My colleague and I published a book (w Manning) to help developers write more compelling blog posts. Bryan Cantrill wrote the foreword, Scott Hanselman wrote the afterword. Eric Lippert was the technical editor.
The book covers strategies for optimizing all phases of the technical blogging process (topic selection, planning, drafting, revising…). Then, we have fun exploring popular engineering blog post patterns such as “The Bug Hunt,” “How We Built It,” “Lessons Learned,” “We Rewrote It in X,” “Thoughts on Trends,” etc. Each "pattern" chapter includes an analysis of real-world examples as well as specific dos/don’ts for that particular pattern. There's a section on moving from blogging into opportunities such as article writing, conference speaking, and book writing. Finally, we wrap with a look at generative AI blogging uses and abuses.
It’s NOT some thinly veiled effort to sell editing/training services (we don’t have any and don't plan to). And it’s not intended to help you get rich from blogging or to divulge some magic formula for hitting the top of HN.
Part 1: Fundamentals
1 Why write
2 What to write
3 Captivating readers
Part 2: Nailing the writing process
4 Creating your working draft
5 Optimizing your draft
6 Getting feedback
7 Ship it
Part 3: Applying blog post patterns
8 The “Bug Hunt” pattern
9 The “Rewrote It in X” pattern
10 The “How We Built It” pattern
11 The “Lessons Learned” pattern
12 The “Thoughts on Trends” pattern
13 The “Non-markety Product Perspectives” pattern
14 The “Benchmarks and Test Results” pattern
Part 4: Promotion, adaptation, and expansion
15 Getting attention
16 From blog post to conference talk
17 So you want to write a book
Appendices
A. Publishing and writing resources
B. AI uses and abuses
cyndunlop•2h ago
The book covers strategies for optimizing all phases of the technical blogging process (topic selection, planning, drafting, revising…). Then, we have fun exploring popular engineering blog post patterns such as “The Bug Hunt,” “How We Built It,” “Lessons Learned,” “We Rewrote It in X,” “Thoughts on Trends,” etc. Each "pattern" chapter includes an analysis of real-world examples as well as specific dos/don’ts for that particular pattern. There's a section on moving from blogging into opportunities such as article writing, conference speaking, and book writing. Finally, we wrap with a look at generative AI blogging uses and abuses.
It’s NOT some thinly veiled effort to sell editing/training services (we don’t have any and don't plan to). And it’s not intended to help you get rich from blogging or to divulge some magic formula for hitting the top of HN.
You can read some chapters for free on the Manning site (mng.bz/Y7oK). Chapter 8 is available at https://writethatblog.substack.com/p/the-bug-hunt-blog-post-.... And if you want some other chapter(s) as a preview, find the authors and ask nicely.
Here’s the table of contents…
Part 1: Fundamentals 1 Why write 2 What to write 3 Captivating readers
Part 2: Nailing the writing process 4 Creating your working draft 5 Optimizing your draft 6 Getting feedback 7 Ship it
Part 3: Applying blog post patterns 8 The “Bug Hunt” pattern 9 The “Rewrote It in X” pattern 10 The “How We Built It” pattern 11 The “Lessons Learned” pattern 12 The “Thoughts on Trends” pattern 13 The “Non-markety Product Perspectives” pattern 14 The “Benchmarks and Test Results” pattern
Part 4: Promotion, adaptation, and expansion 15 Getting attention 16 From blog post to conference talk 17 So you want to write a book
Appendices A. Publishing and writing resources B. AI uses and abuses