Blog about what you are learning

I came across Ana Rodrigues' blog post "Blogging and Me" and skimmed down to find an interesting quote from @adactio on Twitter. I'm not in the head space to read a lot of long-form content at the moment but the quote in an image really stood out to me:

“Share what you learn. And the best time to share is while you’re learning it. (You’ll have a voice in your head saying ‘Everyone knows this already’... Ignore that voice.)”

This is the underlying philosophy behind why I write this blog, articulated in an excellent way by @adactio. I write about what I find interesting. Many of my coffee posts have been written just after I have tried something new. I have wanted to share what I learned for the world so that: (i) I have a record of what I have learned and; (ii) so that other people can learn from what I have just been through.

Making coffee at home is something that a lot of people do. There are plenty of speciality coffee enthusiasts out there with much more experience and equipment than I have. But I know I have a perspective. That's all I need. I made coffee, learned something, and wanted to share what I learned. I know that a lot of people might never have encountered what I have learned.

Let me give you an example. I know that the idea of making a cappuccino at home without an espresso machine was new to some people, even though the idea has been well documented in the past. I wrote about my method because I found something that worked for me and apparently at least one person found that useful. I am amazed by how a blog post written by me in one moment can have such an impact.

For those who don't know what to write about, I'd echo @adactio's advice: write about what you are learning. If you have already learned something, share your experience. What did you feel like when you started learning that thing? What did you feel like during the learning? What mistakes did you make which, looking back, you would not make again?

Mistakes are a fun thing to share in blog posts because they show that learning is a process. I have had fun writing about how I have used mistakes to change how I make coffee because nobody is perfect. My blog posts about coffee are the result of a lot of experimentation in my kitchen. And then I wrote about them, because that's what I like doing.

Somebody has probably done what you have done before. But they probably haven't done it in the way that you have. Even if they have done what you have done and in the same way you done it, you still have your own thoughts to share. People have made cappuccinos at home. They have used similar approaches to me. But I wrote about the topic anyway because I wanted to document what I learned for other people.

Don't let anything hold you back from writing. Writing on a blog can be really fun (and you can write what you want, in the way you want, and show your content how you want, too!).