Writing
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Most Dev Blogs Die
#MDBD
Most developers have started a blog at some point. Almost none of them are still writing.
Don’t start a blog. You already know the reasons why you should.
- It’s good for your career,
- it helps you learn,
- it builds an audience,
- whatever.
Maybe the interesting question isn’t “why should I blog” but “why did I stop.”
The Work Nobody Talks About
Writing at 30% the effort. NO wait. I mean Writing is just a small part of it. Yea, right.
You might, have you considered, possibly, that you perhaps, need a topic.
You need to know what you are talking about, you need to research it.
Truth matters, I guess, probably still right?
I mean, certainly add to the conversation, that that matters.
Publishing is the easy part. Maintaining a unique presence on multiple platforms is not.
What started as “I should write about this thing I learned” quickly turns into a quarter-day or half-day ordeal.
And that’s one post. Now there is tomorrow. And after that, another day.
You need a topic. You need a topic. You need a topic. You need a topic.
It Becomes Work
At some point, blogging stops being fun and interesting and becomes something you have to do. It feels like an obligation. You’re forcing yourself to sit down and write.
This matters to me because I’m currently on a daily publishing streak. Every day is a struggle on what to talk about.
You know what’s fun? Side projects. Building things. Tinkering with a new language on a Monday morning because you saw someone post about it. Writing about that? Easy. Staring at a blank editor trying to come up with something insightful about React server components? Sometimes fun.
Write about the fun stuff. The rest will follow. Or it won’t. That’s fine too.
What Actually Keeps One Going
I don’t have all the answers. I barely have some of the answers. But here’s what I’m doing.
I built a system. A whole content pipeline. CLI tools. Posts go through a lifecycle: draft, schedule, push. The system is not responsible for inspiration. It just managed those things. Markdown.
I lowered the bar. Way down. Not everything has to be a certain number of words. I don’t even know what my best-performing posts are. Isn’t that crazy? I have no idea. I don’t check. I’ll care later, maybe.
I write about what I’m already doing. What are you working on right now? That’s your next post. What are you interested in? What are you using that could be better? There. Done. You have a topic.
No wait, nevermind. Ah crap, I need another topic.
I stopped optimizing. You don’t have to figure out all the things you should be doing. Keywords. Thumbnails. Social media strategy. Just get the words out. The words are the hard part. Everything else is a distraction disguised as productivity.
The Commitment Problem
Blogging is a commitment. That’s the whole problem. Nobody is going to fire you for not posting this week. Nobody is likley two notice. :D
Streaks work for some people and not others. I’m on day 102 of one. Don’t ask me why I doing this to myself.
If you’re a developer, I’d appreciate a follow. You can subscribe with your email below. The emails go out once a week. Or you can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected].
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Welcome to Kev Quirk’s little corner of the internet. Here you can find out lots of information about me, how to contact me and, of course, my blog.
/ Writing / Development / links / personal / php
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Typst: The new foundation for documents
Typst is the new foundation for documents. Sign up now and experience limitless power to write, create, and automate anything that you can fit on a page.
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The Greatest Archmage To Have Ever Lived [OP MC, LitRPG]
Sael the Great was part of the legendary Heroes' Party that defeated the Corrupted One and brought about the longest era of peace the world has ever known. He stood at the forefront of humanity’s greatest (…)
/ Books / Writing / links / adventures / roleplaying / LitRPG
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The personal blog of Dave Rupert, web developer and podcaster from Austin, TX.
/ Writing / Dev / Development / links / Austin
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The Markdown Mode Manifesto
Google Docs is for grandma. Markdown is for actual work.
I know that sounds harsh, but hear me out.
Developers love Markdown because it’s extremely portable. It’s just a text file with some agreed-upon formatting symbols.
No proprietary binary format, no vendor lock-in, no mysterious corruption when you open it in a different app. If you want your writing to survive the digital apocalypse, Markdown is your best bet.
This isn’t a post explaining what Markdown is, the point of this post is simpler:
Google Docs sucks for anyone who wants real Markdown support, and I wish Google would actually fix this.
Their current “Markdown support” is a joke. When Google Docs detects something that looks like a heading, it helpfully deletes your Markdown syntax and converts it to rich text. Thanks, I hate it.
It’s basically impossible to write in Markdown in Google Docs because the app fights you every step of the way. The only real support they offer is exporting to Markdown format. That’s not what I want. I want to write in Markdown, not just export to it after the fact.
In a real Markdown editor like Obsidian or 30 other options, you can toggle between source view and preview. You see the raw text with all its formatting symbols, then flip to see the rendered result.
It’s clean, it’s simple, it works. In Google Docs? There’s no source view. It’s only rich text, forever and ever, amen. They built the whole thing to mimic Microsoft Word, and that’s all you get.
I don’t need another Word clone. I’ve got, brought to you by Copilot Word, if I want Word.
I would gladly sacrifice whatever bloated features necessary to get rid of all that stuff I don’t care about, as long as it has real Markdown support.
What “Real Support” Would Look Like
- A source/preview toggle (like literally every other Markdown editor)
- Stop auto-converting my syntax into rich text formatting
- Let me paste Markdown without it being “helpfully” transformed
- Native
.mdfile handling, not just export
Is that so much to ask?
All this is to say: we probably need a new product entirely. Google’s not going to rebuild Docs from the ground up, and Microsoft’s not going to make Word understand that some of us don’t want 47 ribbon tabs and a formatting pane that takes up half the screen.
But, you know, whatever. I guess the best we get these days is another VS Code clone.
If you’re a fellow Markdown Apostle stuck in a rich-text world, I feel your pain. Until then, I’ll be over here editing in Obsidian for some things and Cursor for others.
/ Writing / Tools / Markdown / Google-docs
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My 2026 Blogging Goal: Showing Up More Consistently
I’ve been thinking … I want to blog and post more regularly.
So what does this look like in practice? I’m aiming to:
- Write shorter posts when I don’t have time for longer ones
- Share more porjects and works-in-progress
- Post about the small stuff
- Actually hit publish
I think there’s something powerful about building a habit of showing up. Even when it’s imperfect. Especially when it’s imperfect.
If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll join me on this journey.
Here’s to more writing and less overthinking.
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Cool! Once you have connected your Micro.blog account to Ulysses, you can start creating. You can use Ulysses’ powerful formatting and styling tools to create beautiful and well-formatted posts. Once you are finished, you can hit publish, and poof, it’s posted to Micro.blog.
/ Writing
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Why I'm Excited About Starting A Blog in 2023
As the pandemic hit and many of us were confined to our homes, I found myself getting back into blogging. I had always enjoyed writing, but over the years, I had fallen out of the habit. But with so much extra time, I decided to start posting on Medium again.
Around six months ago, I stumbled upon a new platform called Micro.blog. I was immediately intrigued by its unique features and the community formed around it. However, I didn’t have time to dive in and explore it further with everything else going on.
Fast forward to today, and I am excited to dive into the Micro.blog finally. One of the things that I love most about it is its support for ActivityPub, an open standard for decentralized social networking.
Another great feature of Micro.blog is its simplicity. The platform is designed to be easy to use, with a clean and straightforward interface. This makes it perfect for bloggers who are just starting out or for those who are looking for a more streamlined blogging experience. Additionally, Micro.blog offers a variety of customization options, such as the ability to choose from various templates and add your custom CSS. This allows users to make their blogs stand out from the crowd.
One of the most exciting features is the ability to host your microblog on your domain, this would give you more control over your data, and it’s a great way to build your brand.
With Micro.Blog, you don’t have to worry about maintenance, security issues, or paying for Plugins. Everything you need to start writing and creating is included. The platform takes care of all the technical aspects of running a blog, such as hosting, backups, and updates, so you can focus on creating content. This contrasts WordPress, where you must handle all of these technical aspects or pay for a managed hosting service.
I’m excited to be using the Micro.blog and explore all it offers. The platform’s support for ActivityPub and Mastodon and its dedicated community make it an excellent option for bloggers looking for a new home. I’m eager to see what the future holds for Micro.blog and how it will continue to evolve.
/ Writing