File it with the others: a non-blog post

When you work in a field like web development, how do you write a blog post that isn’t already out there in the wilds of the internet? I’ll come out and say it: it’s hard to write an informative and useful blog post.

I’m sure most developers would agree with me that 9 times out of 10 they will Google a solution to a problem and find pages and pages of blog posts. Or question and answer sites like StackOverflow. They will find what they are looking for. What makes what I have to say stand out from the rest?

In all seriousness, the chances are that the blog post I’m about to write is already out there on the internet. Instead of helping, instead of contributing anything useful to the conversation, I’m just adding to the millions of posts cluttering up the search engine results pages. Which is not only pointless but also presents the danger that my post will actually make the useful content harder to find.

On top of which, there’s my difficulty in expressing myself properly through words. I pretty much think in code so trying to relay what I want to say in a way that is informative but readable is genuinely hard. Me and most of my friends focused on technology during education. For me English was the least favourite class.

I hesitate to say I do a lot of thinking, but when it comes to putting thoughts down in words, that’s where it all falls apart. Something that may sound intelligent on the inside can sound cold, or even stupid, when put in words.

And, as ironic as this blog post is, it still falls for the same traps. Must try harder…

PS: I’m looking forward to Dryden’s upcoming technical post aimed at the visual learner – perhaps it’ll point the way.