I wrestled with starting Tech in the Trenches. I’ve kept blogs as an HTML file (back in the days of Xoom.com), Xanga, LiveJournal, Blogger, Tumblr, TypePad, Textpattern and currently WordPress. I’ve got a pile of notebooks from school where I used to write obsessively. Song lyrics, (terrible) teenage poetry, musings and thoughts on whatever popped into my head. I wrote often and still write daily.
I hesitated starting this blog because I never had a single topic in mind where I could focus my writing. What I wanted to focus on was technology and recommendations. But I felt like everything I wanted to say had already been said by others.
I would say to myself, “What is the point in writing about this app or this website? Shawn Blanc or John Gruber have already covered it better than I ever could.
In addition to being an obsessive writer, I am also a compulsive reader. I digest tech news and writing through hundreds of RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts and articles I come across everyday. Johnny 5 and I share the cry for Need More Input!
It is because of my massive consumption of tech news and information, I have the tendency to assume because I am aware of that cool website or application those around me are as well. However, this is clearly not the case. Not everyone reads like a man obsessed.
That is partially what pushed me over the edge into starting this blog. I wanted to share the interesting things I found and knew about. I wanted to help other people find interesting things to make their lives and work better.
I want to share what I find with friends, family and the strangers who somehow stumble across this space from Google searches, or Tumblr links.
I finally realized I don’t need to be the first person ever to talk about something. Nor do I need to be the best person to talk about it. I need to write what I want to write and not let the self-doubt stop me.