I Have Been Writing A Blog For 10 Months: Here Is My Story

UpdatedMarch 25, 2022

Ayu is a tech blogger, open source contributor & maintainer, and tech community enthusiast based in the Netherlands. She loves photography and iced coffee!

Comments (15)

Join the discussion

Cathal Mac Donnacha4y ago

Great article and this is a fantastic quote: "I write for myself, for the future me.".

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Thank you so much, Cathal Mac Donnacha 🚀! Also for reading! 😄

Sandeep4y ago

Hi Ayu! I am new to hashnode.

Your article is definitely an inspiration for me!! I will do my best to connect with the community and be an awesome writer like you.

Keep rocking!

P.S. I am also bad at English!!

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Welcome to Hashnode, Sandeep! 👋😀

I'm far from awesome 😅 But thank you so much for your kind words! 😊

PS: Your English is great!

Annie 🦄⚡4y ago

Great stuff Ayu!!! I'm so happy to see you blogging here on Hashnode and I love what you wrote about writing for yourself! I think blogging once or twice a month is a great goal- that's definitely more than me, haha!! You're an inspiration! 🥰

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Wow! Thank you for your kind words, Annie!!! 😄

Likewise here, you're one of my inspirations!!! ❤

Himanshu Singh4y ago

Nice blog Ayu,

I can relate to the feeling of not getting reactions. I have written 8 blogs on Hashnode, but have not got many reactions. But still, whenever while reading a book I find any nice topic, I write about it.

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Thank you, Himanshu! 😃

Just keep writing for yourself and the rest will come! 😊

Himanshu Singh4y ago

Thanks Ayu, will keep it.

Tijani Ayomide4y ago

Thanks for sharing... I recently found out that my articles actually help people out ( i assumed I was writing for myself 😅 )... I will also continue writing ✊🏿😄

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Awesome, Tijan Ayomide! Keep on writing! 😄

And thank you for reading! 😃

Bowrna Prabhakaran4y ago

Thank you Ayu Adiati

It's motivating to finish my long pending blogposts in the draft.

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Thank you, and also for reading, Bowrna Prabhakaran!

I hope you will finish and publish them soon! 😊

Nilesh Yadav4y ago

Your article was really an inspiration for me 😇. Thank you for sharing your experience 😊.

Ayu Adiati4y ago

I'm very happy to hear this! Thank you so much for reading and for your time to give feedback, Nilesh Yadav! 😄

Marko Denic4y ago

Nice write-up, Ayu.

I'm also blogging a bit at my blog. It's been quite interesting so far.

Btw, I didn't know about Virtual Coffee, so thank you for sharing.

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Thank you for reading, Marko 😄

I don't know if you notice, but I've been following you since I joined Hashnode, and on Twitter 🙂

You definitely want to check Virtual Coffee! It would be nice to have more fellow writers there. Victoria Lo has joined too 😉

Marko Denic4y ago

Ayu, thank you for your support. 🙏

I'll definitely check Virtual Coffee out.

Deactivated User4y ago

Well progressed! Hope I can do more writing, too.

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Terimakasih, Ilham! 😊 I hope you will write more and share them with us! 😄

Yosra Emad4y ago

That was a great blog post! thank you for sharing this!

Ayu Adiati4y ago

Thank you so much for reading, Yosra Emad! 🙏😄

More from this blog

I Was Skeptical of AI. Then It Saved Me Hours of Writing.

Hi friends 👋, I've been writing tech blog posts for a few years now. If you don't know me yet, English is my second language. My mother tongue is Indonesian, and I'm also surrounded by Dutch every da

Jul 7, 20269 min read

I Was Skeptical of AI. Then It Saved Me Hours of Writing.

From Helping Out to Taking Ownership: The Art of Sticking Around

I frequently receive messages from enthusiastic contributors who have completed 2 or 3 high-quality pull requests (PRs) in just 1 month. They’re proactive, their work is top-tier, and they’ve handled

Apr 8, 20266 min read

From Helping Out to Taking Ownership: The Art of Sticking Around

The Curated, Automated Open Source Portfolio: How It’s Going

A few months ago, I shared a story about building an automated open source portfolio using just my smartphone and an AI assistant while on vacation. My main goal was to stop the "spreadsheet struggle"

Apr 1, 20266 min read

The Curated, Automated Open Source Portfolio: How It’s Going

Open Source Engagement: What's Working Now?

Recently, I read Bekah Hawrot Weigel’s blog post, "When 'Local' Went Global: The Pandemic Era of International Communities." As someone active in many online communities, I found it a bit sad, but I agree with her points and think they apply to open ...

Dec 10, 20253 min read

Open Source Engagement: What's Working Now?

Beyond Hacktoberfest: Building a True Open Source Journey

Hacktoberfest is almost over. How has your contribution journey been so far? Are you confident about contributing to open source projects, or are you still struggling to find your way? If you're new to open source and still feel overwhelmed, that's c...

Oct 27, 20258 min read

Beyond Hacktoberfest: Building a True Open Source Journey

Ayu's Notes On Blog

102 posts

Tech blogger | Open source documentation maintainer | Tech community builder

Hello Fellow Writers & Codenewbies 👋,

What made you think to become a writer, and how did you start?

That is one of the topics that never bored me!
I love to hear people's stories about their journey to become a writer. Especially technical writer.
People's journeys are unique and very inspiring!

But in this article, I want to share my writing journey in the past 10 months. How I decided to write a blog, keep writing, and my goals in writing 😊.

How Did I Start Writing?

Fall In Love

That was the beginning of all. I fall in love with writing!
I organize my schedules and tasks on the agenda. While scrapbooking, I write my notes on notebooks and dump my brain in a bullet journal.
I. Love. To. Write. About. Anything.

I Tried, But...

One of the things that inspired me to learn web development was I wanted to create my own website. I wanted to write a blog and showcase my photography hobby as personal documentation.
But years passed, and I got busier with learning, and I completely forgot about my initial purpose.

Whenever I read technical and non-technical articles around tech, they remind me of what I wanted to do.
To write a blog and put my notes out there.

One day I pushed myself to write my first article on DEV. Then my second, followed by the third. All in one month.
No one gave reactions. No one read my articles. So I stopped. I stopped because these thoughts were lingering in my head:

I'm unqualified to write any articles in public.
Maybe people don't understand my English.
Maybe my articles are not attractive because someone already wrote what I wrote. Why did I write it anyway? What should I write then?
Maybe because I'm a newbie, my articles sound mediocre or even stupid.

And the list went on until I hit the imposter syndrome.

Changed My Purpose

My community, Virtual Coffee, holds monthly challenges for its members. It was November 2020. They had the "National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)" challenge, and I participated.

This time around, I changed my perspective and purpose in writing.
I write for myself, for the future me.
I put my notes out there to get back to them whenever needed.
It helps me a lot in writing without burden. I don't mind if no one would read my articles or if my articles aren't good enough.
Having the whole community write together also boosts my motivation. I have become more confident in writing.

I bought a domain and made an account on Hashnode.
I also participated in the #2articles1week and Crazy Blogger challenges on Hashnode to build a writing routine.
I then cross-post my articles to DEV, and later on, CodeNewbie.

Since I changed my purpose in writing, I don't think of anything else but to write whenever I have an idea in mind.
So it surprised me a lot when some of my articles get recognized across blogging platforms. I never imagined any of these.

What Motivates Me Keep Writing?

It's Fun

Yes! Because it's fun! Writing is very relaxing to me.
Even though it takes me 3 to 4 hours to write an article of 500-800 words!
I'm not a native English speaker. So I need more time to think of the vocabulary, grammar, and how to plan the sentences.

Learn In Public

Besides doing #100DaysOfCode on Twitter, writing is also a medium for me to do learning in public.
Sharing my notes and experiences has connected me with great technical writers and many readers. We learn together and from each other.

Retain My Knowledge And Gain New Knowledge

When I learn something, I always take notes with pen and paper.
Then I will draft an article. I always do more research, mainly when I write technical articles. Most of the time, I learn something new along the way.
These writing processes help me retain my knowledge and gain a new understanding.

Help Others

This is my biggest motivation to keep writing.
Many content creators have been helping me in my learning journey through their content. And I want to give back through my writing. I want to help others who are in my shoes.
The happiest moment for me is whenever I hear that one of my articles is helping or inspiring someone.

My Goals In Writing

I don't have any particular goals except to be a better writer and have a better writing style.
I want to improve my technical writing skill so people can enjoy reading my articles even more.

How about you?
What inspires you to start writing, and what are your goals? Do share them with us in the comment below! 😄

📢 A Little Announcement

sad news gif

I do enjoy writing in these past 10 months.
Due to life, writing an article or more in a week is no longer doable for me.
I will reduce the time to publish my articles to one or two articles a month with a heavy heart.
But I will continue writing! 😊

Thank you for reading!
Last but not least, you can find me on Twitter. Let's connect! 😊

Command Palette

Comments (15)

More from this blog

How Did I Start Writing?

Fall In Love

I Tried, But...

Changed My Purpose

What Motivates Me Keep Writing?

It's Fun

Learn In Public

Retain My Knowledge And Gain New Knowledge

Help Others

My Goals In Writing

📢 A Little Announcement