←back to thread

How to write blog posts that developers read

(refactoringenglish.com)
595 points rbanffy | 5 comments | 28 Mar 25 11:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.742s | source
Show context
stephantul ◴[28 Mar 25 18:08 UTC] No.43508384[source]▶
Counterpoint: writing blog posts so that they are read by someone else completely defeats the point of writing for 99% of people. I do not mean to say that this the advice in the post is bad advice, just that if you focus on being read (i.e., checking rankings on HN, only writing articles that don't exist yet) you probably just will just stop writing at one point, because most of the stuff on the web just isn't read, and writing just to be read is probably not very motivating.

Writing, even if no one reads what you write, is super valuable, and fun! Writing something down is to structure your own thoughts so that you learn more about the topic and about yourself. In my experience, publishing a piece of your writing just ensures that you double check your thinking, but most of the benefit is learning more about what you intend to write about.

So here's my advice: just write posts on what you think is interesting on your personal blog. Don't install analytics, just write it down, publish it, and put it on your LinkedIn. Someone will see it someday and will like it.

replies(3): >>43508657 #>>43512272 #>>43513521 #
1. mtlynch ◴[28 Mar 25 18:38 UTC] No.43508657[source]▶
Author here. Thanks for reading!

>Counterpoint: writing blog posts so that they are read by someone else completely defeats the point of writing for 99% of people.

I think it's totally fine for authors to write for themselves, but I think the number of authors who have that goal is far lower than 99%. Maybe 5-10%?

For almost every author I've spoken to, they get satisfaction from people reading what they write. It doesn't have to be millions of people, but I don't think most people find it satisfying to spend hours writing an article for it to only reach a single-digit number of readers.

So, I don't think it should be every blogger's goal to find a wide audience, but if it is, I think the recommendations in OP will be helpful towards that goal.

replies(2): >>43509344 #>>43509830 #
2. stephantul ◴[28 Mar 25 19:59 UTC] No.43509344[source]▶
Thanks for responding. I guess I was getting at the fact that 99% of people won’t consistently hit high reader numbers. So to pick this as your goal, or starting point for an article, is dangerous because it just leads you to stop writing at some point.

But fully agree on the advice if the starting point is getting a lot of views/front page.

replies(1): >>43509496 #
3. mtlynch ◴[28 Mar 25 20:21 UTC] No.43509496[source]▶
>I guess I was getting at the fact that 99% of people won’t consistently hit high reader numbers. So to pick this as your goal, or starting point for an article, is dangerous because it just leads you to stop writing at some point.

Oh, but I don't even think the numbers have to be "high" for this advice to apply.

Like I talk to bloggers who don't really have a strategy except to just keep writing and submitting to HN or reddit, but they don't get traction, so they get discouraged and give up.

The point I'm hoping to get across to those bloggers is that they can find readers if they think through from the beginning what topics they want to write about and what channels allow them to reach readers that match. That technique works even if you just want a few dozen people to read your posts.

4. tasuki ◴[28 Mar 25 21:09 UTC] No.43509830[source]▶
You're obviously very good at writing things that get read by many people. It seems to be a very high priority for you.

The link on your website says "Write Blog Posts that Developers Read". I'd have expected that to explain _why_ writing blog posts that developers read is worthwhile.

> It doesn't have to be millions of people, but I don't think most people find it satisfying to spend hours writing an article for it to only reach a single-digit number of readers.

I write a blog that gets read by no one. When I publish a blog post, I don't check how many people read it. The blog has no particular topic, just whatever random thoughts pop into my head. Yes I'd like to improve my writing, so I can formulate my thoughts better. But I'm a little suspicious of anyone who thinks reaching a big audience is so obvious a goal it doesn't even require explaining why.

[Edit]: Ah, I think I get it now! You write about how to write so that people read your blog. And you're good at it, which leads to many people reading your blog. Naturally, your readers are people who want their writing to be read more. You interact with your readers, and that's why you think people write blogs with the goal of them being read.

replies(1): >>43509899 #
5. mtlynch ◴[28 Mar 25 21:20 UTC] No.43509899[source]▶
>The link on your website says "Write Blog Posts that Developers Read". I'd have expected that to explain _why_ writing blog posts that developers read is worthwhile.

The post is aimed at people who want their writing to reach more developers. If they've reached the article based on the title, I assume they already want to reach more readers, so I don't think it's worth explaining at that point.

If I clicked an article called, "How to vertically center a div using CSS" and the article explained why I might want to center a div, I'd find it kind of strange and not what I want to spend my time reading.

>I write a blog that gets read by no one. When I publish a blog post, I don't check how many people read it. The blog has no particular topic, just whatever random thoughts pop into my head. Yes I'd like to improve my writing, so I can formulate my thoughts better. But I'm a little suspicious of anyone who thinks reaching a big audience is so obvious a goal it doesn't even require explaining why.

I think that's fine, and I support you doing that, but it just means that you're not the audience for this particular post.

I've published several other excerpts on the book's website that are about craft rather than strategy for reaching readers, so you might be interested in those.[0]

[0] https://refactoringenglish.com/chapters/