10 Invaluable Tips for Successful Tech Articles
I'm a developer learning to write technical articles. This is my journey.
1. Go straight to the point
Don't start with an introduction. People's attention is too scarce.
Move introduction to the bottom where people are already attracted by your article.
An invitation to keep reading and a FOMO call.
Example
See this article tagline. Many writing platforms include taglines along with the heading as a preview. It is also very important for SEO.
Tip: check your title case.
2. Write for yourself
Write about things you care. You can always check for hot topics and article requests. My personal advice is:
Write about something that you are passionate about.
Example
Engage in discussions about something that moves you. You can do it on Twitter, Discord, Forums, etc.
Tip: Ask for opinions and write an article on the discussion.
3. Write for research
Writing is a great opportunity for research. You need to learn and master a topic to teach others.
Example
I wrote this article because I came across the concept of Zombies and got excited about it. Read a lot and wrote my own examples.
Tip: Have a ToDo lists of things you wish to learn.
4. Write in plain English
English is not my first language. I wrote my first articles using presumptuous words (like this one).
Then I came across plain English.
Made some free courses and learned the basic rules.
Example
The form must be completed by the applicant and received by the financial office by August 1st.
This uses a passive voice and it is ambiguous.
We must receive your form by August 1st.
Straight to the point.
Tip: Use online checkers (described below).
5. Picture and headline are the only stuff 100% users read.
Choose an attractive (but never misleading) title. Use provocative but conceptual pictures.
Example
There are lots of free to use pictures on Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Stockvault and more sites. Don't forget to add a courtesy backlink like this one:
Photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash
Tip: Search for allegorical and abstract images.
6. Play especial atention to, Spellimg, gramma And capitalisation.
This is important if you are a non-English speaker. Did you notice the above title?
We don't read as we speak.
We must omit passive voice, avoid forceful words, etc.
Example
Use Language tool, Grammarly or similar and Hemingway Editor for improvement.
Tip: Translate the sentence to your language back and forth.
7. Be consistent
Try to develop a personal style and stay loyal to it. People will recognize it as your fingerprint.
Example
I write one article a day with the same template format.
Tip: Have a template in markdown.
8. Use code examples
Humans learn by examples. Tu support your story or thesis a clarifying example helps a lot.
Embed code in gist. So you can update it if someone points an error and you can also run it and debug it there.
Also, it is easy for your readers to copy and paste it.
Example
The Code Smell series has examples in many languages which I don't master. This is also related to tip 3)
Tip: Have the code under version control.
9. Cross-reference your articles
To keep articles small you should link subtopics to new articles. This will work as a zooming concept reading list.
Example
This whole article is a cross posting example. It has many hyperlinks for related concepts and details.
Tip: Cross post from popular articles to strategic ones.
10. Read and Follow the Right People
Writing tech articles is a meta activity.
Besides your domain expertise (I follow software crafters), you also need to follow tech writing experts.
Example
Find your favorite writing authors like Victoria Lo, Sai Laasya Vabilisetty, Tapas Adhikary, Amarachi Emmanuela Azubuike or Catalin Pit.
Follow blogging topics like technical writing, blogging, writing developer-blogging, etc.
Tip: Follow them!
Conclusion
I always wrap up my articles with a short paragraph.
These tips are the beginning of my personal quest.
Hopefully more tips will come very soon and will add new articles to the series
Senior Software engineer. @udemy Writer, ECMAScript addict, React, NodeJS, coffee enthusiast.
Amazing article to bookmark! 😊 One cool thing that helped to start writing was the need of master in some content, when I write I am too worried about don't write wrong things so I fell obligated to do as much research as possible.
IT Business analyst | Software developer
Great content. Thanks for sharing
Software craftsman. I write about Software Engineering (clean code, design, testing, ...) and also about Algorithms & Data Structures.
Great article Maxi!
I specially liked the point about the code examples. It reminded me of testing 😁
I am Jack’s fruitless aspiration.
"Picture and headline are the only stuff 100% users read."
A nerd in books, tea, games and software.
Awesome one! Thanks for the mention too! :)
Frontend Web Developer💙
Great article indeed with very helpful tips. Thanks for mention too ❤
Java Developer | Machine Learning| Tech Blogger
All points are perfectly written!! Keep writing😊
Thanks for the mention it means a lot!
☝ UI/UX/ML | ✍️ Technology Blogger | 🎤 Speaker
Maxi Contieri, Very crisp and to the point. Thanks for sharing and mentioning among awesome writers.
Vintage Social Media Strategist
Would you consider this post
- appropriate for the #programming tag
- what do you think about the rules?
It's from memory so I apologize if it's really harsh. I was a child at the time and honestly, it has turned out to be ... well good advice.
Maxi Contieri Thank you for your response.
Would you like to elaborate through an article or in this comment? The developer was autistic so I'm curious where you see a break in the logic?
Additionally, so I completely understand how I should proceed here, could you provide your recommendation for hashtags for this article please and thank you --> theblog.loptrlab.com/creating-opportunities..
Hi don't make recommendations on Tags. Watch your candidate tags articles and see if they are related to your article.
I just keep up with the #programming tag, and as you might read on the above article, it is a hard job because things are not black or white, so I try to do my best.
A Python programmer and Rosetta Code contributor
Abstract? It's nice to first read about what the guts of the article is about.
Hi Paddy McCarthy!
I'm not pretty certain about your point.
You mean I missed the 'abstract' section?
If this is the question is the first line.
I'm a developer learning to write technical articles. This is my journey.
It is a technical article. I published some scientific papers, so I might be biased of the 'abstract' meaning (which this article lacks on purpose).
I'm open to suggestions.
It seems you have an Abstract. Maybe that should be point zero; inserted before your current first point? Maxi Contieri
Comments (18)