Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#1

Post by mturilin » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:07 AM UTC

I have a topic I’d like to write about. However, I’m getting lost In the weeds and failing to structure my content in an easy to consume way. What are some great resources to learn writing blog posts / articles?

I’m actually open to pay for a professional coach but not sure how to find a good one. Suggestions are welcome!

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#2

Post by pettycashstash2 » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:10 AM UTC

As with anything, break this into smaller parts. Start with 1/2 a page. Then continue. Combine 1/2 pages . Patience and perseverance is all. Write 1/2 per day After 1 week you have some content. Don’t stress.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#3

Post by hprotagonist » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:20 AM UTC

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/088278v5.full.pdf is broadly applicable to technical writing. The C-C-C scheme outlined there is excellent.

I strongly recommend the active voice.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#4

Post by dbustac » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:22 AM UTC

I suggest you read this essay

https://ellenrhymes.com/paul-graham/

The author of the essay is a writing coach, too. But working with her might be a little bit expensive. Especially if you are just starting out.

I’m willing to help you for free if you want me to. I’ve been blogging for the last couple months at https://danielbusta.com/

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#5

Post by jeremymcanally » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:22 AM UTC

The Pragmatic Bookshelf's book on technical blogging is quite good: https://pragprog.com/titles/actb2/technical-blogging-second-...

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#6

Post by mindcrime » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:23 AM UTC

I don't think learning to write blog posts is particularly different from learning to write anything else. To the extent that that is true, I'd refer you to Stephen King's book On Writing[1]. Specifically, one bit of advice from that book (loosely paraphrased) "the best way to learn to write well is to read a lot and write a lot".

The other book I'd recommend is The Pyramid Principle[2] by Barbara Minto.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-Principle-Logic-Writing-Think...

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#7

Post by rozenmd » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:25 AM UTC

With my blog (https://maxrozen.com) I try break the topic up into as small a piece as possible. In my case since I'm writing about React, I try solve one problem per article. Idea being that I can later go back and combine several smaller articles into a larger body of work.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#8

Post by CGamesPlay » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:40 AM UTC

The Feynman technique might be helpful to you [0]. When you read about it you'll hear it's about "how to learn", so you might disregard it, but by the result of applying the method is a written page that fully expresses the idea. I would start with that and don't worry about the document becoming too large, just continue as necessary. Finally, aggressively edit the document. If it's very long there may be some "prerequisite" post to write before your desired topic, but you can mostly just pull out the prerequisite content, and then re-edit the original one to account for that.

[0] There doesn't seem to be a single canonical document to read but there's thousands readily searchable.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#9

Post by nondeveloper » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:40 AM UTC

If you benefit from reading books I recommend The Elements of Style by Strunk and Howe and On Writing Well by William Zinsser.

For blog writing I recommend making a practice of bookmarking posts you like and asking yourself why you like them or why they work. I will point out that blogs permit a flexibility of style and content that few writing forms have ever had. This is a double-edged sword, truly.

I’m going through a similar process so I definitely recognize the challenge you’re having. Good luck!

Edit: I just remembered bookmarking Paul Graham’s excellent “How to Write Usefully” the other day. It might be helpful to you: http://paulgraham.com/useful.html

Re: Ask HN: How to learn writing blog posts?

#10

Post by 0xCMP » Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 2:44 AM UTC

Can't find it, but @patio11 has repeated many times on twitter to simply write a lot.

I am struggling with this too. My website(s) are empty of content. And not because I can't write it but I can't bring myself to publish. Seems similar to you.

Something I tell myself is that I literally can always go back, re-read it, and update it whenever I want. I also have promised myself if I have a better version of the article I can replace it with the new one with a new date. I keep the date out of the url for this reason.