[jasonthevillain]

Yes. The last thing the world needs is more half-baked self-promoting drivel.

I love writing. I put more than half of mine in a drawer. A drawer is a wonderful place for of unfinished drafts that aren't ready or aren't working.

I don't know if everyone should write; that feels presumptuous. But if you do, I highly recommend a drawer.

[rayalez]

Bad writing hasn't ever hurt anybody.

I say - write as well as you can and as much as you can, and don't worry about quality. And if putting it online helps to motivate you - go ahead, use every tool you need to keep moving forward, because that is what matters, this is the only thing that matters.

There's been so many times when I was not sure whether my post was worth publishing, and then have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. And then there's been plenty of times I've written something I'm really proud of, and nobody cared.

So don't worry about the drawer, and don't worry how good your writing is, or "whether you should be a writer". All that's gonna do is make you insecure and stand in your way.

Just put yourself out there, even if you're feeling uncertain. Writing always has positive value, to you and to people around. Worst case scenario - nobody will read it, so by putting it in the drawer, you're guaranteeing the worst case scenario.

[mememachine]

No, what makes you insecure is pretending youre a writer, when you know you arent. Thats why writers are perpetually insecure, in a nutshell. The advice youre giving is bad advice, as in, literally bad for you.

[rayalez]

This is nonsense. What does entitle someone to be called "a writer" other than, you know, writing things? If you're writing - you're a writer. If you've practiced enough to develop good skill - you're a good writer. If you've found a way to make money with it - you're a professional writer.

Writing is never bad for you. It's like saying that you shouldn't be pretending to be a programmer, when you know you arent. What the fuck does that even mean?

First you aren't a writer/programmer. Then you pretend to be a writer/programmer, by attempting to do what writers/programmers do. Then, if you keep doing it long enough, you become one.

[mememachine]

Yes, you can become a good writer, but dont pretend you are one.

And yes, writing can be bad for you. You sound like someone whos very attached to the idea that writing is good, but maybe lacking in reasons.

Writing, like everything, takes work. For a lot of people its a complete waste of time.

To me, most writing has no value.

[flocial]

You do realize the irony of your statement. Or do comments on HN not count as writing and therefore not a waste of time?

I would like to know how writing could be bad for you. Please elaborate.

[mememachine]

Theres no irony in my statement. Youre just not (intentionally or unintentionally) trying to understand me.

[vbernat]

On the other hand, publishing publicly will force you to fix every little detail.

For example, the most popular article on my blog is about the TCP "time wait" state on Linux. I knew for years how it worked and wanted for people to stop blindly use some sysctls. Therefore, I thought, what's best than a blog post to spread some awareness on this? But, for every sentence, I had to be sure that this was true. So, I checked, I tested. It took me a lot of time. I would never have done that if this was just for my drawer. My drawer never sets random sysctls and my drawer doesn't know better than me, nor it would shame me for telling incorrect stuff.

It's like publishing as an open source project: you have to be more rigorous in what you publish. There is some balance to find.

[jasonthevillain]

I agree.

The open source analogy is actually pretty good. Some projects you know you how to go about right away. But when you're not sure, start anyway; rough drafts are like prototypes. Dropping a few (not all) can be part of the process.