Written on April 19th, 2008 at 06:04 am by Darren Rowse
How do You Know When You’ve Finished a Post?
Today I’m posting a reader question as a discussion starter. It comes from Richard King:
Hey Darren - I blog casually and largely for my own benefit but I read your blog because I occasionally flirt with the idea of “doing things properly” and I think you post some great advice. Recently I’ve come across a problem that I think you and your readers would have some valuable opinions on:
how do you know when you’ve finished a post?
Let me explain. Often, my draft posts are not much more than a few links to something I want to blog about. As I work, I continually add sentences, revise them, move them around, follow new trains of thought and throw other bits away. Gradually the post takes shape until eventually it’s in a fit state to be published. So far so good, but I can’t seem to stop myself spotting ways to improve the text even after it’s been published, pinged round to both my readers’ RSS feeds, and generally indexed by all and sundry.
- Is it good practice to continue to make improvements after I’ve hit the magic publish button?
- If so, should it be obvious to readers that’s what I’ve done?
- What about simply re-wording a sentence or changing the order of content around?
- Should new related ideas always go in new posts, or be added as “updates” at the bottom of existing ones?
- What’s the best strategy for generating traffic, and does that conflict with the best strategy for ensuring quality content?
In short - what’s your advice on post-publish editing?
So that’s Richard’s question (or 5-6 questions). Who has some answers, experiences, suggestions, stories or ideas to share??? Leave them in comments below or if you’d rather write it up as a post on your own blog just leave a link in comments so we can all benefit from your wisdom.
63 Responses to “How do You Know When You’ve Finished a Post?”
Alejandro Reyes
April 19th, 2008 6:07 am
I can’t wait to hear the responses as this is something that I need to learn as well! Great question from Richard.
A couple ideas are:
1. Sleep on it. This has helped me!
2. Share the post with some friends of yours that can review it for you.
Chris Thomson
April 19th, 2008 6:12 am
I always find one little mistake I want to fix after I publish my posts. Maybe I should get into the habit of leaving the post as a draft for an entire day before I publish it, and check over it several times over the course of the day.
It bugs me that I change stuff after because in some RSS readers, when content is updated (even though it still has the same guid) it will show up as a new feed item. NetNewsWire does this, for example.
Killer Picke
April 19th, 2008 6:14 am
I am a very impatient blogger. I usually finish a blog and post it right away. And then I will re-read it and find at least 5 mistakes. I am a horrible editor. A word of advise - get someone else to read it.
Killer Picke
April 19th, 2008 6:15 am
I am a very impatient blogger. I usually finish a blog and post it right away. And then I will re-read it and find at least 5 mistakes. I am a horrible editor. A word of advice - get someone else to read it.
Stephan Miller
April 19th, 2008 6:18 am
Some of my posts seem to come out complete, at one time. Some I have written a paragraph here and there over a period of a day or days. I usually have about three to five posts partially finished all the time. I started them thinking I had everything I needed, but knew they needed something else. So I let the idea brew a little longer.
Michael | University Scholar
April 19th, 2008 6:26 am
The thing that I find most important to having a good post is time. This can be difficult for us because we can get behind on posts and need to publish one in a matter of hours to satisfy the days quota.
Whenever I come up with a new idea I try to sit down and write the idea down in a paragraph. Then I leave it, for as long as possible. It is an amazing phenomenon but if I write down my idea I am more likely to think about it as the days go by. If I just think about it, and not write it down, I never seem to think about the idea again.
That is my method concerning the development of the post, but the editing is a different issue. Time between writing the post and editing it is important, but sometimes having another blogger read over the post is very beneficial. The reader can help fix grammatical mistakes, but they also can say, “Hey, I don’t understand this part. Did you mean this…? Maybe you can write something like this…?”
I suggest everyone get a blogging partner. Before each of you publish a post, send it to the other and have them read it. Make sure your partner wants to blog as much as you do. A blogger who puts out three posts a day, wont do well with a blogger who posts once every other day.
John Motson
April 19th, 2008 6:27 am
I actually fall into the writers’ groove type of poster - I get into the groove and it just flows. I don’t think I have ever half finished a post or sort of decided not to post once I had written something down.
it just comes naturally I guess.
John
Kristen
April 19th, 2008 6:29 am
I taught writing for 15 years and always told my students to get at least one night’s sleep in between drafts because our brain has a tendency to miss errors when I piece of writing is too fresh — this makes sense since we know what we meant and therefore tend to see that!
But some posts are quick and easy and really don’t require multiple drafts. And I tend to leave published posts as is unless the error is significant. I think publishing new posts on new info is better than adding to an existing post, but I will be curious to read what others think!
Think Your Way To Wealth
April 19th, 2008 6:29 am
I think typos, etc., are OK to fix but you should get into a habit of checking spelling and grammar before you publish-its just a good idea. Changing, moving, or adding content is not a good idea, as it changes the article. Someone may have already read it, and taken away ideas that you may now be changing. If you do edit, use strike through or note it as an “edit” so the readers will know.
I like to wait a day after I finish before I publish, or at least over night. I then re-read, make my final changes or additions, and then its done. As with anything in life, you can always keep making changes but you will never get it “perfect”.
It is easy with a blog, since it is a sort of “free form” flow of ideas, to just continue your thoughts or ideas with another post instead of changing or adding to your previous posts.
RC
SpaceAgeSage
April 19th, 2008 6:35 am
My journalism profs back in the day of wax and light boards advised:
1) Read it out loud, preferably slowly, so you “hear” your editing mistakes, or read the whole thing backwards to reveal mistakes.
2) One endearing but a bit chauvinistic prof said, “Write your news story like a woman’s skirt — short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover everything.”
3) I was also taught never to leave a question unanswered in the reader’s mind, but Liz Strauss from Success-blog.com advocates giving room in your writing from people to come up with comments and insights of their own.
My rule is to always write with the reader in mind. By doing this, I know when adding a quote would help them get my point, or when tying up a loose thought would be helpful to their understanding, or when to wrap up with a thought-provoking question or idea, etc.
These “rules” keep me from needing to do much post-editing, although I seem to forget tag adding every now and again, and I will go back and add them.
Julie
April 19th, 2008 6:40 am
I’ve always wondered the consequences of hitting the publish button after the initial publish. I always go back and find something…even if I leave it as a draft and re-read several times in one day.
As for when a post’s finished… I’m with John Motson. Somehow it all comes together in the end without much thought or effort on my part.
Darby
April 19th, 2008 6:53 am
Once the publish button is hit, I don’t like to change anything. There are a few exceptions.
I will change the following without making it obvious:
-Spelling errors
-Blatant typos or grammatical errors (such as “there” instead of “their” etc.)
The frequency of these changes should be few if you are careful to proofread your posts.
Things I will change, but will notify the reader (probably in italics “Edited to add…”:
-Incorrect info**
-Updated info**
-Additional info**
**If the update is important, it may require a new post to make sure it is not overlooked.
As a reader I would not want to read an article and miss an important update because the author added it after the fact. I try to keep that in mind when publishing.
Aaron
April 19th, 2008 7:08 am
I think its ok to fix errors after publishing a post. But do not make any major changes. If you need to make major changes then delete the post and republish it, when you are ready. Alternatively you can add new updates to the post.
If these changes did not change core message of the post, I don’t think it’s necessary to let readers know about it.
I wrote an article on 5 Effective Tips for Proofreading, please check them at
http://www.webspear.com/content/5-tips-on-improving-the-accuracy-of-your-blog-posts-and-web-articles/
Make Money Online
April 19th, 2008 7:16 am
I constantly and I mean constantly go back and check every recent post I’ve published, I mean like everyday. There are always new thing you may come across to ad to that post be it a thought, or a link that can make that post a better one.
So as I come across new things I’ve learned that’s related to a post I have, always go back to the post and a the new resource of information I have found, I feel it’s never ending, unless you everything there is to know in the entire world or your subject there is always room to grow a post, or blog.
There will be always something you missed or didn’t know and just found out about, and if you care about your blog/posts quality and user experience then you would care to go back and something useful to it.
Garth Koyle
April 19th, 2008 7:20 am
.DDA NAC UOY EROM RO GNISSIM GNIHTEMOS S’EREHT FI ENIMRETED DNA ESNES SEKAM TI ERUS EKAM UOY PLEH LLIW TAHT. YLLACITIRC TI TUOBA KNIHT DNIM RUOY EKAM DNA FOORP OT SDRAWKCAB TI DAER
TRANSLATION - Read it backwards to proof and make your mind think about it critically. That will help you make sure it makes sense and determine if there’s something missing or more you can add.
engtech
April 19th, 2008 7:28 am
When there’s nothing left to take away.
Tiggy
April 19th, 2008 7:34 am
Unless I’m 100% happy with my day’s writing, I leave it to sit for a day, maybe even a week, before I come back to it. I’ve managed to salvage a few posts that nearly went in the recycle bin by letting them stew for a while!
I aim to keep posts below 400 words and proofread, proofread, prune and trim!
Tyler Michael Jonsson
April 19th, 2008 7:46 am
I have tended to update my posts occasionally, since my blog is newer with a smaller readership so-far, it is more so me fine-tuning my blogging style, etc.
So I, like Richard, would appreciate the advice given here!
Kishor
April 19th, 2008 7:47 am
I find this same problem when I am writing a large post. Quality of the content at the end is not as good as it is in the beginning.
Carl Nelson
April 19th, 2008 7:48 am
Let’s see what I can say…
1 & 3) Editing a published post can definitely improve the quality of the post. Glaring errors, typos, spelling etc. are edits that should be taken care of as soon as they are noticed. For larger content structure sit on it for a bit and let it mull but if it really makes sense do some restructuring. I try to do a couple reads even after I’ve hit publish.
2) If there is a very large change I usually add an (edit: reason) paranthesis to clue my readers in that I’ve done some serious revision or changed a notable fact .
4) I generally put new ideas in new posts and refer backwards via linking, etc. to the prior post. This keeps me from messing with my older posts (and making them too long). Unless I made a mistake (see above) it’s generally a new post.
I can’t really speak to the last one.
FSK
April 19th, 2008 7:56 am
I usually add updates as a separate post.
For my most popular posts, I do a completely new version every 6-12 months.
I use Blogger. If I edit a post after publishing, it’ll show up on my RSS feed twice.
I don’t worry about SEO. I’ve noticed that “word of mouth” has been better at promoting my blog than search.
sami
April 19th, 2008 8:04 am
well thats was a good post
usually, when i post on my website i tend to write heaps but when i use Word or something else.i get lazy and write little
Colin Walker
April 19th, 2008 8:08 am
As far as updates are concerned you have got to look at whether they actuallt warrant a new post on their own. If it’s just something that is only going to add a single point in one or two sentences then just add it as an update.
It may be that you can link in an update with some of your reader comments but only add a new post it you have sufficient material to work with.
In my opinion you should always let the reader know anything you have done.
The Freelance Writer's Blog
April 19th, 2008 8:09 am
Richard:
As most posters covered the grammar part pretty well, I’ll tackle the cerebral, ie, “Should new related ideas always go in new posts, or be added as “updates” at the bottom of existing ones?”
This happens to me a lot, and you can handle it in a multitude of ways, eg:
a) In Parts: As in write a multi-part post (Part I, Part II, etc.). If you feel like the post is getting too long, or you have separate parts of the same subject to cover, then this is an excellent remedy.
b) Separate Posts: If the topic is the same, but you find that different tangents would make great stand-alone posts, then separate them out as separate posts, linking back to the first post as a foundational referencie.
For example, this idea for this post came to me when I was ruminating on “x” which I discussed “here.” But, as it covers “blah, blah, blah,” I thought it would make a great topic to explore on its own.
c) Updates: As you state in your post. If you do this, be sure to put links to all previous parts so that none of it is “lost in translation,” as it were, for readers.
Hope this helps.
Yuwanda
Expert Witness Marketer
April 19th, 2008 9:08 am
Great question! I have struggled with this repeatedly. Sometimes when I go back and edit before Feedblitz has sent to my email subscribers (as opposed to RSS) it doesn’t go out to them at all. Has anyone else experienced this?
Sean Hagen
April 19th, 2008 9:18 am
Usually when I sit down to write a post, I have a pretty good idea of what it is I want to write. I don’t nessicarily know exactly what I want to write, but I know what I want to cover. When I feel I’ve gotten my message across, I spell check and do some small edits to fix my grammar, etc.
However, I have been trying of late to do two things: include more pictures, and to shorten my posts. Unless I’m covering something really in-depth, a several page essay usually isn’t a good idea — especially since I’m not a fan of the “read more”-click-to-continue stuff ( although it might be a good idea for some of my longer posts ).
One thing that also helps when writing posts is to try and focus on my niche. I’m still trying to figure out what that niche is, but trying to figure out what it is help me from writing posts that really won’t help me get any readers.
Dianne (Moondreamer)
April 19th, 2008 9:27 am
Wow! This is great, thanks for posting it Darren! And some fab comments too, it’s great to share ideas.
I agree with everyone who suggests we get a second pair of eyes, that’s a great way to pick up mistakes and check for meaning.
@Richard I do my best to edit before i post, and and will change things afterwards if I think they make a post a pain to read, but I try not to fret too much about little things as Blogger is a pain to edit sometimes, it’s not worth the hassle for a minor typo … anyway, everyone makes mistakes now and then and we all need reminding of that sometimes, thank you, Richard!
If I wanted to rewrite a post in any major way or at any length of time after first published, I’d probably do an update and then link that to the original. Though the truth is I never get chance to go back and read stuff, after one quick read through, as soon as it’s posted, to see what it looks like.
@ Alejandro I agree, sleeping on it is also a great way to make sure we have said everything we want to!
And if that’s not possible, any distance at all, perhaps writing in the morning and publishing later in the day, or going for a walk, or doing another piece of work. Getting on with other things for a while might flag up things we’ve missed, and going back to work with fresh eyes can’t hurt.
:o)
Daniel
April 19th, 2008 9:46 am
To know when to finish the post I would say:
first decide the title, so you remember what you wanted to talk about. Later you can of course change it, but it will remind you not to go too far from the main topic. Reading the post after some paragraphs or as soon as you feel to be not on the right rail can be also useful.
Improvements can be added very short time after after publising. If you know that many visitors have already read your post, than it would be better to leave it as it is and to write a new post as “errata corrige”. Readers will fell more involved in your thoughts, and will feel that the writer is not an immaterial being. It could encourage more comments, too. But if the changes are not drammatically big, if the meaning isn’t affected and it’s just a stylistic matter, than you can also improve the post.
Pay attention not to rewrite posts that have already some comments. It would be incorrect, in my opinion.
New posts are better in many cases becuase the readers who subscribed the feed will be informed of the new post but not of the changes you did in the old one.
To care for traffic does not automatically mean to lose in quality. Sometimes it’s the opposite. Always remember who your readers are. There shall be friends readind, but also a possible future employer (who knows?), an expert looking for smart guys for an interview. You can never be 100% sure that there is nobody who is worth that you care for the contents between your readers. But what is actually quality?
I think Darren could start a new discussion for this point… ;-)
Lisa- Add Site to DoFollow Directory
April 19th, 2008 10:03 am
I am horrible typist.
I used to publish right away and then be embarrassed when mistakes were pointed out.
I find editing a post while in dashboard difficult. As well as pasting into Word the last few months I publish new posts as PRIVATE. I can more easily see if I need to add a graphic , more spacing, change wording, etc. This has worked well.
Shri
April 19th, 2008 10:10 am
I hate old content getting buried under heaps of young posts. Its great to resurrect them with little updates and linking them in new posts.
If i ‘HAVE’ to write a master piece, i check it, mess it up, make duplicates on word, publish, edit….. :)
Ryan Mac
April 19th, 2008 10:36 am
HI,
Speaking about posting I have a question for everyone on problogger.
I run a finance blog and I am fairly new and I don’t know whether I should write about certain topics on each day (like real estate monday, stock market tuesday, internet business wednesday etc) or should I keep it mixed up everyday?
Any tips would be great, just write em in the comments on my blog.
Thanks Darren and all your guys
Ryan McLean
Richard King
April 19th, 2008 10:48 am
Hey all - glad to see this generating such an interesting discussion - and there are some really good take-away points here, like the advice from many people to “sleep on it”, or at least take an extended break and then read the draft again. I tend to blog topics about which I’m passionate, so my first drafts often contain far too many adverbs. Often when I re-read them later they come across far too strong and I have to tone them down!
I empathise with everyone in the “impatient blogger” stable because I always want my thoughts to be “out there” straight away too, but I guess the disciplined approach would produce more considered posts. It seems the old adage of “think before you act” still rings true in the digital era.
As Chris Thompson mentioned: it does concern me that if I update a post it might refresh the RSS feed inappropriately. I use Feedburner to handle all that stuff - does anyone know if it suffers from this problem? I guess I could subscribe to my own feed to find out (and I suppose *that* could be a good tip for those of us still playing around with our blogging setup!)
Richard.
Richard King
April 19th, 2008 11:26 am
…and, dammit, I just noticed *another* error in my latest post. Better correct it quick before you lot notice… ;-)
Chris Thomson
April 19th, 2008 11:58 am
Ryan Mac: I’ve seen some people who have a day like [Something] Monday, but I haven’t seen many people do it for each day of the week. So maybe pick two days out if you’d like to do [Something] day on a weekly basis.
Albert@Headspace (http://thoughtsintime.co.za/)
April 19th, 2008 1:49 pm
From repeated bitter experience, I know that no writing (blogs and others) is ever finished until SOMEONE ELSE has proofed and edited it!
albert@headspace
http://thoughtsintime.co.za
JoLynn Braley
April 19th, 2008 2:29 pm
Hmmm, I don’t know if I’m the best one to give advice on this because it normally takes me A Long Time to publish a post.
I start writing bits of it, I add in links (I often deep link to my other posts), I scrap parts, I move paragraphs up and down the page, I run the whole thing through spell check, and I read and re-read it using the WP preview.
I’d like to be able to write quicker and maybe I will eventually.
Because I take all that time, I don’t usually change anything after I post, but if I make small changes (ex: I’ve noticed in old posts that I should have put a link to another one of my posts “here” instead of “there” and have changed that) I don’t add notes for the reader.
I have added lines at the end of some of my higher traffic posts, like hard coding “related posts” into my post, but that’s something that I didn’t note either because it didn’t really change anything.
The times I’ve noted that something was updated was when it changed the content or if I had posted about something that was time-sensitive. Then I’ll use the text “update:” and bold it.
That’s about it, I’m interested to see what everyone else has to say.
Sax
April 19th, 2008 3:12 pm
Hi Darren,
Been here once in awhile, but this is the first post I’m replying to. I’ve been blogging for sometime now, not making any money yet but looking forward to…
I haven’t tried this before, because I’m just getting organized with my “publishing” as well. But I believe that when you think of a post, you should look at it as maybe five or six points you have to write about. When you get further ideas, see if it fits within a paragraph for one of the points, and if not, maybe it would be good to make a new post and link to it somewhere in your text.
Mike King
April 19th, 2008 3:41 pm
I find it is far too easy to get caught up in editing a post too much or adding too much to it. So, I like to plan my post by keeping just a few headings under that article topic. Then I stick to a few short lists or paragraphs for each of those headings and I don’t generally add any more to it.
I always tweak the headings a bit and often save it as a draft to quickly re-read it the next day but just for spelling and simple mistakes, I don’t add any more to it.
Also, sometimes I find myself just correcting problems on a post after it has long been published. If I get a lot of hits or comments on a post, I tend to look it over a bit more as I respond and then see more minor things to fix. No big deal though. I think some people spend more time tweaking what they want to say and not enough time saying it.
paulscholes
April 19th, 2008 4:09 pm
I am in favor of sleeping through the night and looking at the article afresh. There are mistakes you will not normally spot and the writing is not as sharp.
LintCollector
April 19th, 2008 4:15 pm
Writing posts can be a little like writing a novel or creating a work of art, in the sense that it is never 100% finished to our satisfaction. There are always improvements that could be made, but at some point you have to draw the line and say “that will do”, then move on to new content.
For me that point is when I hit the publish button. Like others, I “sleep on it”, writing posts in a text editor and revisiting it over several days (not hard when you only post once a week!). By the time I paste it into Wordpress and hit publish, I’ve usually done as much correcting and re-wording as I’m likely to want to do.
Any typos that survive this process are probably minor enough not to worry about. Most readers don’t have the same expectations of literary brilliance from a blog post as they would from a book or journal article. If I think of any significant new additions or updates, I’d rather put it in a new post, linking back to the original.
Boris H
April 19th, 2008 6:24 pm
I don’t like to change a post too much after it is already published but when I want to add something or repair some of the mistakes I do it. I think it depends from person to person and maybe also what is the blog about.
Thinkjayant
April 19th, 2008 6:51 pm
When i sit down writing a post, i generally complete doing with all my research and have a fairly good idea what i want to write. If i stumble across anything great / new then i add them eventually.
As i keep improving my draft, i make it a point to go through the post once or twice before it is published.
As far as the question is concern of how do i know the post is ready to complete, i just try reading it from a reader’s perspective. But i wish if i could have someone read it and suggest improvements to me.
Once published, if any changes are there, such that i have to alter the text, i do it. Else for other changes i prefer adding an update note towards the end of the post.
suresh
April 19th, 2008 7:03 pm
Grouping all the ideas together and co relating them is always a big task.
Having full information regarding the topic and browsing the related sites gives me a fair idea about the missing points of my post.
Any way all the above ideas are wonderful and thank you all for sharing your experiences.
mr.eims
April 19th, 2008 7:18 pm
Drafting the article.. Hurm..maybe you’ll have a few draft which was firstly edited a few days ago. this means you have few days to write the article and inprove the article before become an output.
erm..what I mean is..i call it buffer of articles..hehe..can i use that word..?
Perfect.Blogging
April 19th, 2008 8:28 pm
I think you can modify the post after publishing. I don’t see any problems. Everyone makes mistakes so there shouldn’t be any problem.
Doyle Slayton
April 19th, 2008 10:33 pm
Anytime I have an idea, I create draft. As the idea builds, I add to the draft. I normally post a new entry three times a week, so when it comes time to post, I simply go to my drafts and decide which one I want to publish next. I’ll spend an hour or two tweaking and developing the content. I double and triple check for spelling and grammar… and then I publish it!
The thing I love most about blogging is the ability to go back and add, subtract, edit, etc. If I published an article in a magazine… that’s it… I’m stuck with it… but the real power of my blog is that I can always make it better! I think that what life is all about… Continuous improvement!
Doyle Slayton
Executive Director & Sales Strategist
http://www.SalesBlogcast.com
mobile blog
April 19th, 2008 10:37 pm
when i fell tired….and need rest to get new idea
Tiggy
April 19th, 2008 10:45 pm
One thing I have discovered - nomatter how many times you proofread and check, after the post has gone live you will *always* find one error!
Also, if you read a post and realize you’ve missed a good point or two, write it down and save it for another post - you may be able to find a different angle for it in time.
Darla
April 19th, 2008 11:24 pm
I usually write it, do a quick read of it, find a mistake, fix mistake, publish.
Once it’s published and live, I do another quick read of the post, usually find another little error, fix it, and republish.
For updates more than 6-12 hours from the time of the original post, I will usually type at the very bottom:
UPDATE
and I make the word UPDATE bold, then type the update after that.
Hope this helps!
Chris Verstraete
April 20th, 2008 12:41 am
How do you know when you’re done writing a post?
The main thing is to keep your market/readers in mind: explain the topic thoroughly, but avoid over-explaining.
Writing for newspapers is good training in writing to length - that “inner editor” teaches you when to stop. Explain your points and avoid adding extras that aren’t relevant. Add those to another post or ask yourself what they’d add? Chances are you don’t even need them.
Christine Verstraete - http://cverstraete.com
Coming May ‘08: “Searching For A Starry Night” - A nosy Dachshund, a family curse… Can Sam find the missing miniature Van Gogh in time? - Quake/Echelon Press, http://www.quakeme.com - Blog: http://candidcanine.blogspot.com
Kelly
April 20th, 2008 1:21 am
Darren, Richard,
Proofread carefully first, but what you missed, you can change. One interesting tip I have heard is that if you discover a typo and leave it, you may get more people commenting, and since people don’t like to leave anything too negative (”You spelled bananana wrong”) all by itself, you’ll probably catch some real thought, too. I am too much of a perfectionist to test this theory.
No to content editing. You liked the wording when you hit publish, move on with no regrets. As many others have said, sit on it a bit longer so you’re sure first, if needed. Blog readers move on fast to your next post and they do not sit and analyze your sentence structure, so don’t you do it either.
New related ideas should *always* go in new posts (linking back is very good), unless the update truly is an error or something that has changed about what you said and it makes the story different: for instance, if you linked to a company and they no longer offer the product/ service you mentioned, a later reader will be confused or worse, think you don’t know what you’re talking about.
In that case you write at the end of the post or the end of the offending sentence, “UPDATE:” then very briefly explain the change.
Think of it the way newspapers do retractions: is it a material difference to what you wrote or obviously incorrect? Those are updates. Everything else belongs in a new article.
Regards,
Kelly
Claudia
April 20th, 2008 3:57 am
Hi, all,
Been following your blog for months, Darren, and consistently find excellent information.
I agree with Doyle and mr.eims about keeping several drafts around to play with. As far as proofreading goes, when you can’t find anyone at 1 a.m. to look at your post, try opening a new draft, copying your original content, then changing the font and size and reading through again. Frequently that will ameliorate “blog blindness” long enough to find errors.
Another trick, although not as kind to trees, is to print it out and re-read. Sleeping on it is perhaps the best method, but simply walking away from your post and participating in some other activity, preferably healthy, can give you a new perspective and bring you back to the topic refreshed, with new eyes.
Richard, your question “when am I finished,” reminds me of my favorite dog, Sabine. She was not allowed to beg at the table, but would sit quietly. At some point I would put down my fork, and she would intuitively know that I was finished, even if I didn’t know it myself.
There comes a time in every piece when you have put all the components together, shuffled paras, added or subtracted modifiers, check for grammar/spelling/punct errors, and that sense of satisfaction and completion is achieved. We are frequently our own worst critics, and if we wrestle and craft our words long enough, we will intuitively know when it is time to either fish or cut bait (which usually means creating a lot of drafts).
Claudia
April 20th, 2008 4:02 am
Case in point: I fired off the last post and only read through once before submitting. Now that it’s up, I see that I used the wrong tense “check” when I should have used “checked.” Since this is a comment section, I don’t have the option to go back and fix it, so if I want to make the correction, it will have to be through a new comment. Wonder if that should be the default? That path could lead to endless self-correcting posts…and we’re again left with the question–how do I know when I’m finished? LOL
Brad V.
April 20th, 2008 6:47 am
I often write my posts offline, in advance and continue to edit and tweak them before hitting that “Publish” button. Ironically, it’s usually after I publish a post that I end up finding most mistakes and stuff I want to change.
I’m not sure if there’s ever a point where I say “This post is finished” because in theory I could edit and tweak forever. The “endless edit” is almost worst than never editing at all because your post will never get published.
Mike Lierman
April 20th, 2008 10:35 am
When I start writing an article rarely do I ever have to stop and and reword or move things around (except when I am doing reviews on security software).
I will admit (and I saw this in some above comments) that sometimes (not often though) I will come up with an idea and about half way through I can’t go any farther because I’m missing an important part or it’s not the write time to post it because I posted something like it not too long ago or it’s not the write time to read something like it. Or I will start a post and decide I want to do a different post(s) first.
For the most part though I start writing and the flow just picks right up and I know what to say. In the past I have had problems with that when I didn’t thoroughly re-read and just published it and later found that I had incomplete sentences or thoughts.
See what happen (at least to me) is that once you get in that groove and you are able to just write it, often ideas are mostly there but some sentences are messed up (not just typos). So I have found that I need to re-read at least 2-3 times for a pilliar post and at least 1 good through read. Sometimes if the Pillar post and a crucial part to my blog that I can reference other posts to then I have my friends read it first.
Here is the order I do things:
- Think of the idea and what message I want to get across (this usually works well but don’t spend too much time doing this)
- Type out the article (this is where the groove comes in, I am able to just write it)
- About half way through I check the beginning of the article to the point I am now at and keep the message going (kinda like a Linksys Wireless Extender)
- I usually make my recommendation at the end if the article is a pillar
- I proof read/spell-check and check the layout of the paragraphs
-I read thoroughly as if I was a reader on my site
-Change anything I need to and post
If anyone wants to see how I write and how I layout my paragraphs (it may or may not help you) feel free to check out my posts on my site: http://www.techdata.phinxfx.com
Hope my comments help those who don’t know where to begin!
-Michael L.
slobu
April 21st, 2008 9:49 am
Make a post. Read it. Edit it. Read it. Edit it. Read it. Edit it. Post and forget (unless new information becomes immediately available.)
It’s easy to obsess over ones one work. Take the mistakes and comments as lessons for the next post.
T.C.
April 21st, 2008 10:37 am
I’m still pretty new at blogging, but so far, I write my posts, edit, and publish in one sitting.
Once I decide on a topic, I pretty much know what points I want to cover and experiences I want to share. When I get it all in, I throw in a quick conclusion and start editing. As I’m writing though, I am constantly re-reading and making sure it flows and make small changes here and there. As many of the commentors have suggested, once finished I re-read my post out loud to find any errors I’ve missed.
Having a partner is also a good idea. My blog has two authors anyway, so we constantly bounce ideas off one another and help edit each other’s posts.
Rob O.
April 22nd, 2008 1:45 am
For quicky typos or grammatical blunders, I never hesitate to tweak a post.
I think it’s completely legit to edit an older post to provide additional info, a correction, or a link forward from it to a newer, related entry. I’m not talking about doing a George Lucas-style overhaul, just a minor tweak. On posts where I do this, I indicate it with a little red “Update” notation, so it’s more apparent. (You can take a look at my Me, Metrosexual? article for an example.
Rob O.
April 22nd, 2008 1:58 am
Sheesh, I got off on a tangent and kinda sidestepped the real question…
I’ve had the problem of not knowing when to say “when” a number of times. I typically compose my posts off-line over the course of a few hours or even several days - it’s rare that I have time to whip out an entry in a single sitting - so I have plenty of chances to tweak & tune. Which can easily lead to overthinking or overworking a post…
Sometimes I’ve found that a blog post that I can’t seem to call “finished” is a good opportunity for a series. Just look for breakpoints and simply spread your article across a short series of posts. This gives you ample chances to revisit the topic and offers your readers several easy-to-digest, bite-sized goodies.
And of course, leaving a post kinda unfinished or open-ended can often spur responses from your readers…
WereBear
April 22nd, 2008 7:33 am
If you find yourself continually tweaking a post, it’s a sign. You either have more to say, and should consider a subsequent post on the same topic, or the ideas are still forming and you should not publish right away.
If your problems are in proofreading, you have gotten some great tips already. But if it’s in the elusive pursuit of perfection; that’s a fool’s game.
Perfection is not given to us. We should strive for excellence… and leave it at that.
Darren Rowse
April 22nd, 2008 8:57 pm
Hope you got some answers here Richard.
My only advice is to try giving yourself a time limit. ie set a deadline when the post will go live and then go with it.
Marek
April 22nd, 2008 11:25 pm
I write for a Dutch blog about cars. This is my opinion on the questions asked by Richard:
- I think rewriting might come across as not totally supporting your own statement. By rewriting it, I feel you take the impact away.
- Should you rewrite (for instance, when it’s a news article and the news has been updated), don’t touch what you’ve already published, but add a section with the new information. Put “Update :” above the paragraph, so readers can tell that is the piece they haven’t read yet. Also, I put “(Update)” behind the title of the article, so readers know that there has been an update.
- Same answer as the first. Except for when you spot a spelling or grammatical error or a typo, you should always correct those immediately when spotting them, no matter how old the article is.
- If the article which the new idea relates to is still at the top, then you can put it in that article as an update in the way I’ve pointed out in the second answer. If not, post the idea as a new article, but refer to the old article by hyper linking to it in your new article.
- You can use SEO tactics, but I think that blogs will generate traffic if they’re good and genuinely sincere. If you write about something you care for, people will notice it and you will get your deserved attention.
Hope this advice pleases you!
Marek
Cris Cuthbertson
June 17th, 2008 9:38 am
Yeah, I will change spelling and bad grammer, but not whole ideas.
I think it is better to write a new post to expand anything you wanted to change, and it is appropriate to do that to continue the conversation. If the change is not worth a new post, then it is probably not worth the change.
I proof my posts in a browser window to give myself a different perspective which helps pick up errors. I also now batch write when I can, so that I have a second proofread immediately before posting.
Cris
Leave a Reply