As someone who blogs sometimes about my work, I often find myself talking to peers and colleagues who tell me they’d like to do the same but—for various reasons—they don’t feel they can.
When I asked on Twitter about the biggest barriers to blogging about work, people told me that they:
- lack confidence in their writing skills
- struggle to turn their ideas into blog posts
- don’t think there’s value in what they have to say
- lose momentum throughout the writing process
- fear criticism from others
I’d really like to change this.
There’s always value in hearing someone’s unique perspective on an issue, even if that issue as a whole has been discussed at length. The world is always in need of new voices and different perspectives.
So how can we work together, as a community, to help each other to share more of our work in the open, safely and without judgement?
The idea
There are lots of ways we could approach this problem, but in the spirit of being agile—and not completely overcommitting myself—I’d like to start with a simple experiment and build on it based on what we learn.
I know a lot of people find sharing their work in big groups intimidating, so this idea involves working in pairs.
A problem shared is a problem halved
Let’s create a buddy system, partnering people who want to write a blog post, with people who are keen to support them, whilst learning more about the post’s topic.
For example, imagine that Person A wants to write a blog about designing forms for users of screen readers, but needs a bit of help writing it. And Person B, who blogs a lot, wants to learn more about accessibility in web design.
Wouldn’t it be great if they could team up and swap their skills in a way that benefits both of them? Person A gets help with their blog post, while Person B gets to deepen their knowledge of the subject matter.
Maybe in time, they could even switch roles, continuing to champion each other’s work, but now with Person B blogging while Person A provides feedback and advice.
I want to see if, by connecting people who can help each other, we can help 10 more people to share their work, and push 10 more blog posts out into the world.
So, in the spirit of keeping it simple, I’m calling this initiative “10 More Blog Posts”.
How to take part
You’ll need a Twitter account to take part.
1. Find a partner
First, decide whether you’re:
- a blogger—you’ve got an idea what you want to write about, but you need some support building confidence, structuring your ideas or getting some friendly feedback on your work.
- a content coach—maybe you’re a professional content designer, UX writer, editor, copywriter or just someone who’s good with writing blogs. Could you help someone write a blog post?
If you’re a blogger
Write a Tweet using the following template. Make sure you include the hashtag #10MoreBlogPosts so that content coaches can find you.
I'm taking part in the #10MoreBlogPosts challenge.
I'm a [job title] looking for a content coach to help me write a blog.
[If you have a specific idea, say what you’d like to write about here, for example, “I’d like to share lessons I’ve learned in my first year as a user researcher.”]
Let's team up!
bit.ly/2ZArL5O
If you’re a content coach
Write a Tweet using the following template. Make sure you include the hashtag #10MoreBlogPosts so that bloggers can find you.
I'm taking part in the #10MoreBlogPosts challenge.
I’ll help you write a blog. I’d love to learn about [say what you’d like to learn about, for example, service design in government].
Let's team up!
bit.ly/2ZArL5O
2. Pair up
Search #10MoreBlogPosts on Twitter to find someone to partner with.
Be flexible, and keep an open mind when it comes to different subject areas. There are lots of interesting things to learn from people outside of our direct networks and with different interests from our own.
Everybody’s goals will be slightly different so don’t worry if it takes a bit of time to find a partner.
When you find someone you’d like to pair with, reply to their Tweet, or drop them a direct message, and let them know.
Swap contact details and agree a time and a channel for an introduction.
If you’re struggling to find someone, or if the idea of asking on Twitter is just too excruciating, you can drop me an email at amy.l.hupe@gmail.com and I’ll see if I can help.
3. Get blogging
Agree with your partner how you want to work together. How often do you want to catch up? Where will you share drafts? And most importantly, what do you both want to get out of it?
Working together can involve anything from a quick proof-read just before publishing, a couple of agreed review points or even a pair-writing session. Lauren Currie’s post on how to start writing for the internet has some ideas on how to get started.
Most importantly, decide what works for you and your partner.
There’s only one rule: Be kind.
4. Report back
This is an experiment, and there’s only one way to know if it works.
Once you’ve finished working together, and hopefully published a shiny new blog, share your feedback on Twitter by using the #10MoreBlogPosts hashtag, or by emailing me at amy.l.hupe@gmail.com.
How will we know if it’s worked?
My plan is to try this for 3 months, until the 6 November 2019, and review the feedback I’ve received to see whether there’s any merit in this approach.
If it has, I’ll use the feedback to iterate as needed and provide some more detailed guidance on how to work together.
I’ll be taking part, too—as a content coach—so I can get some first-hand experience of what it feels like in practice.
Any questions?
I’ve kept this guidance deliberately lightweight for now because I think it’s important for people to set their own rules and objectives.
However, if anything’s not clear, you’re welcome to email me at amy.l.hupe@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to help you.
I’ve also set up a Slack organisation for people taking part in this challenge. If you’d like to join it, drop me an email and I’ll send you an invitation.
Good luck, and happy blogging :)
Acknowledgements
A big thank you to Lauren Currie, Amy Leak and Adam Silver who gave me the push I needed to get this idea off the ground and supported me in keeping it simple.
Thank you to Ignacia Orellana and Ollie Byford for their advice on the practicalities.
And thank you to the many people who responded to the Tweet that kicked it all off for your helpfulness, enthusiasm, and for not thinking this was a terrible, terrible idea!