Ask HN: How to begin writing?

The general consensus about writing, IMO, is "just do it" and "your first draft isn't your final draft" -- similar to software's "make it work, make it right, make it fast"

It can't hurt to follow Stephen King's advice: http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-king-on-how-to-write-...

My personal pet peeves re: software writing are:

1. Render code nicely 2. For all that is holy, don't fill your page with a ton of memes and animated gifs 3. Oxford comma :)

Writing essays or a book should be treated like a project work. That means , you first need to find out your readers expectations and then work towards meeting those expectations. So research is the first step. Then, you can create a structure of what you want to write about.

Depends on what you're looking for. Advice on how to get motivated and inspired enough to put the work in, advice on how to hone your skills, or advice on sharing your work or getting it published?