So ... I'm starting a Dev Blog.
Welcome to my rambling! I've been thinking on starting a blog for quite some time. And, even though this is just my first post, it has already been a whole adventure. I would like to start telling my story, both so that you get to know me, and also to convince me that I can follow this through.
I'm dividing this post in 3 parts:
My path
This is one of those cases of “one thing leads to the other” in the weird realm of YouTube. It all started when I was looking for a system to organize my tasks. After letting myself fall in the YouTube rabbit hole, I noticed that I was actually learning a lot of interesting things and I started taking notes on some videos that I thought that may give me some value, eventually.
I implemented a note-taking system using Obsidian to annotate the new things that I was learning. I also decided to take notes on the articles I was reading in my job as an Android Developer and while building my personal projects. At some point, I started to feel the need for sharing that knowledge. And that brings us to today.
My reasons
If I have learned something throughout my life, is that you need to define “why” to achieve any goal. Why do you want it? Why should you go through all that effort to complete any project?
When you lack the motivation to go on, you only depend on your "why" to move forward. Make sure it's a powerful one.
I have three main reasons that moved me to actually start this project, and I trust that they will keep pushing me whenever I don't feel like writing:
If you are thinking of writing a blog too, I strongly recommend that you define your "why" and stick to it until the end.
My system
There are 4 main stages that I am considering with every post:
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Deciding the topic
The whole idea of the blog is to talk about the things I learn throughout my life and my work as a developer. So, when deciding a topic, I am doing something very simple: a Tech Journal. I am just writing whatever I do on my job and on my projects every day. If I need to research to solve any project, I write a summary of that research. Those notes are being transformed into my posts.
I use Obsidian to write my journal and my summaries, since the software makes it very easy to create relationships between all your notes.
That way, I don't really need to think on what am I going to write about. I just start lining up the ideas based on what I am doing every day.
Writing
For me, this is the hardest part, and I am still figuring it out. So far, this is what I've got:
Publishing
Once the post is written, it is time to publish. I've picked four different platforms to publish my posts, depending on the topic:
I feel that, for now, these are the platforms that best fit my needs, feel free to find the ones that make you feel more comfortable.
I'm also planning my content ahead. That way, I can push myself for a deadline to write each post.
Interacting
This is the final piece of the puzzle. If I want to build a community, is very important to share my posts in social media everywhere. That way, I can bring people to read my work, and also generate a conversation.
Getting views on any content is hard. Be sure to be patient, consistent and resilient. Remember your "why" and write as nobody is reading.