I credit the world famous Mike Phillips with the first Internet write up on detailing a vehicle. I quickly followed him and I'll brag about being second (best I can tell).
Just to note... most of my earliest write-ups were on the first forum I brought up called,
TheArtOfPolishingPaint.com (Screen capture from the WayBackMachine dated June 18th, 2003) and then on the first server I hosted
showcargarage (Screen capture from 2003) and because the databases no longer exist the write-ups no longer exist.
I do have one of my better write-up printed out in color from 2003 when I buffed out a 1956 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and took lots of pictures showing step-by-step how to use a rotary buffer and a PC to buff out a classic car. I printed this out in color and put it in the VP's in-box at Meguiar's to try to show management back then what this new fangled thing called a "discussion forum" was and it was that write-up, (printed out in paper), that finally sunk in and got me the okay to bring up MOL.
I still have that write up and the comments written by
Atticus Firey, the VP at Meguiar's and his comments were,
"Good job, I want to see more of this" AF
I joined Autopia.org back in 2002 and started posting over there but found that I needed a discussion forum to share my work that was a little more friendly so I started my own in 2003.
I would say that back then there weren't really any "write-ups" like Joe's talking about. Back then we didn't have all the cool pads, products and tools we have now. I started posting write-ups to show other car enthusiasts simply how to do things and included step-by-step pictures. Guess I've never stopped.
Write ups have been a great source of information on processes, equipment and products.
Write ups have lost their prestige. A well written write up doesn't attract the attention it used to.
I think that's just because there's more of them and a lot of them are really good in that they show before, process and after pictures plus descriptions, explanations and references to products used to achieve results.
The write up is just about burned out.
It's better to burn out than to fade away... -Neil Young
(From the song, Hey Hey, My My)
