chore: migrated posts from Medium

Migrated a few posts from Medium

Author: RetroModernDev

Blog.md

@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@
 - [AI is taking away our independence](AI%20is%20taking%20away%20our%20independence.md)
 - [What well-known life laws I confirmed when I did a kitchen renovation](What%20well-known%20life%20laws%20I%20confirmed%20when%20I%20did%20a%20kitchen%20renovation.md)
 - [Why teaching kids how to program is not easy](Why%20teaching%20kids%20how%20to%20program%20is%20not%20easy.md)
-- [How I failed at writing a blog many times](https://medium.com/@frodigo/how-i-failed-at-writing-a-blog-many-times-d1e5040763a7) todo: migrate from medium
-- [Onboarding to coding](https://medium.com/docplanner-tech/onboarding-to-coding-9ff20c65c303) todo: migrate from medium
+- [How I failed at writing a blog many times and what I would do differently if I could turn back time](How%20I%20failed%20at%20writing%20a%20blog%20many%20times%20and%20what%20I%20would%20do%20differently%20if%20I%20could%20turn%20back%20time.md)
+- [Onboarding to coding after being a tech leader for 4 years](Onboarding%20to%20coding%20after%20being%20a%20tech%20leader%20for%204%20years.md)
 - [Historical cryptography algorithms](Historical%20cryptography%20algorithms.md)
-- [3. Caesar Cipher Implementation in C Sharp](Caesar%20Cipher%20Implementation%20in%20C%20Sharp.md)
-- [How and Why I Moved My Blog from WordPress to Astro and Markdown](https://medium.com/gitconnected/how-and-why-i-moved-my-blog-from-wordpress-to-astro-and-markdown-3549672d5a86) todo: migrate from medium
-- [How Saying ‘I Don’t Know’ Can Make You a Better Software Engineer](https://medium.com/gitconnected/how-saying-i-dont-know-can-make-you-a-better-software-engineer-7b85d7c9ed54) todo: migrate from medium
+- [Caesar Cipher Implementation in C Sharp](Caesar%20Cipher%20Implementation%20in%20C%20Sharp.md)
+- [How and why I moved my blog from WordPress to Astro and Markdown](How%20and%20why%20I%20moved%20my%20blog%20from%20WordPress%20to%20Astro%20and%20Markdown.md)
+- [How saying ‘I don’t know’ can make You a better Software Engineer](How%20saying%20‘I%20don’t%20know’%20can%20make%20You%20a%20better%20Software%20Engineer.md)
 
 ---
 ## 2024

Blog/2025/How I failed at writing a blog many times and what I would do differently if I could turn back time.md

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+---
+date: 2025-04-05
+title: How I failed at writing a blog many times and what I would do differently if I could turn back time
+permalink: how-i-failed-at-writing-a-blog-many-times
+---
+I’ve been trying to write a blog for many years. I published my first post back in 2017. By now, I wish I could say I’m a good writer with hundreds of posts behind me.
+
+But the reality is different. In this article, I’ll share the mistake I kept repeating — and what I wish I had done differently if I could turn back time.
+
+![my first blog](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*ukwdWNr3j8MzNKDjZAWJtw.png)
+
+My first blog. Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170710170315/http://marcin-kwiatkowski.com/](https://web.archive.org/web/20170710170315/http://marcin-kwiatkowski.com/)
+
+## TL;DR
+
+Programmers who want to be writers should focus on writing, not on endlessly rebuilding their blog platforms.
+
+If I could turn back time, I’d stop chasing the perfect blog setup and just write. Reinventing the wheel was a great excuse to avoid the hard part: writing.
+
+## My first steps into the trap
+
+My first blog was a WordPress site written in Polish — a solid choice to get started. The quality of my content wasn’t great, but I enjoyed it. I felt like I was making progress, and each new post was a little better than the last.
+
+## Chasing performance, losing Purpose
+
+A few years later, I worked on a project using React and Next.js — and I was impressed. I thought, _why not build my blog with it and fully customize the experience?_
+
+What could go wrong?
+
+I spent weeks crafting my shiny new blog platform. Then more weeks importing posts from WordPress. I even chose Storyblok as a headless CMS. It was a big re-platforming effort, and during that time, I wasn’t writing anything new.
+
+I believed that a Next.js blog would be blazing fast and score perfectly in PageSpeed Insights. And it did.
+
+But now I know: the most important part of a blog is the content — not whether it gets a score of 100 or 45.
+
+Honestly, I never even finished implementing all the features I had planned. After a few months, I realized it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.
+
+Writing on WordPress was easier.
+
+![blog on next js](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*TdE_i5RFSX9Yx1GQ-WwpOA.png)
+
+Blog on NextJS (unfortunatelly CSS doesn’t work in the archive so it looks ugly. Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20210602071506/https://marcin-kwiatkowski.com/](https://web.archive.org/web/20210602071506/https://marcin-kwiatkowski.com/)
+
+## Wordpress again
+
+After failing with my custom setup, I decided to go back to WordPress — which meant more weeks spent on yet another migration.
+
+This time, I also set up a multilingual platform. I thought I could write in both Polish and English at the same time.
+
+It kind of worked. But I quickly realized it wasn’t as easy as I had imagined. Instead of focusing on writing good content, I was spending my energy on translating.
+
+(Later, I started using AI for that — but that’s another story.)
+
+I should have resisted the hype and shiny new tech — but I didn’t.
+
+Every new tool fascinated me, and I kept running away from what truly mattered: improving my writing and actually writing.
+
+Instead, I jumped from one technology to another like a man possessed.
+
+![wordpress blog](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*JAgmfqvrIcMPSvoUrl5Ymw.png)
+
+New Wordpress blog (also CSS is broken in archive). Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20230606020832/https://marcinkwiatkowski.com/](https://web.archive.org/web/20230606020832/https://marcinkwiatkowski.com/)
+
+## Go away from WordPress again and migrate to Astro
+
+Then I met astro.build and I was fascinated. I thought that a static website with Markdown as an engine for content is a good idea (and of course it is).
+
+I migrated to Astro. I spent a lot of time because this time I thought that I needed to use this re-platforming opportunity to create a beautiful blog. It was kinda beautiful.
+
+![astrojs blog](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*eYJjtMNFMbei6xtnnSnAlQ.png)
+
+Blog migrated to astro. Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20241005174031/http://marcinkwiatkowski.com/](https://web.archive.org/web/20241005174031/http://marcinkwiatkowski.com/)
+
+I was really satisfied with this implementation. I wrote more about this here: [https://medium.com/gitconnected/how-and-why-i-moved-my-blog-from-wordpress-to-astro-and-markdown-3549672d5a86](https://medium.com/gitconnected/how-and-why-i-moved-my-blog-from-wordpress-to-astro-and-markdown-3549672d5a86)
+
+Writing in Markdown is perfect. I also started using Obsidian. I could focus more on writing. Anyway, I still used a lot of my time on improving the blog platform, refactoring, adding new features, optimizing, etc.
+
+![my blog platform journey](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*jFzqT5jvztwT4ilcZUlbqg.png)
+
+## The AHA moment
+
+In February, after a 10-year break from engineering studies, I started my master’s degree.
+
+During one of the first lectures, something the lecturer said made something click in my head.
+
+It was a Saturday, already late — around 6 p.m. We were sitting in a small classroom, everyone visibly tired. The kind of moment where you’d expect nothing meaningful to happen.
+
+And yet, that’s exactly when it did.
+
+The lecturer was an older professor with a sharp sense of humor. His shirt peeked out from under a worn sweater, and his piercing gaze made you pay attention.
+
+There was something about him — calm, thoughtful, quietly commanding.
+
+What truly stayed with me was something he said during that lecture. He spoke slowly and clearly about what awaits every student: the master’s thesis.
+
+He said something like this (I’m paraphrasing):
+
+> _If your master’s thesis is truly good, you can write it by hand with a pen — and your supervisor will copy it himself, because he’ll know it’s worth the effort._
+> _But if your work is weak, even if it looks beautiful and polished, no one will care._
+
+This is a very interesting point of view. It may be obvious, but it made me reflect on how I approach writing.
+
+I thought, do I really want to be a writer, or am I just pretending?
+
+## Facing the truth about my writing
+
+It was hard to face the truth: I hadn’t been focusing on the right thing.
+
+At one point, I even asked myself — _maybe writing isn’t for me? Maybe I’m just pretending?_
+
+Still, I gave myself another chance.
+
+So… what did I do?
+
+Replatformed again. 😅
+
+This time, I ditched the beautiful Astro website and went back to basics. I stuck with Markdown and write in Obsidian.
+
+Now, Obsidian is my writing engine. My website is plain — some might even call it ugly. But I don’t care.
+
+I’m finally focusing on what matters: **writing**.
+
+![obsidian blog](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*Hfi8Lapum4YdQoFAzAiU2A.png)
+
+My new ugly website. Source: [https://frodigo.com/Garage](https://frodigo.com/Garage)
+
+So now I’m writing — and I’ve made a deal with myself: no replatforming for the next year.
+
+Just writing.
+
+Can I stick to it?
+
+We’ll see.
+
+---
+*Published: 04/05/2025* #blog #writing #BloggingTools #SoftwareEngineering #Productivity #PersonalGrowth