News and thoughts from the people at EllisLab.

Why I Started Blogging Again

Posted by Rick Ellis on March 20, 2008

Ever notice that auto mechanics tend to drive really neglected cars?  I guess if you spend all day working on other people’s vehicles, the last thing you want to do is work on your own car. 

Since I started this company I’ve been a lot like that.  I’ve spent so much time building software that enables people publish online, I’ve had little time or interest in doing my own publishing.

Writing takes a certain energy, your mind has to be engaged and active, thinking about topics, jotting down ideas, working through drafts.  When I was writing code all day I just didn’t have any mental energy left to apply toward that process.

Now that I’ve stepped away from code, I’m finding a real desire to explore the written medium again.  I’ve also discovered something: I haven’t found my voice.  I don’t have a good sense yet for who I am as a writer.

The most important thing about writing is not that it lets you share your perspective, but that it gives you one.  I’ve missed out on that while I had my head buried in code.  That’s why it feels so good to finally be writing it again.  Particularly at this time in my life, when my role and focus at EllisLab has been changing and evolving.  The mental process will help me sort through things, explore, and hopefully find a clearer path.

I don’t want this blog to be full of pretense, of me acting like I have life and everything else figured out, because I don’t.  I’ve spent the past six years shooting from the hip, just trying to do the best I could.  Along the way, hopefully I’ve learned a thing or two, but the truth is, I’m still new at this.

As I think about what I want to accomplish with my writing, mostly I want to create a window that let’s people observe someone trying to figure out how to grow a little company that makes cool stuff in order to create a better life for people.