[dirkc]

> There's a weird 'blogging is good' mentality around here but the truth is writing a decent blog post takes a lot of time and gives very little return.

I think the argument is 'writing is good'. But writing in isolation provides little feedback or upside, so there is some desire / pressure to publish what you write.

As to why - writing forces you to formulate thoughts in a linear fashion to communicate them with an audience you might not know. I personally want to better develop that skill!

[lapcat]

> But writing in isolation provides little feedback or upside, so there is some desire / pressure to publish what you write.

This is like saying that that personal hobbies provide little feedback or upside.

The upside is that you enjoy the activity and what it produces. That's also the feedback.

Are you claiming that nobody should write a diary without publishing it to the world?

[dirkc]

I'm 100% for writing a diary, journal, lab notes, personal knowledge base, etc without ever publishing it. I think it's a great thing to do.

But I think publishing your writing requires you to consider an audience and be clear about what you're saying. I've gone back through my journals many times and wondered what I meant when I wrote it?

Additionally publishing something add upside - like someone sending you an email asking a question or others building on your ideas.

ps. I'm not saying this as a success writer, I'm saying this as someone with almost a 100 unpublished drafts and some regrets :)

[jodrellblank]

> As to why - writing forces you to formulate thoughts in a linear fashion

but why is that desirable?