'm currently studying into something immediately useful, and I've read that the act of teaching or explaining something is a great way to solidify new knowledge.
I've always held back thanks to a fear that I don't have the "authority" to say very much in this field, but a little voice in my head knows that that's not really a requirement in order to contribute something useful to this community. I'm hoping that by signing up for this site and introducing myself, I'll have moved one step closer to reaching my goal of publishing my first article. Cheers!
I understand that fear very well! Up until a few months ago, I had daily impostor syndrome and it still nags me now and again.
I just try to remember that the teaching model that we were likely raised by, whereby the facade of top-down education taught us that we could not teach without perfection, is not a true representation of how we learn.
We were trained to think that the teacher and the learner are separated, the teacher passing something to the learner and nothing to him/her self. The act of teaching seemed as an activity that only happens during certain times of day.
The reality, fortunately, is that the teacher and the learner are the same and it is happening all of the time. To teach IS to learn.
At this point in my commenting, a related fear of mine pops in mind to say, "Now, listen to you, all arrogant-like, trying to 'advise' this person. Who do you think you are!? Just delete this and don't embarrass yourself." And I could respond with submission and give in to that fear; retract my sharing. I could respond with aggression and an attempt to shut down my fear, to tell it to shut up. OR I could surrender to the process of allowing myself to learn by doing.
Submitting or shutting myself down means that I won't communicate, my own learning is stifled and I offer nothing to anyone else. I can do those things. I have made those choices many times. BUT, right now, I am choosing to allow myself the possibility of making a mistake in communication, for the sake of creating the opportunity to learn. If my aim is to teach only, I will not learn. If I aim to learn only what an "expert" possesses, I will never teach. However, when I share my experiences and engage with others in the process, the fear weakens, knowledge and understanding is developed and joy follows.
Anyway, I hope this long-winded thought helps you to develop your first article! :D
Hey Marty. I understand about the fear of writing and posting your first article. I'm in the same position. I'm transitioning from a career as a teacher into tech, and so I've been putting in a lot of work to learn the tools of the trade.
For me, the most helpful articles have been short 'how tos' on doing pretty specific things, such as user authentication with Passport and Sequelize, how to set up a MongoDB database, getting Socket.io into your project, etc.
I'm not sure what your direction was for your article, but just putting out there what I like to see!
Welcome, Marty! I'm excited to read that first article.
I'm glad that the "little voice" of encouragement is already there. I think that one of the most destructive misconceptions that stops people from publishing articles is the false belief that you have to be an expert to write a worthwhile article.
I've learned so much from junior/intermediate developers sharing their realizations and experiences. They're often written in a much more approachable manner, step-by-step, without assuming existing knowledge.
Hello! I'm Marty.
I've been toying with the idea of writing an article for a while. I'd like to find a way to translate the topics I'm currently studying into something immediately useful, and I've read that the act of teaching or explaining something is a great way to solidify new knowledge.
I've always held back thanks to a fear that I don't have the "authority" to say very much in this field, but a little voice in my head knows that that's not really a requirement in order to contribute something useful to this community. I'm hoping that by signing up for this site and introducing myself, I'll have moved one step closer to reaching my goal of publishing my first article. Cheers!
Hi Marty, I'm sure you'll do well just believe in yourself!
Hey Marty, Welcome to this space and I look forward to reading articles/information you post here soon. Cheers!!!
Hello Marty!
Welcome Marty!
I understand that fear very well! Up until a few months ago, I had daily impostor syndrome and it still nags me now and again.
I just try to remember that the teaching model that we were likely raised by, whereby the facade of top-down education taught us that we could not teach without perfection, is not a true representation of how we learn.
We were trained to think that the teacher and the learner are separated, the teacher passing something to the learner and nothing to him/her self. The act of teaching seemed as an activity that only happens during certain times of day.
The reality, fortunately, is that the teacher and the learner are the same and it is happening all of the time. To teach IS to learn.
At this point in my commenting, a related fear of mine pops in mind to say, "Now, listen to you, all arrogant-like, trying to 'advise' this person. Who do you think you are!? Just delete this and don't embarrass yourself." And I could respond with submission and give in to that fear; retract my sharing. I could respond with aggression and an attempt to shut down my fear, to tell it to shut up. OR I could surrender to the process of allowing myself to learn by doing.
Submitting or shutting myself down means that I won't communicate, my own learning is stifled and I offer nothing to anyone else. I can do those things. I have made those choices many times. BUT, right now, I am choosing to allow myself the possibility of making a mistake in communication, for the sake of creating the opportunity to learn. If my aim is to teach only, I will not learn. If I aim to learn only what an "expert" possesses, I will never teach. However, when I share my experiences and engage with others in the process, the fear weakens, knowledge and understanding is developed and joy follows.
Anyway, I hope this long-winded thought helps you to develop your first article! :D
Hey Marty. I understand about the fear of writing and posting your first article. I'm in the same position. I'm transitioning from a career as a teacher into tech, and so I've been putting in a lot of work to learn the tools of the trade.
For me, the most helpful articles have been short 'how tos' on doing pretty specific things, such as user authentication with Passport and Sequelize, how to set up a MongoDB database, getting Socket.io into your project, etc.
I'm not sure what your direction was for your article, but just putting out there what I like to see!
Anyways, good luck!
Hello!
Welcome, Marty! I'm excited to read that first article.
I'm glad that the "little voice" of encouragement is already there. I think that one of the most destructive misconceptions that stops people from publishing articles is the false belief that you have to be an expert to write a worthwhile article.
I've learned so much from junior/intermediate developers sharing their realizations and experiences. They're often written in a much more approachable manner, step-by-step, without assuming existing knowledge.
Cheers!
Thanks for that, Peter! Cheers!