Ask HN: How do you identify things worth to write about in your blog? - poushkar
======
ecesena
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-...](https://medium.com/@0x0ece/a-quick-demo-of-apache-beam-with-docker-
da98b99a502a)

\- Read Offset Checkpoint Stored in Kafka, ~3k views

[https://medium.com/@0x0ece/read-offset-checkpoint-stored-
in-...](https://medium.com/@0x0ece/read-offset-checkpoint-stored-in-kafka-
aa093b60a98)

\- 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-
cent...](https://medium.com/@0x0ece/installing-apache-airflow-on-
centos-7-750c77b7aa35)

~~~
poushkar
This is very nice, specific advise. Thank you!

------
shortoncash
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.

------
AwesomeFaic
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.

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xtal33
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.

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prabhjeetsingh
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.

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ruairidhwm
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.

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

