4 ms·

Ask HN: How do you identify things worth to write about in your blog?

14 points by poushkar 7y ago

xtal33 7y ago
The problem, I think, is in the question "worth". To me, it refers to a topic or idea that I would enjoy writing about, but one that others would also enjoy reading about. What's the point of writing if nobody reads any of it? I like to use Google Adwords' keyword ideas tool to find ideas that people seek out, then I pick and choose what I like. This is a great method especially if your blog is concerned with SEO and getting search engine traffic.
AwesomeFaic 7y ago
My work has a pretty strict Internet filter in place, but Wikipedia is fair game. I hop around random articles while my project builds, and I save things that interest me. Then I write about them later. No focus on technology or any specific area, just general trivia and curiosities. That's "worth" enough to me to keep motivation and interest up. http://chrisgermano.dev http://chrisgermano.dev if you're interested. I have about 100 Wikipedia pages on my to-write list, and 3-4 posts in progress.
ruairidhwm 7y ago
I typically write about things I'm learning about as a way to solidify my own knowledge. That or I write about something I wish I had known recently.
shortoncash 7y ago
I noticed years ago that I didn't have as much insight as other people who were much more close to the problems I was interested in. Even on non-technical topics, there was this realization I was just more noise in a sea of noise. So, ultimately, write if you want to write. But, ... be comfortable with the fact that you might just be noise. :-) If you find an audience, they will tell you what they find valuable or make requests on their own.
avichalp 7y ago
I have started to treat my blog as a journal. So now I don't need to make sure if the topic is worth.
prabhjeetsingh 7y ago
It depends on the topic of the blog I choose to write. The things which I going to write must be like an answer to my selected topic or question.
ecesena 7y ago
Look at what you're searching on Google. From time to time there's a problem for which you can't find a solution with a single search, and you have to combine results from 2+ searches. Title: your ideal search, that failed to produce results. Body: your solution. These are generally helpful, SEO-friendly, and fast to write posts, say 30min-1h after you have your solution. It's a good "trick" to exercise your writing and grow your blog quickly. These are some examples I experimented with (2016): - A Quick Demo of Apache Beam with Docker, ~11k views https://medium.com/@0x0ece/a-quick-demo-of-apache-beam-with-docker-da98b99a502a https://medium.com/@0x0ece/a-quick-demo-of-apache-beam-with-... - Read Offset Checkpoint Stored in Kafka, ~3k views https://medium.com/@0x0ece/read-offset-checkpoint-stored-in-kafka-aa093b60a98 https://medium.com/@0x0ece/read-offset-checkpoint-stored-in-... - Installing Apache Airflow on CentOS 7, ~8k views (surprisingly 2y after this is still receiving 10-50 views week over week) https://medium.com/@0x0ece/installing-apache-airflow-on-centos-7-750c77b7aa35 https://medium.com/@0x0ece/installing-apache-airflow-on-cent...
- poushkar 7y ago
  This is very nice, specific advise. Thank you!

14 points by poushkar 7y ago

The problem, I think, is in the question "worth". To me, it refers to a topic or idea that I would enjoy writing about, but one that others would also enjoy reading about. What's the point of writing if nobody reads any of it? I like to use Google Adwords' keyword ideas tool to find ideas that people seek out, then I pick and choose what I like. This is a great method especially if your blog is concerned with SEO and getting search engine traffic.

AwesomeFaic 7y ago

My work has a pretty strict Internet filter in place, but Wikipedia is fair game. I hop around random articles while my project builds, and I save things that interest me. Then I write about them later. No focus on technology or any specific area, just general trivia and curiosities. That's "worth" enough to me to keep motivation and interest up. http://chrisgermano.dev http://chrisgermano.dev if you're interested. I have about 100 Wikipedia pages on my to-write list, and 3-4 posts in progress.

ruairidhwm 7y ago

I typically write about things I'm learning about as a way to solidify my own knowledge. That or I write about something I wish I had known recently.

shortoncash 7y ago

I noticed years ago that I didn't have as much insight as other people who were much more close to the problems I was interested in. Even on non-technical topics, there was this realization I was just more noise in a sea of noise. So, ultimately, write if you want to write. But, ... be comfortable with the fact that you might just be noise. :-) If you find an audience, they will tell you what they find valuable or make requests on their own.

avichalp 7y ago

I have started to treat my blog as a journal. So now I don't need to make sure if the topic is worth.

prabhjeetsingh 7y ago

It depends on the topic of the blog I choose to write. The things which I going to write must be like an answer to my selected topic or question.

ecesena 7y ago

Look at what you're searching on Google. From time to time there's a problem for which you can't find a solution with a single search, and you have to combine results from 2+ searches. Title: your ideal search, that failed to produce results. Body: your solution. These are generally helpful, SEO-friendly, and fast to write posts, say 30min-1h after you have your solution. It's a good "trick" to exercise your writing and grow your blog quickly. These are some examples I experimented with (2016): - A Quick Demo of Apache Beam with Docker, ~11k views https://medium.com/@0x0ece/a-quick-demo-of-apache-beam-with-docker-da98b99a502a https://medium.com/@0x0ece/a-quick-demo-of-apache-beam-with-... - Read Offset Checkpoint Stored in Kafka, ~3k views https://medium.com/@0x0ece/read-offset-checkpoint-stored-in-kafka-aa093b60a98 https://medium.com/@0x0ece/read-offset-checkpoint-stored-in-... - Installing Apache Airflow on CentOS 7, ~8k views (surprisingly 2y after this is still receiving 10-50 views week over week) https://medium.com/@0x0ece/installing-apache-airflow-on-centos-7-750c77b7aa35 https://medium.com/@0x0ece/installing-apache-airflow-on-cent...

poushkar 7y ago
This is very nice, specific advise. Thank you!