On Building in Public
The traditional model of creative work operates on a principle of concealment followed by revelation. You work in private, refining and perfecting, then unveil the finished product. This makes sense for certain domains—magic tricks, for instance—but increasingly feels misaligned with how we actually create digital work.
Building in public inverts this. You share the messy middle, the false starts, the incremental progress. Not for attention, though that may come, but because the act of articulating work-in-progress clarifies your own thinking.
Why This Matters
When you commit to explaining your process, you're forced to understand it more deeply. Writing about a half-formed idea often reveals its flaws or strengths more clearly than private contemplation.
There's also something valuable in normalizing imperfection. Finished products present a false narrative of smooth progress from conception to completion. The reality is messier, and there's pedagogical value in showing that mess.
Consider these benefits:
- Feedback loops: Early input can save months of work in the wrong direction
- Accountability: Public commitment creates gentle pressure to follow through
- Documentation: Your future self will thank you for the breadcrumb trail
- Community: Like-minded people find you through your process, not just your products
The Practice
Start small. Share a screenshot. Write a thread about a problem you're solving. The medium matters less than the habit.
Some guidelines that have served me well:
- Share for understanding, not validation
- Be specific about what you're learning
- Don't wait for things to be "ready"
- Expect most shares to fade quietly (and that's fine)
The goal isn't to build an audience, though that may happen. The goal is to think more clearly through the act of making your thinking visible.
This essay itself is an artifact of the practice it describes—written publicly, iteratively refined, part of an ongoing exploration of how to think through writing.