Simon Willison Shares Michael Lynch's Software Blog Writing Anti-Patterns
Simon Willison recommended Michael Lynch's article on software blog writing anti-patterns, which criticized issues such as lengthy introductions, misjudging readers' existing knowledge, assuming readers have read older posts, and being overly formal. Lynch also warned against using links in place of explaining terms, and Willison admitted that he often commits this mistake. The article noted that after many developers handed their writing over to AI, software blogs are becoming bland and homogeneous, and readers crave writing with a personal style.
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7th October 2026 - Link Blog
Anti-Patterns in Software Blogging (via) Some excellent writing advice from Michael Lynch. Michael warns against "meandering intros", misjudging your reader's existing knowledge, assuming they'll read your previous posts, and excessive formality.
He also warns against overreliance on links as an excuse not to explain terminology. This one hurt! I do this all the time, but I have a nagging suspicion that almost nobody ever clicks on them.
Beginner software bloggers suffer from a mass delusion that you have to write in a stiff, overly formal way for people to take you seriously [...] Just write the way you talk. With so many developers delegating their writing to AI, software blogging is becoming bland and homogenous. Readers are hungry for writing with personality.
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This is a link post by Simon Willison, posted on 7th October 2026.
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