1 Why write
This chapter covers
- Exploring the benefits of writing engineering blog posts
- Debunking excuses for not writing
- Previewing the path ahead
Sharing technical experiences and expertise is an integral part of engineering culture. For developers interested in writing words as well as writing code, engineering blogs open up intriguing new possibilities. From startups to big tech, people are writing blog posts for a variety of reasons that we’ll explore more deeply in a bit:
- Connecting with the community
- Advancing the state of the art
- Expanding career opportunities
- Building interest in products and projects
- Simply collecting and clarifying their thoughts
Although some engineers already enjoy writing about their achievements, many are still flat out terrified by the thought of publishing. That’s fair. Most engineers never set out to become writers. And although writing code might seem distinctly different from writing words, there are actually many commonalities – and your skill at coding can help you with writing.
Moreover, if you’re already working on complex technical problems, seeing how far you can push your technology of choice, and/or building the next big whatever, you’re already about 95% of the way to delivering an interesting engineering blog post. As long as you’re building the deep technical experience that’s fundamental, there are many tricks that can help you capture your insights in blog posts that get read – and remembered. That’s where this book comes in.