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What to blog about

simonwillison.net

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41–50 of 97 posts

Re: What to blog about

#41

Post by barbariangrunge »

I blog about what I’m learning about, plus an occasional short story or serialized piece of fiction

Eg, I’m studying two short stories every day to get better at writing short stories. As long as I’m studying them and taking all those notes, I may as well post those notes online.

Or, notes about more general topics, like “what is rhythm in prose?”

People studying other disciplines can easily do the same with what they’re learning. Once in a while it leads to some fun discussions with the people who stumble on your work

Re: What to blog about

#42

Post by johnny_reilly »

I blog a lot of Today I Learned (TIL) because experience has taught me that tomorrow I forget. Writing it down makes it a little less likely I'll forget, and at least allows me to more easily remember when I do

Re: What to blog about

#43

Post by CM30 »

twic wrote: post #2

> It’s easy to get hung up on this. I’ve definitely felt the self-imposed pressure to only write something if it’s new, and unique, and feels like it’s never been said before. This is a mental trap that does nothing but hold you back. No! It's absolutely correct and considerate! This advice to write a blog even if you have nothing new to add is why the blogosphere is now absolutely overgrown with low-content dross, a…

The thing you need to realise is that different people find different takes on the same idea better than others. Maybe they find one author's writing style or presentation easier to follow than another's. Maybe they're a fan of said author, and enjoy hearing their takes on everything they write about. Or maybe they just one person's writing more engaging than another's.

Multiple people covering the same story isn't a bad thing, regardless of whether it's in the form of a blog post, video, podcast, TV show, book or any other format. It's like how multiple brands of sweets, soda or toothpaste exist.

Re: What to blog about

#45

Post by Cupertino95014 »

A long time ago, a Web pioneer told me, "The risk on the Internet is not that you'll be ripped off. It's that you'll be ignored."

These stories of blogs going viral and the authors becoming celebrities are like Lana Turner being discovered at Schwab's soda fountain (which turns out not to be true, http://www.playgroundtothestars.com/2013/06/schwabs-drug-sto...).

Re: What to blog about

#47

Post by kixiQu »

Cupertino95014 wrote: post #45

A long time ago, a Web pioneer told me, "The risk on the Internet is not that you'll be ripped off. It's that you'll be ignored." These stories of blogs going viral and the authors becoming celebrities are like Lana Turner being discovered at Schwab's soda fountain (which turns out not to be true, http://www.playgroundtothestars.com/2013/06/schwabs-drug-sto... ).

There are no stories of blogs going viral and the authors becoming celebrities in the linked post.

Re: What to blog about

#48

Post by [deleted] »

twic wrote: post #2

> It’s easy to get hung up on this. I’ve definitely felt the self-imposed pressure to only write something if it’s new, and unique, and feels like it’s never been said before. This is a mental trap that does nothing but hold you back. No! It's absolutely correct and considerate! This advice to write a blog even if you have nothing new to add is why the blogosphere is now absolutely overgrown with low-content dross, a…

[deleted]

Re: What to blog about

#49

Post by cafeinux »

quietbritishjim wrote: post #39
csydas wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're conflating SEO blogspam with genuine passion for writing. One claims to be the other in order to shield itself from accusations of being SEO blogspam, the other is just a person wanting to share their experience. I have no issues reading about how someone discovered how TTL can help in a Wireshark investigation, even though I already know it. I do have issues with someone's blog showing in online searc…

I think the truth is somewhere in between. If someone wants to write about what they've done for writing's sake, then fair enough to go the extra step of posting a blog about it. But there are plenty of blogs that seem to exist because the person first decided they wanted to have a blog and then came up with something to write about. Not SEO spam, more like résumé spam maybe? Those are still awful to wade through on…

I've always wanted to write a blog but never dared to do it because I feel like I have nothing of interest to add to what already exists. Now after reading that article, I feel like I could indeed start a blog, and there would be a good chance that it will be boring and/or low quality, at least at first, but it would be my content and I could be proud of it. If I hold myself to a high standard that makes me want to only increase the quality of the blogosphere, I'll never write a single line, because inevitably the first thing you ever do in something new will be shitty.

So I think I'll start my blog, and I think it will be shitty, and I think I won't give a damn about SEO and what people might think about how I contribute to the blogosphere. I have a hundred TILs a week and a few ongoing projects, so I'll definitely have stuff to write. Thanks for that article.

Re: What to blog about

#50

Post by lawgimenez »

If you're not someone influential like the author, you could write something like a diary for your future self and for your kid to read in the future. And most importantly not be caught up with the analytics.
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