Writing is Hard

I read a lot.  I think about writing a lot.  I look at books I like, especially a non-fiction software development book, and I think, “I would like to write something this useful.”  But then I despair because I don’t know where to start, and even if I did, I don’t know that I have all that much to write about.  That’s not to say that I don’t have any knowledge or skills; I simply don’t know how to easily unlock that information and transfer it to the page.

Sometimes I feel like I am a knowledge base without a Table of Contents or Index.  If someone asks me a question, I can search my knowledge and experiences for an answer, sometimes even a useful one.  But without the trigger of someone asking me a question, I probably wouldn’t sit down to write about that question.

I’m probably not unique in this, but I get frustrated when I try to think of things to write about; I know I have at least a few bits of wisdom and knowledge to pass on, but those bits aren’t available for retrieval until something specific comes along that needs to access them.

The human brain is not like a operating system’s file system; a file system can give you a list of everything that is contained in it.  A human brain has no such index, at least mine doesn’t.  Trying to create such an index is difficult and will never be 100% accurate, probably not even close.

Part of my problem is that I have not been organized or disciplined about communicating my knowledge and thought processes.  Professional teachers create organized lesson plans all the time, so it’s possible.  There are plenty of books and resources that show that knowledge and wisdom can be communicated in an organized fashion.  But I’m sure it’s not easy.

When trying to find technical topics to write about at work, I’ve found it helps me to write about the questions I get asked.  In the past, I’ve written blog posts on subjects that I get asked about a lot.  Other times, I’ve written about solutions to problems I encountered that day.  Also, I’m trying to write about things I’ve learned in a day; it’s a rare day when I don’t learn something, so I should have plenty to write about.  But I also want to write about subjects that others will find useful.  I don’t want to write about esoteric trivia that no one will find useful; on the other hand, if I find some obscure bit of knowledge interesting, the odds are someone out in the interwebs will find it interesting, too.

Writing blog entries is a long way from writing a book, of course, but it’s a start.  Like with anything that you want to be good at, it takes time and effort to master it.  Practice, practice, and more practice is needed; I should write every day.  Impatience, boredom, discouragement, and lack of focus are my enemies, and I struggle mightily with those foes.

Writing in order to communicate knowledge and experience to others is hard.  I want it to be easy, but it simply isn’t, not for me.  It’s work.

Writing for myself, such as journal writing, is easier, but it still takes effort.

Both are fulfilling and serve a need.  But it won’t be easy.  Time will tell if I meet my writing goals (one of my goals to find some goals), but I’m becoming more convinced it’s possible if I keep at it and work hard.