Why good developers write
Tags: watercooler, writing
Published: 2021-08-19 18:40:08

Public writing can seem like a waste of time: It doesn't really take any stories off your backlog, there is already lots of written content out there, it takes a lot of time to write something presentable and even then there is the nagging thought "Who would want to read my thoughts anyway?" 

And yet, most of the really good developers I know write regularly and some of them I only know because they do: [Kevin Simler](https://meltingasphalt.com/), [Sebastian Ramirez](https://tiangolo.com/), and even [the guy who keeps rambling about Lisp in {currentYear}](http://paulgraham.com/).

Amongst non-technical people, developers generally aren't known for their ability to communicate. And there is some truth to the stereotype but only if you consider the spoken word as the pinnacle of communication: People don't become developers when they really want to host a radio show. But communication is more than making noise.

If you are see yourself on the introverted side of the spectrum, chances are that you are still an assertive person when given the time to structure and test your thoughts.

I'll take away the punch line: If you are wondering whether to write, you probably should. Now there are some things you might be wondering about:

## What to write about?
People write for many reasons and depending on what you want to optimize for, there are different answers to this – all you need to think about is what you want:
- *Get rich or famous:* Write things that people want to read and share. [Note: In that case, you might want to get someone else to write in your name – it's faster.]
- *Structure thinking:* Write about what comes to your mind or to answer a question you don't have an immediate answer to.
- *Teach or inspire:* Write about things you are excited about, that you learned – recently or tested through time –, or bad things that you have gotten past.

All of these motivations are valid, all you need to do is choose what fits you. And yes, switching is allowed.

## Who should I write to?

The "market" for the readership of the above has the range(1, ∞) and bear in mind that it's generally not a bad idea to write for the few rather than the many, at the extreme even dedicating something to a single person. Imagine the joy of that friend when they learn that you sat down for two hours, simply to answer a question. And now imagine that person could even be you. Case in point: Writing this helps me better understand whether I should continue writing or drop it for something else even though I find joy in it.

With these things in mind, you don't need to fear that your stuff will be boring. And if few people care – does it really matter if the process taught you something valuable?
 

## How to start?

Don't wait for an epiphany, writing is permissionless! Nobody will come to you and ask you to write a book or a blog any more than this post does. An added bonus is of writing in public is that it will speed up the learning process because you don't publish things with logic gaps in it.

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## Enjoy the write!
Since I haven’t written here in a while, chances are that it just disappears into the void. And then? Well, I spent two hours of my life on thinking about a question that matters to me and it was still a good investment.