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Discussion on: I want to start writing about development, but I’m a beginner. Is this is a bad idea?

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webbureaucrat

If you don't feel like you're ready to share yet, don't push yourself. This is a very welcoming community, but there are still occasional jerks, and there are more than a few surprising landmines of controversy in development.

If you want to split the difference: consider writing for your drafts folder for a while. In six months, a year, whenever you feel more comfortable, you can always publish when you're more certain about their accuracy. I've been a developer for a long time, and this is pretty much how I write. On average, a "finished" article will hang around my drafts for probably about four months before I publish because I like having enough hindsight to see how my ideas turned out.

I think this is also a way to produce very valuable content because it was effectively written collaboratively by two very different developers: one who has the perspective of the beginner and can therefore best empathize with the reader, and a more senior developer to help out with the nuances and fact-checking.


The other piece of advice I'll give is: just avoid writing about security-sensitive topics like authentication, encryption, etc. I'm a little torn about saying this because we do need more content on these topics and especially beginner-friendly content. (I once saw someone describe the problem as "abstinence-only encryption education," and I think it's apt.) On the other hand, the nuances of these topics are particularly subtle and the dangers from accidentally misinforming a reader are very high. It also tends to be a subject where people are more likely to issue a too-sharp correction because, well, people get panicky. What I would recommend instead would be to frame articles in the form of a long question (something in the form of, "Is my understanding of this correct?").