How to Overcome Your Fear of Writing and Find Motivation to Start

Writing – whether it‘s blog posts, documentation, tutorials, books, or something else – is an important skill for developers and really anyone working in tech. Sharing our knowledge and experiences through writing is one of the best ways we can help others learn and grow while also reinforcing our own skills and building our reputations.

But for many of us, the prospect of writing and putting our work out there for the world to see is incredibly daunting. Even if we have knowledge and experiences worth sharing, self-doubt creeps in and holds us back.

Sound familiar? You‘re not alone. As someone who has been blogging and writing tutorials for years, I still struggle with imposter syndrome and motivation at times. But I‘ve learned some mindset shifts and strategies that have helped me push past the fear and hesitation. My goal with this post is to share those with you in hopes they give you the spark you need to start writing too.

What‘s holding you back from writing?

First, let‘s look at some common reasons developers shy away from writing:

Imposter syndrome

This is a big one. Imposter syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your skills, talents, or accomplishments and having a persistent fear of being exposed as a "fraud." It‘s surprisingly common, especially in competitive and rapidly evolving fields like tech.

You might think: "Who am I to write about this topic? I‘m not an expert. There are so many people who know more than me." Or "I‘m just a beginner/junior developer, no one wants to read what I have to say."

The thing is, you don‘t have to be a world-renowned expert to produce helpful content and have valuable insights worth sharing. Everyone has a unique perspective and experiences that others can learn from, regardless of skill level.

Perfectionism

Another common roadblock is perfectionism. You might agonize over every word and sentence, wanting your writing to be flawless before putting it out there.

But perfect is the enemy of good. If you wait for things to be "perfect" before sharing, you‘ll likely never end up publishing anything at all. All writers have to fight the urge to endlessly tinker and tweak instead of hitting publish.

It‘s okay if your writing isn‘t the most polished or comprehensive take ever written on the subject. Do your best and then release it into the world. You can always go back and update/improve it later. Iteration is the name of the game.

Lack of confidence

Maybe you actually do have confidence in your technical skills, but you‘re unsure about your ability to communicate those skills and knowledge in writing.

This is totally understandable, especially if you don‘t have a ton of writing experience. But you know what they say – practice makes progress. The more you write, the more comfortable and confident you‘ll become. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Not knowing what to write about

"Even if I work up the nerve to write, I have no clue what to write about!"

This is another struggle I hear from developers often. Staring at a blank page is super intimidating. It can feel like all the good ideas have already been written about extensively by people way smarter than you.

But I bet if you look at the problems you‘ve solved and the things you‘ve learned recently, you‘ll find that you actually have a ton of potential blog post fodder. It doesn‘t have to be some mind-blowingly novel topic – write about what you know, even if it seems small or insignificant.

Benefits of writing

We‘ve covered some of the fears and doubts that hold developers back from writing. Now let‘s look at the other side – the reasons you SHOULD write, even if it scares you.

Reinforce your own learning

One of the best ways to solidify your understanding of a concept is to teach it to someone else. When you‘re writing a tutorial or explaining something you‘ve learned, you‘re forced to really think it through and break it down in a way that‘s digestible for others.

Gaps in your knowledge become more apparent. Things you thought you understood completely might turn out to be more fuzzy when you try to put them into words. The process of writing helps you shore up those gaps and fuzzy areas. It‘s a great way to check your own understanding.

By writing about a topic, you‘re getting another repetition to help that knowledge sink deeper into your brain. Even if no one else ever reads your article or post, you‘ll reap the benefits of strengthened understanding.

Help and teach others

While writing is worth doing for your own learning alone, one of the best benefits is being able to help and teach others. Sharing your knowledge through writing is an amazing way to give back to the developer community.

Think about how many times you‘ve Googled an issue and landed on a helpful blog post or Stack Overflow answer written by another developer. Those people took the time to write up a solution or explanation and made your life easier in the process.

By writing tutorials, how-to guides, and posts about your learning experiences, you can be that helpful developer for someone else. Your article might be the one that unsticks someone struggling with the same problem or concept you did. Never underestimate the impact your words and experiences can have, even if you‘re just starting out.

Build your personal brand and network

In addition to leveling up your own skills and helping others, writing has big personal branding benefits. By sharing your knowledge publicly, you can position yourself as an authority and thought leader in your niche.

Your blog or the publications you write for act as an ever-growing portfolio that showcases your expertise. Having bylines and a body of written work gives you a big credibility boost. It‘s something you can point to and be proud of in job interviews and on your resume.

Writing also opens doors to meeting and connecting with other passionate developers. The developer community is incredibly active online. By contributing to the conversation, you‘ll find yourself becoming a part of that community and building a network that can boost your career.

Improve your communication skills

Being able to clearly communicate complex technical concepts is a skill that will serve you well in any role. Writing is one of the best ways to hone that skill.

Written communication is crucial for documentation, specifications, emails, instant messaging, and so much more in the day-to-day life of a developer. The practice and experience you get through writing blog posts and tutorials will make you a better communicator overall.

Organizing information, explaining things clearly and concisely, utilizing analogies and examples, keeping your audience in mind – these are all important components of good writing that transfer to many other parts of a developer‘s job.

Provide a creative outlet

While coding itself is certainly a creative endeavor, writing gives you a different kind of creative outlet. It‘s a chance to express yourself and show some personality alongside the technical content.

I find writing to be an incredibly rewarding creative pursuit. The feeling of finding just the right words, crafting a clever turn of phrase, or making a complicated concept click for the reader is hard to beat.

Especially if your day job doesn‘t give you many opportunities for this kind of creativity, having a place to write and share your thoughts can be really fulfilling. Give yourself permission to have fun and be a little less rigid than you might be in other professional writing.

How to overcome fear and get started writing

Hopefully by now you‘re feeling more motivated to give writing a try. But maybe you‘re still not quite sure how to get over the fear and hesitation holding you back. Here are some strategies to help you take action:

Start small

Don‘t feel like you need to write a massive, comprehensive guide right out of the gate. In fact, I‘d advise against that. Putting too much pressure on yourself is a recipe for overwhelm and procrastination.

Start with something small and manageable, like a short blog post about a quick tip or piece of learning that helped you recently. Aim for a few paragraphs, not pages and pages.

The goal is just to get something out there and start building momentum. Think of it as a warm up to get words flowing. You can always expand on the topic or write a follow-up post later.

Write for yourself first

If you‘re terrified to publish your writing publicly, start by writing just for yourself. Open up a document and start typing without worrying about anyone else reading it.

Getting your thoughts out of your head and onto the page can help silence your inner critic. Once the words are there in front of you, you can start shaping them into something to share if you feel ready. But give yourself permission to write purely for your own benefit first.

Done is better than perfect

I know I said it earlier, but it bears repeating: Don‘t get caught up trying to make your writing "perfect." Perfect doesn‘t exist. What matters is putting your work out there, getting feedback, and improving with each piece you publish.

Aim for clear, helpful, and interesting. But accept that your writing will never be flawless and that‘s okay. The developers who have written the posts and tutorials you admire likely felt the same doubts and fears. The difference is they pushed "publish" anyway.

Build a brainstorming habit

Coming up with ideas is half the battle. To make it easier, get in the habit of jotting down writing ideas as they come to you. Keep a running list on your phone or in a notebook.

Potential ideas could come from:

• Tutorials or guides you wish existed for something you recently learned
• Interesting bugs you‘ve troubleshooted
• Productivity tips that have helped you
• Thoughts on industry trends or news
• Analogies or examples you came up with to explain a concept
• Inspiring quotes or advice from other developers
• Book or course reviews

If you write down ideas as they come to you, you‘ll have a go-to list to pull from when you sit down to write. No more blank page syndrome.

Find topics you‘re excited about

It‘s so much easier to write about something you‘re genuinely interested in and excited about. Don‘t feel like you have to pick the "trendiest" or most hyped up topics. Write about the things that fascinate you, even if they‘re niche.

Your passion and enthusiasm will come through in your writing. It‘s more fun for you and the reader when you really care about the subject matter. You‘ll be more motivated to put the work in and share valuable insights.

Create a writing routine

Consistency is key for improving your writing skills and getting more comfortable with the process. Try to establish a regular writing routine, even if it‘s only for 30 minutes a couple times a week.

Block off time on your calendar and treat it as a non-negotiable commitment, like a doctor‘s appointment. Find a time of day when you tend to be most focused and creative. Maybe it‘s first thing in the morning before diving into work or on weekends when you have fewer distractions.

The more you stick to your writing schedule, the more it will become an ingrained habit. Over time, showing up to write will feel more natural and less intimidating.

Writing tips and resources

We‘ve covered mindset shifts and strategies for getting started with writing. To close things out, I want to leave you with a few tactical tips and resources to help you level up:

Tips for improving your writing:

• Find your authentic voice and write conversationally, like you‘re explaining the topic to a friend
• Know who you‘re writing for and keep your target audience in mind
• Start with an outline to organize your key points
• Include examples, analogies, images, and code samples to illustrate concepts
• Keep paragraphs and sentences short and to the point
• Use headers, bullets, and formatting to break up long blocks of text
• Read your writing out loud to catch awkward phrasing
• Always proofread before publishing and use tools like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor

Resources to check out:

• Technical writing courses on Udemy
• "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser (a classic book on nonfiction writing)
• Newsletters and communities like Tech Writers Digest
• Popular technical blogs like freeCodeCamp, CSS Tricks, Smashing Magazine to study their writing styles
• Style guides from Google and Microsoft for industry standards

Remember, the most important thing is to just start. Pick one thing you‘ve learned recently and try to explain it in a few paragraphs. The rest will get easier with practice.

You have so much valuable knowledge and experience to share with the developer community. I hope this post has motivated you to conquer your fear and hesitations around writing. Your unique voice and perspective matters. The world needs more developers actively contributing to the wealth of educational content online. You got this!