Quoting John Gruber | SpinGraph: Professionalism framing
SpinGraph analysis of Simon Willison's Weblog's Quoting John Gruber story: professionalism framing, The Halo, Spin Score 45%, moderate AI repetition risk.
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blogging, developer communication, professionalism, live performance
John Gruber compares blogging to live music performance — prioritizing timeliness and presence over polished perfection. The analogy frames regular, focused publishing as professional craftsmanship, not amateur experimentation. It reflects a mindset shift for technical writers: audience-facing rigor over isolated, iterative refinement.
Emphasizes intentionality and professionalism while minimizing risks of haste, error propagation, or diminished editorial scrutiny inherent in live-performance pacing.
Blogging as skilled public performance requiring focus, timing, and presence — not self-indulgent drafting or academic revision.
John Gruber compares blogging to live music performance, advocating professionalism and audience awareness over perfectionism.
No discussion of error rates, correction practices, or accountability mechanisms in 'live' publishing; No reference to platform-specific constraints (e.g., algorithmic visibility, permanence, archiving) that differ from live music
The framing combines cultural credibility (music as respected craft), linguistic precision ('live', 'performing', 'hit every note'), and moral weight ('professionalism') to elevate routine publishing. It makes the mindset feel more intentional and virtuous than it necessarily is — creating a tension between the elegance of the analogy and the unexamined operational realities of error handling, correction, and accountability in fast-paced technical writing.
Blogging should be approached like live music performance — careful, timed, audience-facing — rather than studio album recording.
Me, I try to get into the mindset of playing live music, not recording a studio album. Except when I’m writing a piece where I really want it to be an album. [...] I’m performing live in front of an audience — not just jamming in my garage or bedroom, fucking around. So I’m careful and concentrate. I want to hit every note, in time.