Interview with Scott Mitchell
Interview by Tim
Morgan
Scott Mitchell is a
professional software developer who has authored six books on Microsoft
technologies (ASP and
ASP.NET). Mitchell has also founded the websites
www.4GuysFromRolla.com,
www.ASPFAQs.com and
www.ASPMessageBoard.com.
To say you're prolific would be an understatement--
you've written six books, over 1000 articles for 4GuysFromRolla, magazine
articles, technical articles for Microsoft, speaking engagements, a blog, and
teaching-- and that doesn't include the consulting work you do! How do you find
the time to write with such a busy schedule?
Most people who write technical articles online or for print do so in addition
to a regular full-time job, a family, and a social life. It's these people whom
I admire for being able to juggle writing into their schedules. For me it is
easy because writing, training, and consulting are my career; moreover, I work
from home. So I don't need to shuffle my schedule around to fit in time to
write-- it's just part of my typical work day.
How do you, as a professional consultant and writer,
keep current in an age where technology seems to change almost overnight?
Due to the Internet's phenomenal and continuing growth, technology in my field
changes rapidly, and that pace of change is increasing. What's more, the breadth
of material is also expanding and the rate of expansion continues to climb. This
explosion of technology has its plusses and minuses. It makes it easy to find
new and interesting topics to write about. But at the same time, it requires
constant research and exploration in order to stay up to date.
Earlier in my career I used to be concerned about staying on the cutting edge.
I'd rush to download the latest betas and would do my best to stay up to date.
But, for me, the cost in terms of energy and time wasn't worth the benefits.
While articles about bleeding edge technologies provide developers with a look
at what's coming, few programmers use the bleeding edge technologies in
day-to-day business. More likely, they are using a version of a technology that
even predates the current version.
Secondarily, while cutting your teeth on the next generation technology is
interesting, a lot of what you learn becomes useless since there are often major
changes between beta software and the final version.
Consequently, I decided several years back to stick to learning and writing
about the current version of technology. I leave the beta, bleeding edge stuff
for others. This decision has had some drawbacks, most notably when writing a
book. Since there's an appreciable delay between authoring a book and when it is
published, refusing to write about technology that's still in a beta state means
that you cannot have your book published on the date that the technology is
released to the public. Instead, you don't start writing until the technology
is released and therefore your book doesn't hit the shelves until six months to
a year later.
As you can imagine, my publisher doesn't appreciate my position on cutting edge
technologies, but in the end I don't think it is that detrimental to sales. By
waiting to write about a technology until it is released, the resulting book
will not contain any errors relating to changes from the beta software to the
final version; and since the writing is not rushed, it will be, in theory, of
higher quality.
How do you decide what topics to cover?
In addition to writing, I also consult and train and teach classes. These three
activities feed into one another quite well. The consulting jobs present
challenges that developers are facing in the real-world and make excellent
topics for articles. Likewise, when teaching, students' questions, comments, and
inquiries identify what material is of interest and what parts leave them
scratching their heads. This feedback helps highlight potential article topics.
And the act of writing helps me be a better consultant and teacher.
Explaining a concept to someone in person, enacting said concept in code, and
writing about said concept activates different parts of your brain and brings a
different level of understanding and comprehension. The point is, if you can
write about a topic, you are better equipped to implement it in code and can
discuss it more eloquently with clients. Similarly, presenting a topic to a
classroom heightens your ability to implement it in code and to write about it.
And, finally, implementing a challenge in code makes you a better teacher and
author.
Your articles span a wide range of abilities-- some are
geared toward novice programmers, while others are targeted toward more senior
developers. What are the challenges you face as a writer when you target such
diverse audiences?
Most of my work is targeted toward beginner- to intermediate-level developers.
Few articles are geared toward the top echelon of developers. I think it's
difficult both in execution and in economics to attempt to write for two (or
more) audiences. It helps if you focus on a particular audience and become known
as an author that targets that audience. You'll write better content and become
better known by focusing on a particular audience. I pontificate more about this
in more detail on my blog (see
http://scottonwriting.net/sowblog/posts/372.aspx).
Let's talk about your style-- your work is very
reader-friendly and approachable. This kind of writing obviously takes a lot of
work. How long does it take you to write an article?
I don't mean to toot my own horn, but it does not take me that long to write
content. In short, I usually spend about three to six hours on a typical
4GuysFromRolla.com article and eight to 24 hours on an MSDN or magazine article.
Most of my books, which have averaged in the 600 page range, take three to four
months from typing the first word to completing author review (which usually
involves 16 to 32 hours of writing per week).
I think this accelerated writing schedule is possible because of my writing
style. I write what I would say aloud if I were sitting across the table from
someone and teaching them the material at hand. While I write, this visual image
is always at the front of my mind, and I think it's helpful because it helps me
identify potential stumbling blocks or questions the reader will encounter.
What I mean by that is as I'm typing I'm thinking of saying these things to a
person, and if I were to say these things, the person I am talking to is likely
going to have some questions or will need some clarifications. So I can put
those right in there, and in a very conversation manner, like so: "At this point
you may be wondering, 'How is this information remembered across postbacks?'
That's a great question. The reason is because..." My hope is that as someone is
reading my book or article, they are having that inner dialog-- 'How is this
information being remembered across postbacks?'-- and when they then see that
doubt verbalized in text, they feel like the book is talking to them.
With any luck, they feel comforted that their doubts will be addressed, so they
don't fear plowing ahead because as their concerns and questions arise, they
will be answered. Maybe not immediately, but at some point in the chapter that
nagging, doubting voice in the back of their head will be assuaged.
Is there any difference between writing an article for
MSDN (the Microsoft Developer Network--
msdn.Microsoft.com) as opposed to 4GuysFromRolla?
I spent more time doing background research with MSDN columns than with articles
on 4Guys. My feeling is that 4Guys offers a more relaxed and less formal
environment for learning. Kind of like a Local User Group meeting, where there
are a bunch of developers hanging around, munching pizza before the
presentation, and there's nothing wrong with going up to another attendee and
asking her a technical question, or talking shop.
Because the MSDN articles are on Microsoft's website, I believe that they carry
more of an air of authority. Therefore, it's exceedingly important that there be
no technical mistakes and that the text be more concise and precise.
There's also a practical side to why I can be more free wheeling on 4Guys: if
there are bugs or typos in articles on 4Guys, I can fix them immediately.
There's more than one layer at Microsoft that I need to penetrate in order to
get an article on MSDN updated once it has been published.
My thanks to Scott for taking the time to speak with
Absolute Write.
Dedicated husband and father Tim
Morgan divides his time between his family, his dog,
his writing, and now (when he can sucker, bribe or guilt his friends into
acting) making movies for YouTube.
Tim's YouTube channel - featuring several cuts of
his entry into the You Spoof Discovery contest - can be seen at
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=tmorgan2100.
