The Developer's Code

Essay 9

Begin Where You Love to Begin

Sometimes the hardest place to find motivation is at the very start. Thinking about code is easy. Software always compiles perfectly in our heads. We don’t obsess over the hundreds of minor obstacles we’ll face along the way. But once we commit to actually writing code, the entire game changes. Motivation can fade quickly.

The experience of writing software is not too different from writing this book. I spent far more time thinking about what I wanted to write about than actually writing. Writing can sometimes be a soul-sucking game of uninspired lines, mental blocks, and fatigue. It’s hard to keep the juices flowing when I run into a gauntlet of personal demotivators.

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down ...