Jan 3, 2011 / General Advice & Pro Tips

Have doubts? Here’s advice

Over at Lil’ Bites, Marianne has signed up for PostAWeek. And has some good advice about worries and overcoming them. Here’s an excerpt:

I would post more, but there are always three things that hold me back from clicking on the Publish button:

  • I worry about how silly a post might seem to others.
  • I worry about how something I’ve written might offend some of my readers.
  • I worry about how long my posts are and if I have the right picture to go along with the post.

I’m done worrying!

  • I’m not going to worry about how silly a post might seem to others.
  • I’m not going to think about how it might offend some of my readers.
  • I’m not even going to worry about how long my post is or if I have the right picture to go along with the post.

Read the rest of her post here.

I’d say you should definitely think about your posts, and your readers, but there’s no need to worry or feel angst about it.  WordPress will let you keep draft posts for as long as you want. If you’re not sure about a post put it aside and start another. You can always come back when you have a fresh perspective.

And as far as long posts, an easy trick is divide up long posts into 2 or 3 parts.  This isn’t cheating – it can be an easy way to spread out one great idea into several smaller posts.

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  1. You could get some inspiration from the questions over at FormSpring. Certainly helped me :). As for the advice, thumbs up for Marriane 😀

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  3. Great advice! Whenever I find myself fretting over a post, I always “draft it” and take a second look at it the next day. I then either publish it as is, edit it and then publish, or I put it into the compost bin (a folder on my desktop where I can mine for ideas later).

    For long posts, I’ve always broken them down into sections and post them separately and on different days. It keeps readers coming back for more! =)

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    1. Having a ‘compost bin’ sounds like a brilliant idea! I would never thought of doing something like that, thanks for mentioning it =]

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  4. Marianne’s got a great post over there. Thanks for sharing it. For anyone doing the Post a Day challenge, I created an icon that I posted in the “Currently Writing” widget on my site. I got permission from WordPress to share it, so if anyone is interested, check it out. I only ask that if you use it, you credit me by name and/or a link to my site. Thanks!

    http://www.OliviaTejeda.com

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  6. Generally, I hit the publish button (usually without proofreading) and then think about what I should have done 😛 If the post is lucky, it gets proof read before the end of next day. And perhaps some changes in the content, too. But I severely discourage others from following this technique 🙂 This was written for Marianne to feel good (on a relative scale) 😛

    Destination Infinity

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  7. Excellent thoughts here, especially breaking the post down into smaller chunks. I know of a certain writer (me, lol) who has a problem with brevity, so I might try to incorporate this into my own work. But for now, I’m off to check out Marianne’s blog, along with some others!

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  8. THINGS WE DON’T UNDERSTAND

    I too don’t understand actually
    Many of the happenings around me
    I’m always looking for answers
    From gurus, monks and from pundits
    I try to keep an open mind really
    I was fortunate sometimes to see
    I find a lot of crap in the cancers
    The religious turned out to be bandits

    I’m still a Good Samaritan forever
    I don’t pick up a gun to shoot
    Or try the bad rumour thing
    I pick up my rod and gear
    And go fishing by some quiet river
    And if I’m given the boot
    By some ranger protesting
    I teach him how to share

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  9. I teach about our planet
    A lil’ part of this vast universe
    Also that why do we think
    That we should be the only one
    Still some do not get it
    As if they are so sadly cursed
    Belonging to the missing link
    When it’s really said and done

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  10. It’s an onus fighting the ignoramuses
    Who called themselves atheists
    Or those who use religion as a crutch
    Greasing the wheels for the baskets or envelopes
    Found on pulpits and many campuses
    And some are the craziest
    With highfalutin degrees and such
    But they’ll hang themselves given enough ropes

    Give scientists a decade of years
    And let make a simple flower
    Or a butterfly or a humming bird
    Or imitate the ebb and fall of the tide
    They will run into nightmares
    For with all their scientific power
    They would find it very absurd
    Realizing you can’t take God for a ride

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  11. I write my posts in Word first to do spell checks and to see how long they are. I create “series” about a subject when my posts end up being too long.
    Sometimes just a thought or a picture can count as a post…just a thought 🙂

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  12. Kudos Marianne and enjoy the process! 🙂
    Great suggestions Scott! I have used the multiple parts approach on my blog a few times so this is a great reminder.
    As a matter of fact, after re-reading the post I had scheduled for today, I tweaked it and decided to split it into two/more parts; one of my blogging goals for this year is brevity. 🙂
    Thanks,
    Elizabeth

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  13. I’d be interested to know how “long” people consider “long” to be. My posts feel long when I’m typing them out ( lol ) but they seem a relatively short read when I’m going through them at the end.

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  14. Very good advice. Given the topic of my blog, I worry too – are the government going to be furious with me and make things even harder? But I worry after a push the publish button, usually. However, I am publishing the truth. I will find out if my lawyer wants me to shut it down this week, I guess. We shall see.

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  15. Thanks, Scott. Marianne’s post is definitely worth a read for anyone concerned about pressing “Publish.” In the past year, I’ve written a few posts on conquering doubt:

    “Whether or not something I write resonates with a given reader depends on the reader. If I write honestly, my intended audience will appear while those who are not intended to be in my pool of readers will drift away.”

    “When we are enjoying the journey, we stop worrying about finding our intended audience ~ we trust that our intended audience will find us.”

    Our Field Of Dreams

    Write on! Here’s to postaday2011!

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  18. I’m a newbie, but I find that another reason to break-up long posts is to make them more reader-friendly. Sometimes bite/byte-sized is all one has time/energy/wherewithall to read.
    Happy,productive Blogging to you!

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  20. I personally don’t like writing long posts, but that’s because I perfer to post something short with a cute photo!
    But when reading, if a post is interesting, then I don’t mind reading a long post. It all depends on the content.

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  21. Breaking up long posts into a series is definitely a good idea. As someone pointed out in their blog earlier today, people tend to skim through long posts or not bother reading them at all. Sometimes it works if the post is so well written and engaging you simply have to keep reading.

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    1. It is also a good way to get them to bookmark your site and come back read the rest.

      There are plenty of other advantages to doing this way. Depending on the topic, you could later turn it into a small report or even an ebook t offer to your subscribers.

      Good luck with the challenge!

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  22. yap those are exactly my fears and I don’t know how to solve them. I think the worst one is being afraid to offend someone or sound silly :s
    but thank you for letting me know that i’m not alone guys

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  23. My fears?

    Having to come to terms with the fact no one reads my boring ramblings! But I’m finding it more theraputic than anything else 🙂

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    1. I visited your blog greenfae 🙂 I think most people fear being boring at one stage or another, I know I do, but like you I also find it theraputic. It beats lying on a therapist’s couch talking about my mother lol

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    1. DRIFTING AWAY FROM THE GODHEAD
      We know that religion is man made
      We adhere to it ‘cause we’re afraid
      So stick to the Godhead, be positive
      Thinking what can be the alternative
      Many do not want to be atheists
      Listen to our pundits and priests
      My God is better than yours
      You! stop behaving like curs
      Once they used to crucify
      Non-believers to justify
      And they run you through the gauntlets
      As you stand there amidst their insults
      A king or queen can lose one’s head
      As the clergy prays to the Godhead
      Telling you about their glorified mantra
      Is better than your Allah, Shiva or Budha
      In the name of religion some do poojah
      Maybe khalymy or of a religious dharma
      Some treat your godhead as sins
      If you do pray with the Brahmins
      But to you that’s your religion
      Be you Aryan, Muslim or a Zion
      When we go to war we pray to the Sower
      Begging our respective godheads for power
      To eradicable annihilate the other side
      ‘though you may be committing suicide
      Some refused to believe in the Godhead
      Preferably to be left constipatedly fed
      They have no time for love of mankind
      Too busy in greed becoming very blind
      Some are brainwashed so deep
      Following their leader like sheep
      Leaving nothing upturned except bones
      S they callously overturned tombstones
      Some skinheads so hateful go too far
      Drawing swastikas on your door or car
      Others envisage a higher consciousness
      Hoping for peace and real happiness

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