Junior Dev Diaries — Writers’ guide
Why does Junior Dev Diaries exist?
Learning to code can be lonely. It can be scary and intimidating, and it’s pretty much always hard work.
I learnt to code as a hermit. It wasn’t until I started CoderList that I met other people doing the same. It was then that I realised that my own experiences could help other people, and that I myself could learn from the experiences of others. It was comforting to see that the trials and tribulations of becoming a junior developer are often fairly universal.
What’s not universal, however, are the methods, approaches and solutions that people find to solve problems — these are infinitely creative. We’ve met some fantastic people through CoderList, and we felt it was time to give them a voice to let others hear about their stories and experiences, so that we all get an opportunity to learn.
This is why the publication is called Junior Dev Diaries — because it’s a place to document the highs and lows of learning to code, and somewhere to find recognition for the awesome achievements of junior developers, which are so often overlooked.
Who is Junior Dev Diaries for?
Junior Dev Diaries is for code newbies, job seekers, and newly hired developers — anyone who considers themself a junior with something to say about the junior experience.
What kind of articles do we publish?
We’re interested in publishing:
- Tutorials or technical articles with a beginner / junior friendly voice. These should be based on your own experiences learning the technology.
- Personal stories and experiences. These can cover anything from deciding to learn to code, through to looking for your first job and getting hired.
- Anything that is of interest to junior developers, or gives insight into the junior developer experience.
Writing guidelines
Technical articles
Technical articles should be written for someone with no knowledge of the topic.
They should be personal and follow a format of ‘how I did / learnt this and how you can do it too’.
They should always provide explanation of what the subject of the article is, how it fits into the broader context, and why it’s important / useful to know about.
Other articles
A common error in writing is the article that meanders around loosely connected points, and does not deliver a single unified message to the reader. Before you start writing, and certainly before you submit, you should be able to explain in one sentence what the point of the article is. E.g. ‘The article describes my experiences of coding tutorials and why it’s dangerous to do too many’.
Articles should also adhere to good writing principles such as clarity and simplicity in language and maintaining a strong narrative throughout the piece.
Beyond this, we want to hear about your experiences as you see them, so be as creative as you like :)
We will continue to update these guidelines with any new useful tips.
How to submit
To submit an article, please create it as a new Medium story in draft mode (where possible), and email the link of the draft to james <at> coderlist.io.
Please include ‘Submission for Junior Dev Diaries’ as the subject, and at the beginning of the email include one sentence that explains what the point of the article is. E.g. ‘The article describes my experiences of coding tutorials and why it’s dangerous to do too many’.
Please also then spend a couple of sentences talking about yourself and where you are in the coding journey.
That’s it :)
