Perfect. I’ll treat this like setting up a calm, sustainable blogging system, not “content grinding”. I’ll go through the 5 points you listed in a way that fits how developers actually think and work (and how you think, from our previous conversations).

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1️⃣ Writing workflow (drafts, series, notes)

The biggest mistake beginners make

They think:

“A blog post must be polished, complete, and important.”

That kills writing.

Instead, think in states, not “posts”.

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✅ Recommended workflow (very low friction)

Content states

idea → note → draft → published → archived

How this maps to Hugo

A. Notes (raw thinking)

Create notes, not posts:

content/notes/

hugo new notes/hugo-routing.md

Example:

+++ title = "Hugo routing confusion" draft = true +++ Why does Hugo behave this way? Things I don't understand yet: - index.html vs list.html - _default rules

✅ These are for you, not readers.

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B. Drafts (almost ready)

When a note becomes clearer:

hugo new posts/hugo-routing-explained.md

Paste / rewrite from notes.

Keep:

draft = true

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C. Publish (decision, not perfection)

When it’s “good enough”:

draft = false

Commit.
Publish.
Move on.

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🔑 Key mindset

Publishing is a checkpoint, not a finish line.

You can always:

• fix

• expand

• rewrite later

Git makes this safe.

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2️⃣ Blog structure (notes vs essays)

This is very important and often misunderstood.

❌ Bad structure

Everything = posts

This creates pressure.

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✅ Good structure (recommended)

content/ ├─ notes/ ← raw, exploratory, short ├─ posts/ ← finished articles ├─ essays/ ← long-form, opinionated └─ pages/ ← about, now, uses

What goes where?

📝 Notes

• learning logs

• confusion

• half-baked ideas

• “today I learned…”

Audience: future you

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📄 Posts

• tutorials

• explanations

• problem → solution

• practical guides

Audience: other developers

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✍️ Essays

• opinions

• career thoughts

• long reflections

• architecture philosophy

Audience: humans

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Why this matters psychologically

You remove the pressure of:

“Everything I write must be useful to others.”

No — some writing is for thinking.

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3️⃣ How often to publish (honest answer)

❌ Bad advice

• “Publish daily”

• “Consistency above all”

That burns people out.

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✅ Sustainable cadence (developer-friendly)

Beginner / learning phase

• Notes: anytime

• Posts: 1–2 per month

• Essays: optional

That’s it.

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Rule of thumb

If you feel:

• rushed → slow down

• guilty → ignore it

• bored → stop publishing

Writing should feel:

“Ah, this helped me understand.”

Not:

“I must post.”

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🔁 Realistic expectation

Most strong technical blogs publish:

• 6–12 posts per year
  That’s already very good.

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4️⃣ How to write technically but readably

This is where most dev blogs fail.

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The core rule (memorize this)

Write like you’re explaining to a smart friend at 11pm.

Not:

• a textbook

• a documentation page

• a marketing article

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Simple structure that works almost always

1. Context (why this exists)

“I was confused by X while doing Y…”

2. The problem

“Here’s what didn’t make sense…”

3. The wrong assumptions

“I thought Hugo worked like this…”

4. The realization

“Actually, Hugo does this instead…”

5. The takeaway

“If you remember one thing…”

This matches how humans learn.

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Example (before vs after)

❌ Bad:

Hugo uses layout resolution based on content kind.

✅ Good:

Hugo confused me because I assumed every page used the same template. It doesn’t.

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Technical writing tip (very important)

Explain why, not just how.

“How” is Googleable.
“Why” is valuable.

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5️⃣ Using Hugo for long-form writing (properly)

Hugo is very good for long-form if you do these things.

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A. Use proper headings

## Problem ## Why this happens ## What finally clicked ## Practical rule

Readers scan first, read later.

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B. Enable Table of Contents (for essays)

In front matter:

toc = true

In layout:

{{ .TableOfContents }}

Huge readability win.

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C. Break long posts into series

Instead of:

“The Ultimate Hugo Guide”

Do:

Hugo basics (1) Hugo routing (2) Hugo themes (3)

Series > monster posts.

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D. Don’t fear length — fear density

Long posts are fine if:

• paragraphs are short

• ideas are separated

• whitespace exists

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🧠 The meta-lesson (important)

You are not “building a blog”.

You are building:

• a thinking space

• a learning archive

• a public notebook

That’s how many respected devs write.

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Suggested next steps (choose one)

1️⃣ Set up notes vs posts in Hugo
2️⃣ Create a first real post outline together
3️⃣ Review a draft you write (structure & clarity)
4️⃣ Design a calm blog taxonomy (tags, series)
5️⃣ Turn your Hugo struggles into your first post

Tell me which one you want — I’ll walk you through it step by step.