Where did the idea for the Software Inklings come from?

Russ’s Answer: When I became ill a few years back, one of the memories that sustained me was the thought of returning to Oxford. A goal of my recovery from cancer was to revisit the pubs (for coffee this time) where I’d sat, studied and written for my masters degree and my first book with O'Reilly.

I’d always loved the fact and mythology of “The Inklings”. That collective of writers who would be the source of The Lord of the Rings and Narnia. I would try and grab my place in the Inklings corner of the Eagle and Child where a little plaque would prove notice that this is where the original Inklings sat to chat plot ideas and the state of things while writing some of the most wonderful books in English fiction. Maybe I thought some of that would rub off. Spoiler alert, it really didn’t!

Forward in time to my early days with cancer and those moments in the inklings corner were brought to mind when the wonderful Kevlin Henney reached out for regular chats on all things writing in software. The topics were wide-ranging, from writing nuance to mental health, but I’ll never forget the warmth and freedom of those often early-morning chats. Me fighting chemoradiotherapy, and Kevlin providing a wonderful distraction into the world of code as literature and language.

At the same time I had the enormous good fortune of writing with Gary O'Brien on another book for O’Reilly. Gary’s editorial encouragement and style helped me realise that storytelling, poetic forms in prose, could really matter in writing well in and about software. This was the first time that freedom of style had really been opened to me in my technical writing, and it turned me into the raconteur I am today (kudos to Gary for being the first person to call me that! It’s a name that has stuck).

When I was fortunate enough to kick cancer’s butt my Kevlin-calls continued and I started to get the idea to maybe share some of that same sense of community with a broader group. Could we somehow create a group that discussed writing software and writing about software? Could we take these incredible ideas of coding as poetry (hats off to the wonderful Richard P. Gabriel there; another recommendation from Kevlin on our calls)? Could we foster a friendly, open environment to help writers in software?

That’s what Software Inklings is going to try and be. A community, a real one, of mutually supportive people helping to further the craft of writing in and about software.

Why did you (Russ), personally, start the Software Inklings? Is this just another marketing group cloaked as a community?

While we allow the occasional post on something an Inkling has written, even links to courses and other things that might be of interest, we are strong on this not becoming a place that is reduced to a location to “sell to”. That would be utterly anathema to what I (Russ) wanted when I kicked off the community.

As to why I personally created this group, there are a lot of answers to that but probably the most true explanation is I’ve found that I love authors. Anyone brave enough to spend the time trying to get better at writing are my tribe.

I also felt a place for that tribe was missing. Writing is a lonesome activity sometimes and so I wanted to kick off the community I wish I had when writing my first (and tenth) books ❤️

Can I promote my latest book/blog post/work-in-progress here?

As mentioned in the previous answer, this is a place to share your work and anything that might interest the rest of the community. So when it comes to your own work then the answer is a resounding, unequivocal YES!

Please be aware of the community audience and try not to spam too often on things, but bringing your own (and others) writing to the group for feedback or awareness is entirely fine.

Also it's probably worth noting that there are people here who might provide excellent feedback and even technical editor-style input to your work, so feel free to reach out as broadly as you feel comfortable!