<p>Hello, you. There’s a thing we used to do, way back when, where bloggers would write a post, and then tag in some other folks to see how they’d respond. I did <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-day-typical/">a different challenge a few years back</a>, and was <em>delighted</em> when <a href="https://hicks.design/journal/blog-questions-challenge">Jon</a> and <a href="https://nazhamid.com/journal/blog-questions/">Naz</a> kindly tagged me for this latest one: to answer a set of questions about how I blog, and why.</p> <p>So! Here I am, and happily.</p> <h2 id="hed-why-did-you-start-blogging-in-the-first-place" tabindex="-1">Why did you start blogging in the first place?</h2> <p>Everybody was doing it! When I got started in the tech industry, I think <a href="https://scottandrew.com/">Scott Andrew LePera</a> was one of the first bloggers I read who was writing about, well, what I was doing every single day. Through him I found Mark Pilgrim, Molly Holzschlag, Jeffrey Zeldman, Erin Kissane, Paul Ford, Dean Allen, and so many, many more. Every single one of them was posting industry news, links, opinions, and<span class="w"> —</span> this is the important bit<span class="w"> —</span> <em>space for other writers</em>, linking to other, newer voices onto their own sites.</p> <p>It felt like a community, really. In those early days, it felt like home.</p> <h2 id="hed-what-platform-are-you-using-to-manage-your-blog-and-why-did-you-choose-it-have-you-blogged-on-other-platforms-before" tabindex="-1">What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it? Have you blogged on other platforms before?</h2> <p>Last year, I switched from <a href="https://jekyllrb.com/">jekyll</a> to <a href="https://www.11ty.dev/">Eleventy</a>. I wrote up <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/eleventy/">a few of the reasons I chose it</a>, but: it’s fast, it’s flexible, and its community seems to be thriving. It’s early days yet, but it’s working pretty well so far.</p> <p>Prior to that? Oh my goodness, let’s see. I started blogging on a home-rolled CMS, if you can call some frankly <em>horrendous</em> PHP and MySQL a “CMS.” A year or two after that, I switched over to WordPress. <sup class="footnote-ref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn-whoops" id="fnref-fn-whoops" aria-labelledby="title-footnotes">1</a></sup> A few years later, I used ExpressionEngine to launch my next blog. I tinkered with a few other platforms in those early days<span class="w"> —</span> I set up TextPattern (😢) for a side project; I worked with Movable Type when I was part of the <a href="https://www.webstandards.org/">Web Standards Project</a>, and with Tumblr when I was at <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/hello-editorially/">Editorially</a><span class="w"> —</span> but those are the main ones that got me started.</p> <h2 id="hed-how-do-you-write-your-posts-for-example-in-a-local-editing-tool-or-in-a-paneldashboard-thats-part-of-your-blog" tabindex="-1">How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?</h2> <p>I’m always writing in Markdown. New posts get created in a directory I’ve set up for drafts, and I’ll edit them in <a href="https://code.visualstudio.com/">the text editor</a> I use to work on my website. <sup class="footnote-ref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn-vscode" id="fnref-fn-vscode" aria-labelledby="title-footnotes">2</a></sup> If I have a longer post<span class="w"> —</span> something with a lot of moving parts, or something I know I’ll want to edit on my phone<span class="w"> —</span> I’ll work on it in <a href="https://obsidian.md/">Obsidian</a>, which is easily my favorite writing environment since <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/hello-editorially/">Editorially</a>. But regardless of the app I’m using, I’ll work in that drafts directory until the post’s done; once it is, I’ll move it over into the “live” folder, and deploy my site to publish it.</p> <p>Ultimately, I’d love to just work exclusively in Obsidian, with my posts auto-building as I write. This was all sparked by <a href="https://mastodon.social/@kepano/113681623670794974">this demo I saw from the CEO of Obsidian</a>, and at some point I’ll spend the time to get all of that wired up.</p> <h2 id="hed-when-do-you-feel-most-inspired-to-write" tabindex="-1">When do you feel most inspired to write?</h2> <p>Oof. This is a hard one to answer.</p> <p>In the early days, blogging was something I used to <em>share</em>: <a href="http://sidesh0w.com/weblog/2003/09/15/dudeokielag/">something ridiculous I’d read online</a>, a <a href="http://sidesh0w.com/weblog/2003/09/16/cssonlymostlystupid/">weird little code snippet</a>, or even <a href="https://unstoppablerob.otninja.com/entry/fluid-images/">a new technique I wanted to get in front of other people</a>. Hell, sometimes I’d just <a href="http://sidesh0w.com/weblog/2003/09/23/requisiteweatherrant/">gripe about the weather</a>, or <a href="http://sidesh0w.com/photos/200403_sxsw/">post some photos online</a>. It was my own little Twitter before Twitter existed, really: have a thought, post a thought.</p> <p>It’s hard for me to look at those old links now. There’s some cringing, to be sure, but also a little envy: I sometimes wish I felt comfortable writing so openly.</p> <p>These days, my blogging feels a little…heavier? Definitely more circumspect. This site’s a mixture of the personal and the professional<span class="w"> —</span> and for me at least, the ratio feels skewed more toward the latter. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, I suppose. But it does mean that when I’m writing, it’s about <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/you-deserve-a-tech-union-launch/">a professional milestone</a>, some <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-design-systems-between-us/">thoughts on the industry</a>, or to work through <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/how-i-write-conference-talks/">something</a> <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/notes-from-a-week/">heavier</a>.</p> <p>Anger is a motivator as well, though I’m not proud to admit it. I wish the tech industry was better; I wish the world was better; right now, I <em>sorely</em> wish my country was better. This website’s one outlet I have to wish things were different, and to maybe dream of something better.</p> <h2 id="hed-do-you-publish-immediately-after-writing-or-do-you-let-it-simmer-a-bit-as-a-draft" tabindex="-1">Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?</h2> <p>I’m somewhere between the two. My drafts don’t usually sit around too long, taking shape after a day or three. If I can get a post to a workable point, I’ll do a few editing passes before publishing.</p> <p>Honestly, I wish I was a lot more casual about my writing here, but I’ve always felt really self-conscious about the words I’m putting online. I know, I know<span class="w"> —</span> this is “my” blog. But at the same time, I’m keenly aware there’s <em>someone</em> else who’ll read this. So: edits.</p> <h2 id="hed-whats-your-favorite-post-on-your-blog" tabindex="-1">What’s your favorite post on your blog?</h2> <p>It’s not a <em>blog post qua blog post</em>, but I think my favorite entry in <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/">the ol’ journal</a> is <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-world-wide-work/">the transcript of “The World-Wide Work”</a>, my first talk on the need for unions in tech.</p> <h2 id="hed-any-future-plans-for-your-blog-maybe-a-redesign-a-move-to-another-platform-or-adding-a-new-feature" tabindex="-1">Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?</h2> <p>I’ve got a few things. Nothing especially thrilling, but:</p> <ul> <li>I’ve been working on a redesign for the better part of the last year. That’s not an indicator of its complexity or quality, mind: the last year’s just been <em>a whole entire lot</em>, and I haven’t had the time or the spoons to focus on my website.</li> <li>I want to move my <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/subscribe/">newsletter</a> off of Mailchimp and onto another service. I should’ve made the move after <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90877547/mailchimp-gpt-powered-tool-can-write-marketing-emails">Mailchimp first announced they were going all-in on “artificial intelligence” nonsense</a>, but again<span class="w"> —</span> spoons, time, &c.</li> <li>This one’s a bit random, but: I’d like to figure out how this whole <span class="w">✌🏻ecommerce✌🏻</span> thing works! I’ve got a thing I’ll be selling soon<span class="w"> —</span> and at some point, maybe a few more things<span class="w"> —</span> and I’d love to set up a little storefront here.</li> </ul> <p>No big platform shifts in the works, thankfully. The switch to Eleventy just happened, and I’d like to give it a year or two to see how it works out.</p> <h2 id="hed-whos-next" tabindex="-1">Who’s next?</h2> <p>I know how busy people are, especially while the world’s on fire. But if they’re game, I’d <em>love</em> to hear how <a href="https://anhvn.com/about/">anh</a>, <a href="https://kayserifserif.place/">Katherine</a>, <a href="https://maya.land/">Maya</a>, <a href="https://www.jacky.wtf/">Jacky</a>, and <a href="https://henry.codes/">Henry</a> would answer these questions.</p> <hr /> <div class="footnotes flow"> <h2 class="hed-footnotes has-dash" id="title-footnotes">Footnotes</h2> <ol><li id="fn-whoops" class="footnote-item"><p>Was that because I accidentally deleted my the site’s database, and didn’t have any backups? That’s none of my business. <a href="#fnref-fn-whoops" class="reversefootnote">↩︎</a></p> </li> <li id="fn-vscode" class="footnote-item"><p>It’s fine, though the steady increase of “AI” “features” means I’m probably going to be looking for a replacement soon. <a href="#fnref-fn-vscode" class="reversefootnote">↩︎</a></p> </li> </ol> </div>
<hr /> <p>This has been “<a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/blog-questions-challenge/">A challenge of blog questions.</a>” a post from <a href="https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/">Ethan’s journal.</a></p> <p><a href="mailto:listener+rss@ethanmarcotte.com?subject=Reply%20to:%20“A challenge of blog questions.”">Reply via email</a></p>