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by tetraca 1189 days ago
Writing is the easy part. I get stuck on the publishing part. I always worry that I'm going to publish something that people will dislike, and I think that reddit tainted my thinking in that way.
4 comments

Often people critique a small part of what you wrote. If I'm feeling attacked, it helps to remember that it's often about one or two sentences in a several page article.

If the critique covers the entire article, either the person holds a different opinion (in which no one is 'right') or the premise of the article is false. Either way, it's good to hear why.

On the one off occasion that someone is writing hurtful comments (and you can't seem to get it out of your head), looking through that persons comment history often reveals a pattern of abrasive commentary and at least for me makes it easier not to take it personally.

If you have something to share, publish! There's always someone who will enjoy reading it, and that makes it worth it.

I had this blocker to writing as well. The key for me was to stop writing for your readers, write for yourself. Who cares if someone disagrees with your thoughts?

https://bower.sh/on-will-to-action

Not sure if "writing" is the easy part if.. say, you're trying to write a book.

Some of my favorite posts here are my most downvoted.

I write a lot in this HN comment box and post and then immediately delete. Probably my favorite.

But I've written a couple of books and that kind of writing, re-writing, editing and publishing is radically different from posting online.

I would agree that making something good, large, and structured is quite hard. I never finished at least two ideas along those lines because I could never decide where to go and how to finish them.

If the muses strike me just right I feel like I could write for ages though. Then it goes in a directory somewhere, never to be seen again.

Don't publish it then.