If you’re writing a post explaining a technical concept, use this outline to help you organize your post. Make a copy of this document and fill in the blanks. Timebox this activity to 45 minutes. If you need more time, that’s ok, but let’s aim for 45 mins.

INTRO

  1. This blog post is about __________________________ because ________________________. What will readers learn in this post and why? Why is this blog post helpful? Think about why you were excited to learn this thing. Think about the pain point it addresses or the problem it solves. Think about what your reader can do with the information you’re sharing. Think about how this topic builds on their knowledge of a wider subject area. Write down your answer. We’ll use this for your intro.Example - This blog post will teach you what console.log is so that you can use it to test and debug your code.
  2. To get the most out of this post, it’s best if you _____________________. You might also want to __________________. If you were describing this topic to someone who has no background information, what would be helpful for them to know. Are there any technical words they should be familiar with? If so, write down some key terms and definitions. Are there tools they should have installed? If so, list those and include some links on where to find them and what they do. Example - To get the most out of this post, it’s best if you know a little JavaScript. You might also want to look up JSBin so you can play with console.log examples yourself.
  3. **This is an important topic because ______________________. You’ll most likely use this when _________________________.**When readers come across a technical explainer, often times it’s because they’ve heard about this concept but don’t know much about it. So explaining where they might come across it in the real world is very helpful. Where would I see this? How can I apply this? Is this concept part of a bigger process or project? Search the web for good examples and link to them. Add your links here.Example - This is an important topic because console.log is simple enough to use as a beginner, but powerful enough to stay in your toolbox as you build your skills. You’ll likely use it when you’re stuck and can’t figure out which part of your JavaScript code is broken.

BODY

  1. There are many ways to explain a concept, and it really depends on your audience and what about that topic you’re trying to explain. Here are a number of sample paragraphs you could use:
    1. History Paragraph: If it’s helpful to give some more background on this concept, use this to guide you:This concept was first introduced ____________________ in order to solve the problem of _______________. It was created by _______________ at _____________. When it was first introduced it achieved ______________________. It became popular when ____________________. And now ____________________.
    2. Analogy Paragraph: Almost every blog post can use a friendly analogy. Check out this sample structure for an analogy paragraph:This concept is like ________________________. If you think about how a ________________ works, this is similar because _______________. The _______________ causes ________________ in order to achieve _______________.
    3. Parts Paragraph: Sometimes, we need to break down all the parts and pieces that make up the concept. It’s like a little tour that tells the reader what each part is and what it does. If you’re concept can use a tour, try this:This concept is made of 5 parts. The first you’ll encounter is ________________. It does _________________ and is used for _________________. The second is __________________ and it makes ______________ happen. Next, the third part is ________________ etc.
    4. How It Works: If you’re concept has a flow that needs to be explained, use this paragraph to tell that story. Start at the very top, and don’t skip any steps.First, ______________________. It’s important to make note of ________________. Next, it goes into ________________ in order to ________________. After that, you need to ____________, otherwise _____________. And finally, you get _________________, which you can use to ______________.
    5. Real Life Example: It’s always helpful to connect it back to the real world. Use a paragraph or two to explain how it applies to the real world.Let’s take a look at how this works in a real app. If we look at __________________, we see that we use this concept to _________________. Programs like _____________ use it to ______________.
    6. Before and After Example: The power of a concept can be best explained by showing what it’s like to now have it at all. Here’s one way to do it:When we don’t use ________________, we can still ______________ but we’re limited by _______________. That makes things harder because _______________. But with the help of ________________, now we can ___________________, which lets us __________________________.

CONCLUSION

  1. Now that you’ve learned about ___________, take a look at ____________. What concept or tool might your reader want to learn next? Search the web for blogs, games, tutorials and Twitter accounts related to your blog topic. List some resources here.
  2. **For more reading, checkout ___________, ____________, and ___________.**What background resources might your reader enjoy? (Historical, technical, other tutorials, games, Twitter accounts or other online communities, live CodePen examples or open source projects)

MAKE IT YOURS

Now that you’ve gotten the pieces of your post down on paper, let’s see if we can take your answers and expand on them. You don’t have to be an expert to reach someone and make a difference in their coding journey. Just be yourself and be as helpful as possible. Here are a few ways that you can add your unique perspective to your post: