How to Start Blogging When Faced with Imposter Syndrome

Sean Killeen Dec 30 '18 Originally published at seankilleen.com on Dec 29, 2018 ・2 min read

I had this drafted for a while as notes I’d sent to someone who is faced with imposter syndrome and not sure they have something to add, and I figured I would write it up here rather than stashing it in my drafts.

“What do I have to add to the Conversation?”

You have a ton. Your story is invaluable, and your skills can absolutely help someone, somewhere, level up.

We need your voice!

“But where do I get started?”

Some ways I approached this when getting started:

What are some good pieces of advice that you’ve gotten? Can you group any of them by subject or context? Boom, blog post.
What is something new you’re excited about? Why? Add a little research and boom, blog post.
Imagine someone showed up at your job as a new hire. They’re smart but unfamiliar with all of your tools & techniques. Which things would you teach them as tips first? The bullet points for those tips could probably be a bunch of blog posts.
What’s a problem you’re chewing on right now? Why do you think the solution is less accessible? Any ideas on how the solution could be easier to get through? Blog post.
What are some things you’d do to level up people to where you are? Someone needs a bridge from where they are to where you are.
Also, anything that takes you more time than you wished it had – definitely good blog post material. My most popular blog post is still “how do I remove table formatting in Excel?” Thousands and thousands of hits. I wrote it for myself so that I’d stop hunting for the exact steps.
I’ve also found it helpful to keep a list of topics publicly and seek feedback. All of my blog posts are drafted as github issues first, for example. Gives you permission to let something sit if it’s not ready, and get feedback at all points.