A few tips, examples and encouragement on how to write an article for a blog. Covers ideas, structure, writing and editing.

1. How to write a blog post
@rouanw
http://engineering.tes.com
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2. Why
Medium to share what you think or learn
Help build a public profile for yourself
Introduce others to TES Engineering
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3. Writing a post
1. Have an idea
2. Structure
3. Write
4. Edit
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4. Ideas
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5. Audience
Who are you writing for?
Engineers looking for help on a particular topic
Engineers interested in TES's tech stack
Engineers interested in TES's way of doing things
Engineers at TES
Engineers interested in joining TES
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6. Ideas come from your every day work. What you do is interesting.
Something new you've used / tried
A difficult problem you've solved
A technique you've used to do something others
struggle with
Your reaction to a framework / coding style / opinion
/ trend
Something you've taught someone
Something someone's taught you
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7. Ideas come from your every day work. What you do is interesting.
An idea or mindset you'd like others to consider
A question you're considering
Defining something new / pointing out things you've
noticed
A conference or knowledge sharing talk or idea
Something you've hacked on
...
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8. Structure
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9. Formats
Tutorial / guide / demo (Rachel: Secure file uploads)
Case study (Jonny: Front-end performance)
Introduction (Khush: gitrob)
Experience report (JBB: Standing desks)
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10. Formats
Argument for / against something
Outline an approach
Definition
Answering / asking a question
List of tips / ideas
Interview
Comparison
Proof of concept
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11. Key message
What do you want your reader to remember?
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12. Jot down key points
Bullet list
Mindmap
Write and then extract structure
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13. Stuck?
Lists aren't scary
List of examples
Steps to get library X working with framework Y
7 things you need to remember when...
4 signs you're doing ... wrong
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14. Write it down
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15. Tips
Remember you write all the time
Flesh out each key point in turn
If you get stuck on one point, move to the next
Have a spot to jot down new ideas as they come to
you
Use a tool with built-in versioning
Move things around
Don't self-censor or edit too early
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16. Stuck?
Imagine yourself explaining to someone
Actually explain it to someone
Notice the key points you have to cover
Look at conversations you've already had on
HipChat or GitHub
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17. Editing
Making sure your point gets across
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18. Content editing
Accuracy (e.g. code examples, missing steps?)
Clarity (is it easy to understand & follow)
New ideas (for this / next article)
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19. Stylistic editing
Grammar
Writing style
Voice
Pitch
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