The Reasons Why I Blog (And You Should Too)

Hello Fellow Codenewbies 👋,

Have you ever consider writing a blog? Or have you started writing a blog?
What are your reasons to write a blog and what plan do you have in the future with blogging?

In this post, I want to share with you the things that first got me into blogging and the reasons why I blog.

Background: How I Started To Blog

Writing a blog was actually one of the reasons that brought me into learning to code in the first place.
I wanted to have a website to write my journey living in another country with a toddler.
After some research on how to create a website, I found FreeCodeCamp. I was hooked the first time "Hello World" rendered onto the page with HTML. And that was the beginning of my learning to code journey.

I'm old-school. I always take notes with pen and paper. Writing simply makes me happy.

I often had thoughts to put my physical notes onto a blog.
But every time I wanted to write, imposter syndrome came. I lost my confidence in writing because English is not my mother tongue. And I thought, there are plenty of articles with the same topics and better written out there.

One day, with some support, I participated in a writing monthly challenge that had been held by the community where I'm in.
I wrote my first article, and it's been moving forward since then.

Why Do I Blog?

1. Documenting my learning and organizing my notes

Although I love writing physical notes, my notes are all over the place. And sometimes, it's even hard for me to find the note that I need.
That's why eventually I transferred my physical notes into a blog as my own documentation. It's been easier for me as well to get back to my notes whenever I need them since they are more organized.

2. Learning in public

Learning in public helps me in holding myself accountable and to push through. Blogging is a way for me to learn in public. Besides blogging, I also do #100DaysofCode on Twitter.

3. Share my notes and help others

I'm learning new things, but also encountered some problems. I had to google a lot to find answers. But there were also times when I couldn't find exact answers and had to do trial and error to find solutions.
Besides helping the future me, I hope I could help others who encounter the same problems by sharing my notes.

4. Cementing knowledge and learning new things

I've learned that one of the things that we can do to cement our knowledge is to teach what we know to other people.
I can test myself how far I understand a topic by explaining it to other people through my writings. And writing is not only transferring notes. I also need to do some research to solidify what I'm talking about. By doing this, I am learning new things while I write.

5. Open opportunities

Have you ever heard stories where developers got their job through blogging?
Blogging opens many opportunities, especially for networking. In my own experience, I've met and known some great developers through our blogs. Hopefully, someday my blog could lead me to my future job. Who knows? 😄

6. Monetization

I didn't know about web monetization when I started blogging, so it's not my primary reason to blog. But it's definitely something that I will look into further.
I've set up web monetization for my blog recently, but I don't have any plan on how soon I will make money through my blog.

Final Words

I write blogs mainly for my future self and to help other people.
If you consider writing a blog for whatever reason, go write it now, and don't wait! 😀
You might want to read my article When Should You Start To Write A (Technical) Blog? if you still hesitate.

Thank you for reading!
Last but not least, you can find me on Twitter. Let's connect! 😊

Note:
This article is inspired by Akintunde Sultan's talk, Several revenue models for software engineers.