I want to start my own technical blog and share all the things I learned, but I am too afraid that I might write something wrong and fail my readers. Any tips on how to overcome this fear?
Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
1–10 of 13 posts
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#2Well, do you have any readers now? Aren't you a professional procrastinator.
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#3Worst case scenario, you write something wrong and somebody notices and put a comment. Simply acknowledge, correct the post and carry on.
Remember that many scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals turn out to be wrong/not reproducible or contain errors .
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#4Might take a look at the book, "Technical Blogging: Turn Your Expertise into a Remarkable Online Presence"
https://www.amazon.com/Technical-Blogging-Expertise-Remarkab...
You could always publish under an pseudonym, then if things go well claim it under your real name.
Key really is getting people to read what you're postings and getting feedback. You might consider starting or including an option to get the posts via email, which will give you a direct way of contacting readers.
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#5Just Do It.
Assuming you have any significant knowledge (and you probably do), the good you'll do by sharing that knowledge will massively outweigh the harm any mistakes may cause.
Just be open to corrections if they come up.
This sort of fear is very normal, and is what stops a lot of people from giving a lot of value back to the world by writing about their area of expertise. If you overcome it, you'll help not only yourself but also lots of other people.
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#6Life is too short to worry about details as small as that, just start.
If you're blog is about doing something that could be destructive (How to migrate data from X to Y) etc, just start with a disclaimer, and ensure you do as much testing as you feel obliged to do.
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#7You might take a look at Julia Evans' writing as an example of this, learn, write, learn some more. Your blog doesn't have to be a reference textbook on a topic, but a log of your explorations on whatever topics you find interesting. If you have something incorrect, the worst case is nobody reads it. Best case is you start a discussion with a reader and learn something.
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#8I have the worlds shittiest tech blog. Im actually proud of how shitty it is. You cant do worse than me. However, I enjoy blogging.
You blog will likely be ignored and never get more than a few visitors. Forget about being wrong because there is little chance anyone finds out. Also, who cares if you are wrong? What matters is that you dont stay wrong.
Here is my shitty blog:
Rejoice in the mountain of grammatical and technical errors.
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#9I am the King of the Internet. I hereby give you my official royal permission to go ahead and blog, even though you may write something wrong.
Oh, wait, I'm not the King of the Internet. Nobody is. There's nobody to give you permission or approval... except you. Go ahead and give yourself that permission - permission to write, and even permission to be wrong.
The thing is, everyone who writes on the internet has been wrong. Everyone. You aren't going to be this horrible exception, the one person who said one thing wrong on an otherwise-perfect internet. So go ahead. Write. Make mistakes.
But, as others have said, learn. When you discover that you have made a mistake, say so. Correct it, in public, because the mistake was in public. And don't feel horrible when you do. Instead, feel smarter than you were when you made the mistake.
You'll make mistakes. Do it anyway. Forgive yourself for the mistakes, learn, teach your readers, and move on.
Re: Ask HN: Really afraid to start my own technical blog, any tips?
#10Everybody makes mistakes, including bloggers. From my experience, if something is wrong or doesn't work your readers will let you know in the comments. Just be humble and ready to correct your mistakes and there should be no issues.