The most important thing in HabrĂ© is his readers, who are also authors. Without them, Habr would not exist. Therefore, we are always interested in how they are doing. On the eve of the second â TechnoText â we decided to talk with the winners of the last competition and the top habra-creator about their hard writing life. We hope that their answers will help someone write more and better, and someone just start writing.
What motivates authors to write in Habr
Pavel Zhovner ( @zhovner ), published 42 articles on Habré
Habra - this is corny the best dviglo from collective blogging platforms on the Internet. For some reason, no one was able to make a NORMAL site for technical blogs in which you can simultaneously write longreads and full comments.
Medium - just trash is incomprehensible to anyone. Three lines of text fit on the screen, comments cannot be written - each comment is made out as a separate post on the authorâs blog.
Reddit is just links to other pages. You cannot write a full post on Reddit itself.
Slashdot - it seems like the closest English-language analogue of Habr. In fact, uncomfortable, slowed down and also without normal posts.
As a result, there are two options: either a standalone-blochik that will see one and a half people, or Habr.
Evgeny Trifonov ( @phillennium ), published 274 articles on Habr
Motivate several different things at once. For example, while preparing a text, you learn something new and arrange in your head the already known. And when you see that your texts are interesting to someone, it contributes to the release of dopamine.
Ivan Bogachev ( @ sfi0zy ), published 18 articles on Habré
Writing articles is a good way to structure information in your head and "save it to an external medium." This helps free your head for fresh ideas and develop further. As a bonus, articles can help other people in some ways, and this is a plus for karma and reputation in the professional community.
Marat Sibgatulin ( @eucariot ), published 116 articles on Habré
Habr became for me a gateway to the world of technical articles even when the right to write comments needed to be earned.
He still remains a community that is interested in original articles and can provide adequate feedback.
Ivan Gumenyuk ( @Meklon ), published 54 articles on Habré
I am sincerely convinced that a little chaos and madness should be brought into the world. All such serious people go around - mortgages, careers, meetings and all that. For me, publishing is an opportunity to share with people some ordinary things from a new perspective.
There is another motive. I am extremely happy when I manage to explain in simple terms to people the complex things that I understand. In this regard, I am very proud of my cycle devoted to vision correction, posts about connective tissue dysplasia and more.
And sometimes you just want to share some news or a problem in order to hear the opinion of the community and get feedback. Nevertheless, it is the response of the audience that is the key point for the author. No one is interested in writing on the table.
Alexander Borisovich ( @Alexufo ), published 19 articles on Habré
- There is interesting material that nobody will do except me. The only chance to maintain the importance of the topic that you felt is to convert your experience into something. The best I came up with was publishing. Converting personal interesting experience into the attention of readers fits perfectly into the economic model of Habr. You do not let materials sink because of your economic interests.
- Reader feedback. This is not much different from a miracle. Friends of interest - this is one of the best that is on the Internet.
- Desire for attention. Many authors will say that they are either unique in knowledge among their working circle of communication, or feel the need to speak out where they are appreciated. Why should I write somewhere, if I feel good? Or maybe someone feels his role as a teacher, but he is not allowed to show it anywhere else.
In Sberbank, as well as on Habr, information security is the most important of topics. And one of the most difficult. It mixed not only technology, but also psychology with sociology. We want every client of the bank to know that the company he trusted in is doing everything possible so that his data and finances are safe. And it is important that a person knows how he can protect them in situations when it depends on himself. Educational work in cybersecurity is one of the missions of Sberbank, so we are looking forward to articles on this topic at TechnoText.
Sberbank ( @Sber )
How to write text
Alexey Statsenko ( @MagisterLudi ), published a 601 article on Habré
I'm waiting for the topic to find me. When I set a plan, it turns out inanimate shit. It's like a plan to meet a girl. I want, they say, a blonde 100-120-100, and you go, look, just like a fool, this one. And you miss the most delicious.
Alexander Borisovich
I do not know when the preparation of the post begins. A lot of things are spinning in my head. There is a feeling when it's time - all the material is felt from and to. If I had not posted the last posts, I would have clinked glasses because of a feeling of personal unproductive.
Ivan Bogachev
I do not come up with topics artificially - I just describe what I see around. Usually the post ripens for a long time in the head, but then it is written in one day. My experience shows that if you clearly see the image of the article, then writing it simply cannot take a lot of time.
Ivan Gumenyuk
I write posts for a very long time, for which I am often very uncomfortable with readers. Most often you need to dive deep into the problem, put a bunch of experiments to do something really cool.
For example, a post about how we made coffee spectrophotometry. This experiment took us more than a month. We created wild garbage according to all the rules of science with the labeling of samples and compliance with technological processes. It was just fun.
And I also remember my post with profiteroles. And endless packs of eggs spent on the experiment. There I really wanted to reach the finals and get the very ideal recipe with the most described physical model, so that everyone could get a repeatable result.
Bunin conferences are not just conferences about high loads, this is a place of strength for a senior programmer. In the blog on Habré, we always want to make good content: interesting, highlooking, but one that will get wide coverage. Interesting task, isn't it? With the 10 best authors of the contest, we will conclude contracts for a year on the development of content for Oleg Bunin's blog. Authors will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the world of highload loads, to ride at 20 conferences dedicated to the most relevant industry topics. We hold the best professional conferences in Russia: RIT ++ (Russian Internet technologies), HighLoad ++, TeamLead Conf, DevOpsConf, Frontend Conf, Whale Rider and many others.
Oleg Bunin , â Oleg Bunin Conferences â
Do authors read comments
Pavel Zhovner
Often, comments on Habré are more valuable than the post itself. Especially criticism, which makes it easy to understand whether the author really understands the topic and how competent he is to defend his position. The ability to conduct a discussion correctly and respectfully distinguishes a professional with experience from an amateur (sucker).
On corporate blogs, comments always show how specialists are involved in discussing issues and public life of the company. Worst of all, when PR managers have to puff out all the shoals, they are unknowingly forced to give streamlined, meaningless answers.
Most of the comments are left for posts that do not require any special knowledge, where everyone can feel like an expert: about politics, relationships, psychology, taste. I advise you to avoid such posts and never comment on them, so as not to look stupid.
Marat Sibgatulin
Feedback, whether negative or positive, is the reaction of the audience. And itâs for the sake of the audience that we write. So feel free to comment.
Alexey Statsenko
There are a couple of favorite comments. I donât remember all of the 600 publications, but I know for sure that I neighing and enjoyed the comments a couple of times. And he even wrote: âThat's why I love Habr.â
Writing people in Russia are in short supply. It is always not without difficulty that we find the authors of training courses: for this we need specialists who are well versed in their field and who can write interestingly.
It is joyful that Habr is organizing a competition for technical authors. This is an opportunity for employers and participants to find each other.
We established the nomination âJust about difficultâ: we select a text that accurately and simply tells about technologies. And for the best work we will present a prize from the Workshop. We hope that the authors will want to take part in the competition, and wish them good luck!
Yandex.Practicum (â Yandex â)
Good text - what is it?
Alexey Statsenko
For me personally, as a reader, the text is good if I come back to it after a year, and after three, and advise its friends.
Alexander Borisovich
Honest and finding a reader. Even if marketing and advertising.
Ivan Bogachev
Written in simple language, neatly formatted, containing unique information.
Marat Sibgatulin
Competent, structured, achieving the goal. Accordingly, the goal must first be determined.
Ivan Gumenyuk
Alive. Write easier, do not try to depict multi-story structures that are difficult to read. Show your emotions, share a story about how you soldered equipment with a nail and a lighter in the middle of a field in the wind.
Simplify your text, throw away water and draw on facts and history. Structure the material, it should have a clear division into modules. Search or draw illustrations. Seriously, even scribbles on a napkin can look great as explanations.
Evgeny Trifonov
In my opinion, the texts are very different. It happens that someone successfully finds the sore spot of IT people and makes a resonant post with heated discussions and a bunch of views. And it happens that a specialist shares his expertise in a narrow topic, and then the views are tens of times less, because the audience of the post is limited to this topic. But for those associated with her work, the post is very valuable. They are both good, and itâs pointless to figure out whoâs better by comparing the view count.
But, of course, there is something that doesnât hurt any text: literacy, harmonious expression of thoughts, quality work with information.
Habrascripts are the best public with whom we interact a lot and want to receive feedback from them. We invite everyone to test our service and, based on the results of the test, write an article about âCloud Services from RUVDSâ. For tests, we allocate a virtual server for 2 weeks with a 2.2GHz CPU configuration - 2 cores, 2GB RAM, 40GB SSD in a data center in Kazan, St. Petersburg or Yekaterinburg with an ISPmanager or Plesk panel to choose from. An author who publishes at least 2 articles with a rating above +20 will receive at his disposal a VPS for 6 months for free.
RUVDS ( @Ruvds )
How to deal with procrastination?
Alexey Statsenko
Often procrastination interferes and wins. But when buckwheat ends, I win.
Alexander Borisovich
If you have a need to write, you will write. If you come up with an idea without a real personal need, you will enjoy the imagination and procrastinate.
Ivan Bogachev
The best way to deal with yourself is to look at your peers. And to understand that a creative person gets more buns than a person who plays a bunker all day. If it does not help, you can think about your place in history. Writing articles can be a good step towards creating something more.
Ivan Gumenyuk
No need to fight her. This is a sure sign that the topic is not very interesting. If you do not get up with red eyes at 4 in the morning, forgetting about the time, then you probably will not be able to convey your emotions to readers. You can sit down diligently and schedule a good technical dry article. But not the fact that it will turn out very lively.
Beginner Tips
Alexey Statsenko
Write a lot and all sorts of garbage. And then it happens aloud!
Ivan Bogachev
Write. There will always be a person who does something better, but this is not a reason not to do anything. Do not be afraid. Do not feed the trolls. Do not complain. Write politely and on business, and then everything goes on its own.
Evgeny Trifonov
There is a misconception inherent in beginners: to believe that the more experienced already âknow everythingâ (and experience impostor syndrome because of this). But in fact, these "experienced" themselves every day stumble into dead ends and google some basic things. Recognized people like Dan Abramov admit: âPeople believe that I can do everything in my field, but hereâs a list of what I canât do with my foot.â
I donât know if many habraautors experience similar feelings (âexperienced people understand everything about what and how to post, but I donâtâ). But for those who are experiencing, I want to inform: here, too, there is no magic line, after which "you know everything." For example, with experience, you seem to understand roughly what topic how many views will be collected on HabrĂ© - but still you sometimes scratch your head - "why it turned out so little", and sometimes - "why so many."
Alexander Borisovich
Contact beta support with text. Assess the quality of the material is not long. If you are not sure about the quality of the material - most likely this is so. If you are sure that this is interesting, but fear for the syllable, you can easily find a school of writers. FAQ webinars. Podcasts But not vulgar in the style of online schools. This is bue. I met open hatred among techies for literary texts. It is clear that it was caused by the inability to connect the two words and the reluctance to acknowledge this. But this is not the Habr audience.
Ivan Gumenyuk
Knock on the authors you like. Many will agree to take the text at least for a superficial review. I always try to help new authors. Unfortunately, few of them reach publication. But generally just feel free to ask for feedback before posting.
Similarly, almost any author will help to correctly formulate the topic and key points. If there is a cool topic, then it is worth writing.
Nothing threatens you. Seriously. Maximum - your self-esteem may suffer a little if you are mussed. And yes, I also worry when I post my posts. If the post is written with a love of detail, but with some flaws, then the community may kick a little. But, damn it, somehow kindly at the same time.
If the topic was originally delusional, built on the manipulation of facts, false pseudo-theories, contains a bunch of factual errors, then they will bury it without much regret. But here is the question of self-regulation.
Engage with the community, stay in touch and acknowledge your mistakes. It is important. Do you like some kind of author? Fine. Try to imitate, isolate the features of the structure of the text and presentation of the material.
And most importantly, develop and learn. All time. You cannot just be a spherical author in a vacuum. First of all, vacuum is a rather uncomfortable environment. Secondly, thereâs simply nothing to write about if nothing happens in your life. Found something new and cool? Figured out? Awesome. Saw the post and help others. This is how a community is created.
Marat Sibgatulin
You can write a thousand articles and not get better if you donât work on style. It is useful to re-read your post in a couple of months - this is almost an outside view. At once, ambiguous, incomprehensible formulations are visible, it is noticeable where I did not open the topic. If possible, give the post for review to other people. They will help both to point out the unfinished places, so find the actual, spelling and other errors.
Evgeny Trifonov
I think you can first write a text and show your friends / colleagues for feedback. It is advisable not to those who in any case say "well done", but to those who can constructively criticize: "in my opinion, this will not work on Habré, but if you modify it like that, it will immediately become much better."
TechnoText is being held for the second time. This yearâs jury, Denis Kryuchkov ( @deniskin , creator and director of Habr), Ivan Zvyagin ( @baragol , editor-in-chief of all Habr) and Ivan Sychev ( @ivansychev , principal in content studio), Grigory Petrov, ( @eyeofhell , DevRel in Evrone, developer, generalist, amateur neurophysiologist, event organizer, and just a real haberman).
Many companies that support separate nominations became interested in the competition: âInformation Securityâ, âSystem Administrationâ and several special nominations.
So until November 17, inclusive, send your publications and participate in the competition . The main thing is that the article is written by you (translations and joint work are not accepted) and published from November 20, 2018 to November 17, 2019 inclusively on any of the blog sites, on the corporate website or in the media.