What is a Writing Day?¶

Our Writing Day is modeled after the concept of “code sprints” or “hackathons”, which are common in open-source (OSS) conferences. The main goal is to get interesting people in the same room and have them work towards shared goals.

There are two main types of Writing Day attendees:

• Folks looking to potentially contribute to OSS projects and other cool content
• Volunteers bringing ideas, content, or OSS projects

Here are some examples of projects that you might see at the event:

• Open-source software documentation
• General documentation writing
• Resume, cover letter, and portfolio peer reviews
• Best practices manual (for your project or the world)
• Blog posts
• Tips and tricks
• Great works of fiction
• Love letters
• The Write the Docs website and guides

You and all of these opportunities, OSS projects, volunteers, and other attendees adds up to a room full of smart people working together. Together we can share what we are passionate about, collaborate to find creative solutions, work towards our goals, and solves issues more quickly.

How does Writing Day work?¶

Great question, here is an overview:

• First the event coordinator welcomes everyone and gives a Writing Day introduction.
• During the introduction, we invite people to give a project summary.
• The project introduction include the title, a short description, and their table number - so you can find them.
• After all the projects are announced, you are welcome to check them out!

Stay for as long or short as you want! You can try out as many projects as you feel like. Some folks enjoy sticking at one tablefor the entire event, others like to table hop and get a feel for multiple projects. The choice is yours!

Reminder for our project volunteers, people come and go during Writing Day. You may not accomplish all of your goals or agenda. This is normal for events like these, many projects continue to receive contributions after Writing Day ends.

How does contributing work?¶

If you’re a Writing Day attendee looking to learn about contributing, this section is for you. If you’re a volunteer for a project, we have information and guide lines for you in a different section.

First, find a project you want to contribute to! Not sure where to begin, check out the Writing Day project list to see the current OSS projects and content opportunities for year event.

No matter your experience level, welcome! We are glad you’re here. Even if you feel that you don’t know that much, or don’t have the right skills or experience, or have never attended an event like Writing Day before, you’ll be surprised how much you can share.

Here are tech and tool suggestions based on different content and OSS projects you might see at Writing Day:

• WiFi enabled laptop, tablet, or other device you are comfortable coding or creating content on
• GitHub account (you may also want a GitLab account)
• Text editor of your choice for coding or content creation

Remember if at any time you get stuck with new concepts and tools, you are in a room full of friendly people from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Feel free to ask other people for help. If you are not sure who to ask, find a staff member or volunteer. If we are not sure, we can do our best to help you find someone!

Can’t find a project that interests you?¶

If nothing on the Writing Day project list intrigues you, you’re always welcome to work on your own projects as space allows. We’re happy to have you with us today!