Want To Write As A Coder? Start With TIL Posts

10 Apr 2025 #writing

If you want to start a coding blog, don’t start with a deep dive of the Linux Kernel or other cryptic topics, unless you’re an expert on them.

Instead write short “Today I Learned” (TIL) posts.

TIL posts are shorter posts where you share something you’ve found or figured out.

When writing TIL posts, you don’t have to worry about long introductions or conclusions. Just write a good headline, a code block, a quick explanation, and your sources. And write using your own words, like in a conversation with a coworker. Here are my TIL posts as example.

That’s enough to make a post worth reading.

TIL posts invite people into your learning journey.

Don’t try to lecture the coding world about what they should do. Start documenting your learning instead.

Instead of writing “5 VS Code extensions every coder should install,” try “TIL: 5 VS Code extensions I couldn’t avoid installing.”

Or instead of “5 Git commands every coder should know,” covering the same basic Git commands, write “TIL: 5 Git basic commands to use everyday” or “TIL: How Git Status works.”

Did you spend 20 minutes or more figuring out something? write a TIL post. That’s the easiest way to start a coding blog. And don’t think of writing your own blogging engine.