A few months ago, I discovered Hashnode, and the idea of writing technical articles started tickling my mind.

I really needed the #HashnodeBootcamp that started yesterday to finally write my first post!

My story and interest in writing

Why am I here? What path brought me to technical writing?

I've always loved to walk the line between disciplines. In the past, I was more on the 'writing' side than on the 'technical' one. I wanted to become a writer when I was a child. I focused on humanities and foreign languages during high school and took part in the school newspaper.

Then, before joining the Technical Side, I majored in Physics (probably an even Darker Side of the Force). So I switched to some scientific writing, although I was just writing equations most of the time.

You can only study one subject at University in Italy. Not my piece of cake! So I took some extra courses that also involved some writing: science communication and creative writing. Never published anything over the past few years, though, other than personal stuff on personal blogs.

And now to the Technical Side, where we actually have cookies (on websites).

During University, I worked as Linux sysadmin for some months. And now, after graduating, I started working as a software developer. I learned some programming during University, but I am a newbie in the tech world. As much as I am a newbie in writing on a kind-of-professional blog. Hello, impostor syndrome!

But hey, during the first day of Bootcamp, we were told that being a newbie is an asset. And that we are writing for ourselves, as well as for others to read! So, here are some good reasons that motivate me to start writing. Credits to the brilliant talks given by Sam Sycamore, Quincy Larson and Edidiong Asikpo during Day 1 of the Hashnode Bootcamp!

My 7 best reasons to start technical writing

• Reinforce your knowledge: to write valuable content, you need to do some research about your topics. This is a great chance to deepen your knowledge and learn alongside your readers.
• You have a unique voice and personality that can speak to someone, even when a lot of resources about your topics already exist.
• Learn to be consistent, whatever the frequency of your articles is: of course, it depends on your schedule and what's going on in your life. I still have no plans about it, but I'll try to ride the wave of Hashnode Bootcamp and the prompts they give.
• Join in a community and do some networking. Hashnode looks like a really nice place to hang around with other developers and writers!
• Confront impostor syndrome: for many people, one of the main difficulties in writing is publishing your article after thoroughly preparing a draft. Doing it even when you feel unsure is a good way to counteract your inner voice, saying that your work is not good enough. Remember that, as with many other things in life, done is better than perfect.
• Improve your English: for non-native English speakers, this is another skill you can improve with technical writing. Or you can use your mother tongue and speak to your local community. Either way, you will surely learn something about your language of choice and sharpen your writing skills.
• Share knowledge with others, including future employers and future you! Whether you journal what you learn or post about problems you solved, it can always come in handy someday, if you or someone else face a similar situation. And if you build an effective online presence, it will probably be noticed during application processes and interviews.

Conclusion

I'm so excited about this new journey. Tomorrow is already Day 2 of Hashnode Bootcamp, yay!

Thank you so much for reading till the end. Please feel free to leave any feedback in the comments and to connect with me on LinkedIn if you'd like. Just add a small note saying that you come from here, so I will certainly accept your invitation.

And now, off to the battle with the 'publish' button 😁

Photo credits:

• Cover: Andrew Neel, Unsplash
• ThisisEngineering RAEng, Unsplash
• Come to the Dark Side, DeviantArt
• Ameen Fahmy, Unsplash
• Mulyadi, Unsplash