The Blog Slog: An Anthology of Pitfalls

Getting a blog started seems like a straightforward operation. It falls into the category of things you think are easy because they seem so prevalent i.e. read-heavy. But when you get to actually trying to create one, you'll find yourself in a sea of choices - and these choices can make you lose your sanity. In an effort to reclaim my sanity amongst the litany of blog providers, I'm documenting my foray into the blogging ecosystem. For any aspiring blogger, I hope this saves you the pain that I went through.

I like going about things in a pretty monotonous format for any problem I'm trying to tackle because it generally helps me make sense of what matters.

The outline is roughly:

1. Problem

2. Motivation

3. Requirements + Non Requirements

4. Prior Work / Existing Solutions

5. Solution

(and occasionally, a FAQ at the end)

This is roughly similar to a VC Pitch Deck format or a project proposal or a tech spec. It ultimately is a way to clarify what you want to do, why it should be done, and how you're going to do it.

Problem

Getting a personal blog started is hard. It has a saturated market of players spanning the spectrum of DIY to DFY. In this sea of options, there is no obvious decision tree that considers a user's experience level and their skillset and guides them to the best option.

Motivation

Users on the journey of getting a personal blog (or anything really) should have something that helps them easily understand their needs and then their options. Getting a blog shouldn't involve uninformed coalescence.

Requirements

Explain the options of DFY and DIY and what the relevant features are for each provider that should matter to anyone wanting to run a blog.

Non-Requirements

...

Prior Work / Existing Solutions

Solution

A simple table (later, I'd like to make a pretty DAG).