Why you should be sharing more of your work

As a writer, I get to share a lot of my work. It’s pretty rare for me to have a piece that doesn’t end up getting published anywhere. But as a new iOS developer, I’m in a very different situation.

Suddenly I’m sharing a lot less of what I’m working on. My apps look like rubbish most of the time. They don’t do much, and my code is mostly a mess. I know my work has a long way to go before it’s good, but in the meantime I don’t have much to share.

Does it matter?

I think it does. Sharing your work can make a huge difference to how people perceive you, how well you connect with people, and even how much money you make when you capitalize on the audience you’ve built up.

“Become a documentarian of what you do.” Austin Kleon

There are a few distinct reasons I’m having trouble sharing my work these days, despite knowing it’s a worthwhile exercise. The first is that I’m new to development entirely, so I’m struggling to find anything useful to share. The second is what I mentioned earlier: my work just isn’t very good yet. And lastly, I’m often too busy consuming the work of developers I admire. It’s easy to forget that I have a responsibility to reciprocate their efforts.

These are all common reasons for not sharing your work, so let’s break them down one at a time.

You always have something to teach others

Sharing your own experiences can help others. Think it can’t? Remember this important fact from hand lettering artist and teacher, Sean McCabe:

“All you have to know to teach is more than any one other person.”

And just as importantly, this one: there is always someone out there who knows less than you do. Whatever it is you’re working on, someone else is coming up behind you and they haven’t had your experience. No matter how far along you get, you’ll always be able to teach someone by sharing what you’ve learned so far.

“The best way to get started on the path to sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning in front of others.” Austin Kleon

I’ve written about the benefits of teaching before, including building your brand and learning more yourself from the process of teaching others. Studies have actually proven that expecting you’ll have to teach someone else later makes you take in new information more efficiently.

You don’t necessarily need to run a workshop or write a book to teach others, though. Sharing your mistakes and how you overcame them in blog posts, photos, or forum comments can all be forms of teaching.

I’ve got a running notebook where I write a quick note every time I fix a bug in an iOS app I’m working on.

I’m mostly fixing problems I created, but writing about how I figured out the issue and what I did to fix it helps me cement the learning in my own mind. I write these notes as if someone else will read them (because someday they might), which also helps with making sure I don’t miss important details and that I explain what I did clearly.

Your work is worth sharing

That notebook I mentioned is public. I haven’t publicized it apart from a single tweet, but it’s technically ‘out there’ for anyone to find.

For a few weeks I kept the notebook private and just kept adding to it for my own benefit. Each note is scrappy and short. It’s just a note to myself about the bug I found, why it had occurred (if I managed to work that out) and how I fixed it.

I was nervous about making my notebook public. After all, I’m no expert in iOS development. There’s a reason I’m not writing full blog posts about the issues I run into.

On the other hand, I know there are other new developers out there who are struggling through the same issues as me (or are about to be). If I’ve found a way to fix a silly bug I introduced myself I owe it to others to share what I’ve learned. I know I would have appreciated it if during my searches I’d found an explanation from someone else who’d said, “I did a silly thing that caused this bug. If this is your problem too, here’s how I fixed it”.

It’s also important to remember that we all have a unique perspective on whatever problem we’re working through.

I look at things differently to other iOS devs. I know what it’s like to start with no programming knowledge and learn Objective-C on my own. I know what it’s like to be stuck and overwhelmed and have no idea where to start looking for answers. I can channel my experience as a beginner into sharing what I’ve found helpful so far.

Sharing your work and what you’ve learned will look different depending on your situation, and that’s okay.

Find your people

We all want to belong. There’s a special, indescribable feeling that comes from finding a group of people who get you, who respect you, and who welcome you into their fold.

The internet has made it easier to find your people, but it still takes time. Sharing your work can help, and it may be one of the most important reasons to do so. People with the same interests as you won’t find you unless you share those interests.

Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you. —Austin Kleon

Think about the people you know who love your work. Not your friends or family, but people who found you and became fans through your work. Imagine not being connected to those people. If you’d never shared your work with anyone, those people—your biggest fans right now—wouldn’t have been able to find you.

You might have already noticed that people who love your work also love seeing work-in-progress shots and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks. Sharing your working process can not only help you build stronger relationships with the people who already love your work, but it can also help you find more of them.

Think about the people whose work you admire. Imagine if they’d never shared it. Think about all the B-sides you love by your favorite artists that might have been kept private forever, destined to gather dust. How would you feel if you knew those B-sides existed but your favorite band refused to share them? Imagine the joy and connection you would have missed out on.

You’re in a position to share your own B-sides. Your own sketches, ideas, and mistakes. Take that responsibility seriously.

A final note: don’t share everything.

It probably seems like I’m making a strong case for sharing everything you possibly could, but I want to also suggest that you curate what you share. Just as you think carefully about the finished work you put out into the world, think carefully about the work-in-progress, behind-the-scenes shots, ideas, and influences that you share.

Remember that your work is worth sharing. You have something to teach someone out there, and you have a responsibility to your future fans to help them find you.

Go forth, and share with purpose.

credits: Crew