How to write a blog post

@rouanw

http://engineering.tes.com

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WhyMedium to share what you think or learn

Help build a public profile for yourself

Introduce others to TES Engineering

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Writing a post1. Have an idea

2. Structure

3. Write

4. Edit

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Ideas

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AudienceWho are you writing for?

Engineers looking for help on a particular topic

Engineers interested in TES's tech stack

Engineers interested in TES's way of doing things

Engineers at TES

Engineers interested in joining TES

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Ideas come from your every day work. What you do is interesting.

Something new you've used / tried

A difficult problem you've solved

A technique you've used to do something others

struggle with

Your reaction to a framework / coding style / opinion

/ trend

Something you've taught someone

Something someone's taught you

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Ideas come from your every day work. What you do is interesting.

An idea or mindset you'd like others to consider

A question you're considering

Defining something new / pointing out things you've

noticed

A conference or knowledge sharing talk or idea

Something you've hacked on

...

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Structure

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FormatsTutorial / guide / demo (Rachel: Secure file uploads)

Case study (Jonny: Front-end performance)

Introduction (Khush: gitrob)

Experience report (JBB: Standing desks)

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FormatsArgument for / against something

Outline an approach

Definition

Answering / asking a question

List of tips / ideas

Interview

Comparison

Proof of concept

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Key messageWhat do you want your reader to remember?

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Jot down key pointsBullet list

Mindmap

Write and then extract structure

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Stuck?Lists aren't scary

List of examples

Steps to get library X working with framework Y

7 things you need to remember when...

4 signs you're doing ... wrong

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Write it down

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TipsRemember you write all the time

Flesh out each key point in turn

If you get stuck on one point, move to the next

Have a spot to jot down new ideas as they come to

you

Use a tool with built-in versioning

Move things around

Don't self-censor or edit too early

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Stuck?Imagine yourself explaining to someone

Actually explain it to someone

Notice the key points you have to cover

Look at conversations you've already had on

HipChat or GitHub

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EditingMaking sure your point gets across

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Content editingAccuracy (e.g. code examples, missing steps?)

Clarity (is it easy to understand & follow)

New ideas (for this / next article)

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Stylistic editingGrammar

Writing style

Voice

Pitch

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