Introduction
Blogging is something that new software developers should look into if they want to maximize their experience and journey to the fullest. This could be from sharing your own coding tutorials, posting some awesome work that you did with new technology, or even getting some exposure to help you while searching for developer-related jobs and opportunities. Find out your why before you start blogging.
Here are some key reasons on why developers should blog:
Reason #1: It’s a Journey, Not a Race
Fighting Doubts
You could be telling yourself at this moment:
- “I can’t write that well”
- “I don’t have anything cool to show so what can I post”
- “I don’t know enough yet”
- “Who’s going to read my developer blog?”
Not everyone starts off as a great writer. It is what it is. You write and you improve. But the weeks you spend trying to write that perfect post, you could have already gotten started with 1 to 3 decent posts. This does not mean that quality is not valued over quantity, but it does mean that you can prevent yourself from ever getting started because your mind is ten steps ahead, and your paper is still blank!
Your Developer Journey Will Inspire You and Others
Everyone’s goal differs when it comes to figuring out why you as a new developer should blog.
What matters is that you take your time with whatever you want to do with your blog. Allow it to be a reflection or an extension of yourself and what you learn; you may very well change it over time and that’s ok.
Comparing Yourself
It can be a little frustrating at first knowing that you are not bringing much traffic, but also remember that it can take time before your blog brings in an audience or community. Continue to write the content you enjoy and want to see.
Learn How to Write and Communicate
If you feel that you are not great at explaining technical things or breaking down concepts to others, your blog is the best place to start practicing. This is your opportunity to create tutorials and how-to’s. As a result, you will gain those writing and communication skills needed. When you leave your comment section open on your blog, this allows for readers to ask questions. This helps with communication as well because you become a better problem solver and focus on the ability to explain those concepts. See, that’s practice! And when you continue to exercise that writing muscle, it can become impactful for writing documentation as well. Your team will have a sense of appreciation when you are able to write documentation that is easy-to-read and understanding.
Writing Good Documentation
A topic that is constantly brought up in the software development world is lack of good documentation. Although I’m sure there are many reasons for this such as developers being already familiar with what they are working on so they may write short-hand descriptions or they do not have enough time to focus on both writing and the programming. Writing good documentation though is a challenge. It has to be concise and clear for readers (and even yourself, months down the line)!
The point remains though: writing can help you improve the documentation that others will eventually read. It will help you clean up and use less tech jargon to make documentation easier for everyone.
Meet Developers Like You and NOT Like You
When you start writing and gaining traction, you will begin to build a consistent audience that is interested in your work. This is the time to build relationships with other developers and ask them what they think of certain topics. On platforms such as Hashnode or Dev.to, it can be important to leave comments on so that you can receive engagement and feedback. Your audience may start requesting specific topics for you to research and write about because they enjoy the way you explain topics. Also, make the effort to comment on posts that you find interesting on others’ blogs. People make the mistake of writing on their blogs and staying within their blog; try to outreach!
But also, remember to have fun and build friendships amongst other developers who are writers like you! They may have advice that could help you become a better writer. Attend events and workshops that cater to what you want to write about, and find a community that can help you stay accountable for writing.
Reason #2: Getting Started on your Developer Blog
Picking Your Domain Name
You’ll probably have quite a few domains in the future, but for now, picking a domain name is pretty fun. As a tip, try not to veer off too far from your most popular social media handle; it is easier for others to remember the name of your blog then.
Create a Blogging Schedule and Remain Consistent
Notion is an excellent choice to create a content calendar and what you want to write about. Regardless of what platform you use, it’s important to remain consistent with your writing. And remember that you don’t always have to write about software development; it’s more than okay to explore other topics of interest.
Here are some topic ideas for your new developer blog:
- Tutorials and How-to’s to Help Others
- Problem That you Encountered and a Solution you Found
- Explain the Latest and Newest Technology You’ve Worked With
- 10 Things you’ve learned in your First Year as a Software Developer
- Your Tech Journey into Software Development
- How you Started/Created Your Blog
Conclusion
Overall, a blog can be a pretty cool way for you to see your growth over time. Once you figure out why you want to blog, it becomes a lot easier to dedicate and invest time in yourself through your blog. You’ll be able to consistently post and build connections with other developers and writers like yourself.
We hope this post helps you to understand why developers should blog and all the benefits that come with blogging.
If you are interested in reading more about articles related to why developers should blog and how to improve technical documentation, stick with DocumentWrite’s latest blog posts such as Nerd’s Don’t Respond to Marketing; Try Technical Documentation Instead.
