Ask HN: Starting blogging when you're not an expert?

Definitely. I was in exactly the same position, and just started blogging about stuff as I built it.

'Experts' often don't explain the simple stuff as they assume everyone knows it already. Often, reading about someone's experience as they were first learning a technology is far more useful than trying to learn from an 'expert'.

An you'll be suprised about being 'attractive for recruiters.' I wrote a tiny post about setting up a MongoDB and Flask 'Hello World' app. I definitely wasn't an expert, and the post had flaws, but it still led to a job and a book deal :)

I started WristWatchReview.com when I wanted to learn about watches. I was dumb for a long time and still am but I know a little bit more now. Go for it.

Do it!!! When you're feeling better about your writing, you can archive old content or start a new blog. Write because you want to and to share you learnings. Write about the process of learning, beyond the end result. Take notes as you figure things out so you can share the missteps along the way. I think many would find that useful. I did with a glusterfs post I read recently.

It sounds like you already know the answer:

> I just think it could help me learn more, faster and to improve my communications skills.

Two reasons to blog while you're learning something:

1. When one person teaches, two people learn.

2. Writing things down helps sharpen your own understanding of that topic.

3. (Bonus) You may think nobody would find it useful because there are already so many articles out there about X or Y, but just think about how many times you've been helped by a blog post or tip from some little no-name blog. You may not think of yourself as an expert but there are certainly people out there who know even less than you, who may find your posts helpful.

How did it lead to a job? And a book deal?