One thing I am absolutely horrible at is writing. I may be able to throw a few sentences together, but I am absolutely horrible at writing. Why is that? Mostly because I’m afraid. There are so many things I’d like to write about, new programming ideas, new techniques learned, interesting technical and non-technical content, but I never make myself do it. I’ll get started, open up my editor, pick a topic, and start writing-but never find the will to finish.

I was reflecting on this all last week, and came to the conclusion that I hate to fail. When I start writing, I envision a perfect article / blog post / paper that everyone will love, and that will be absolutely perfect. But when I actually start writing, I realize how much energy and effort is required in order to make it as perfect as I envision, and then give up, knowing that I will not be able to reach that level.

So I’m making a resolution with myself that I’ll try to strictly enforce: if I start writing something I will finish it, no matter how bad it turns out to be.

I think it will be a great learning tool for me, to force myself to improve as a writer and a thinker, and I’m looking forward to it.

Writing is hard.