As I've been slowly honing my abilities at writing here I've also been working on discovering the voice and purpose of this site. I've had blogs in the past but they've always been too personal and had little focus on anything in particular which made them feel more like my journal left open for the world to see.

Right now the about page of Course Code is a bit misleading in the reality of what I've been finding I want to write about. I started CC with too much constriction and focus around technology and education. In reality the natural evolution is shifting to a focus around technology, education, productivity, art and whatever else I want to share or write about.

Matt Gemmell recently wrote about designing blogs for readers. The first thing that stuck with me was this:

I don’t think there’s any reasonable way, or any need, to separate vanity and ego from a personal blog. Writing is inherently about its author, and is a product of their personality and opinions – that’s not something to be shy about, and we shouldn’t try to change it either. So, write for yourself – and hold yourself to an appropriate standard, because you’d better believe that others are judging the person as well as the piece – but as soon as you publish your views, you’re inviting readers to take a look. I think that the needs of the reader and the author are more aligned than many blogging systems seem to believe.

This post along with a few digital and meat space high fives from other writers I respect have made me feel more confident that what I'm writing is good and as I continue it will only get better. This is fueling my confidence in sharing my own views and interests through Course Code. I want this site to be the outward expression of my inward thinking and viewpoint so it's going to break away from technology and education from time to time and I'm realizing that's ok.

I found Matt's post found via 512 Pixels.