Introduction
Hashnode's 2023 Bootcamp, "Master the Art of Technical Writing" has recently concluded. I was fortunate enough that it happened shortly after writing my first article. Even though I was only able to attend the first day, the sessions from Ankur Tyagi and Swapna Kumar Panda were more than enough to help me keep on writing.
To give my background, my main motivations for starting to write are to build a personal brand and to improve my technical writing skills. By working in both of these aspects, I aim to improve as a software engineer, since whether we like it or not, writing is part of the job.
So with that out of the way, here are my 6 takeaways!
Don't FORCE yourself to write
You might think that this is counterproductive to building writing habits, but the reality is, there are times when you don't feel like doing something. The opposite is also true, where you have that sudden spark of motivation and ideas, and no one can seem to stop you from writing.
With acknowledging that there are days when you feel more motivated to write and days when you don't want to do anything, it makes sense to not force yourself to write.
Whenever you do feel like writing though, take advantage of that moment and write as much as you can, and as long as you still feel like it. Be in the zone, while it's there!
Consistency is a good thing!
Now, now, I just outlined earlier that you shouldn't force yourself to write, but now you say that we need to be consistent?
Hear me out first. While there are days of motivation and days of procrastination, being consistent in what you do helps.
I've been reading Atomic Habits, and it says there that if you want to build habits, consistency is the key. By consistency, I mean doing the habit even when you don't feel like it. To achieve this, we make the habit as easy as possible.
For example, just write a minimum of 1 sentence for your article per day. So even if you don't feel like writing that day, you can just write 1 sentence and call it a day. Maybe you feel like adding a few more sentences, that's also fine.
If you just want to build the habit of writing, you can also try journaling. Just write about your day, what you're thankful for, or any other thoughts that come to mind. Journal entries are meant only for your eyes, so making grammatical mistakes don't matter. Just let your thoughts flow and translate that into writing.
The point is that for each day that you decide to write (even a single sentence), you're reinforcing your identity as a writer. So when you feel more motivated, you can write to your heart's content!
Don't be afraid of duplicating ideas
Here I am, about to write a blog about Hashnode Bootcamp 2023, but when I searched with those keywords on Hashnode, there are already TONS of articles about it.
So should I just write about something else? NO.
The reality is, for most of the topics that you will think of, there's already an article out there that someone else covered. But that shouldn't stop you from writing on your chosen topic.
Everyone has their own experiences, perspectives and opinions. Don't be afraid to put your take to the article you're gonna write. Sprinkle it with your own flavor and uniqueness. And remember why you're writing that article in the first place.
It's also okay to get ideas from existing articles, then decide to write your version of that topic if you're having a hard time finding ideas on what to write.
There are no shortcuts
As much as you want to be the next speaker for Hashnode 2024 and beyond, unfortunately, there are no secrets and shortcuts to get to where we want to be.
You just have to keep on being consistent. You're also probably gonna need to sacrifice something to make time for writing. Instead of binging a Netflix show every week, you can use that time for writing an article on how to stop binging Netflix every week.
You get the point.
Leverage different platforms by cross-posting
Being someone who just started writing, no one would care or probably even know that I have published an article.
It's normal that you won't have any readers at the start. You'd be lucky enough if someone read your article.
So for beginner writers like myself, it's helpful to leverage existing blogging platforms and do cross-posting, which means that you post your articles on different platforms.
Here are some platforms where you can cross-post your Hashnode article:
And here's a helpful repo for cross-posting to those platforms using your terminal.
Create documentation for applications
This part is more related to software engineering itself, but a good reminder to document applications so that you can learn from mistakes and learn from them. It's also a useful reference for whenever you're onboarding a new developer or just want to figure out why a specific decision was made.
For the types of technical documentation that software engineers usually write, here's a rough list:
Guides/Manuals
Architecture documents
API/SDK documentation
RCA documents
Training materials
White papers
Conclusion
To summarize, here are the 6 takeaways:
Don't FORCE yourself to write
Consistency is a good thing!
Don't be afraid of duplicating ideas
There are no shortcuts
Leverage different platforms by cross-posting
Create documentation for applications
If you've actually read this and have made it this far, I hope you also had some takeaways here that can help in your technical writing journey. I mainly made this for myself so I can reflect on the bootcamp and on my writing in general.
If you have any feedback or suggestions, feel free to comment. I'm also available through my email at jasper.d.gabriel@gmail.com, Twitter, LinkedIn, and GitHub.