Some people write blog engines because it’s just one of those things that you do as a web developer. It’s a kind of rite of passage; a simple create-read-update-delete interface with a database behind it.
Some people write blog engines because they’re driven to help people share a written word with others. This is a noble endeavor, and a noble sentiment. Matt Mullenweg and the guys behind Ghost have this purpose.
For me, writing a blog engine is much more of a self-centered exercise.
I’m writing the Monk blog engine not because I want to help others, or because I think it’s a good exercise of my coding skills. Granted, I’m not averse to either; if Monk helps people, that’s wonderful. If it expands my coding knowledge, great. But I’m really just in it for one main reason.
I like writing, and I want to write. Publicly, and online. But without a system built by others.
No option, no matter how well built or user-friendly, will ever compare to a blog engine that I build for myself - simply because it’s my own creation, and my own responsibility. I feel a greater ownership of Monk than I have ever felt for anything else in my professional career. It’s mine, for good or ill, for better or worse. It reflects my thinking at this time in my life, and it could be considered something of a journal in code.
That’s not to say that it’s entirely my own, though. Eric Dowell, a friend of mine and a skilled codeslinger, has increasingly aided in its construction. While that might seem at odds with my previous paragraph, consider this - nothing is created in a vacuum, and nothing is built without the input (whether conscious or otherwise) of others. There is no such thing as a totally original work.
Now, with that said, I still feel like Monk is the ultimate expression of my coding skill and opinions at this point in time. Writing a blog should be easy, and fun, and beautiful. A blog should focus on writing for the blogger and reading for the reader. Typography is vitally important. So is the ability to reflect, reconsider, and rework. And also, a blog’s software should make it so that the computer never gets in the way of the craft.
I’m writing a blog engine, and its name is Monk.
Will you write with me?