I just spent an hour and a half working on a blog post that I eventually gave up on and deleted.
This happens to me on a weekly basis. I get an idea for something to write about, spend an hour or two trying to figure out exactly what I want to say and how to say it, write several hundred or even a thousand words… And then realize that it’s just not something I want to publish on my blog.
WHY do I reject my own blog posts, and why is it imperative that you do the same?
(And just so you know, this isn’t a very skimmable post. You really need to read this one through for everything to make sense.)
Why do I reject my own blog posts? (And why you should, too!)
I’ve set a high standard for the posts on this blog. That’s why my guest posting policy might seem brutal. But I assure you, I’m much more brutal with myself.
I try to make every single post on this blog to be as awesome and valuable as possible. There are too many blogs that have very varied content. Sometimes you’ll get an amazing post but most of the time the posts are just… meh. Standard.
But the blogosphere is too saturated right now. There are too many “standard” blogs with “standard” posts. To get noticed, you’ve got to have unique content. Differentiation is the key to a successful blog, and that differentiation is noticed, appreciated, and valued most when it’s seen in your content (as opposed to uniqueness in design or name or something like that).
Does that make sense? In other words, your blog posts need to be better than everyone else’s. Otherwise, you’ll just be adding to the blogosphere’s cemetery.
[Note: Most of the above section is geared toward the blogger who is looking to eventually monetize his/her blog, not the purely recreational or personal blogger. For that, you can write about whatever the crap you want.]
My criteria for choosing what to write about
So that’s generally why I reject posts, but let’s now get into specifics. Let me first go through the criteria I go through when choosing what to write about. It’s pretty basic. Every post I write has to be
- relevant to my audience
- unique
- interesting
- helpful
- better than what other people are writing on the subject
And… I think that’s it. In my experience, if whatever I write meets the first two criteria, it usually automatically also meets the last three.
My process for writing blog posts
So if I go through all of that, how is it that I can write blog posts that I still don’t end up publishing here?
To answer that question (I know I know, but bear with me here and this will all be tidied up by the end of the post), I first need to take you part of the way through the process I go through when writing my posts.
I have a large list of things I want to blog about here on Blogging Bookshelf. There are 200+ potential posts on the list and it grows every day. Here’s the thing, though. Not every idea is a good one. Some of them just plain suck. But by writing down everything that comes to me, I make sure none of the good ideas fall through the cracks. I figure that out of the sheer volume of ideas there, SOMETHING will jump out of me and be really good.
That SOMETHING generally meets all 5 of the requirements I mentioned in the previous section. So far, so good.
But wait… Even MORE reasons I won’t publish something on my blog
Then I make a quick outline of the post in Word or just start writing, and this is where I start running into trouble. I realize (sometimes later rather than sooner) that just because it meets the 5 requirements I have for blog posts, that doesn’t mean it’s something I should write. Sometimes I realize that I simply don’t want to write about the subject. Just not in the mood, you know? Or the post might require more research than I currently have time for.
Other times I realize that I have less to say on the subject than I originally thought. My posts in the last month or two haven’t been quite as long as they were when this blog first started (mainly because it takes a REALLY long time to write those posts), but I still don’t like publishing something if it’s only a few hundred words long.
Occasionally I realize that I can’t really add much to what others have said on the subject, so I don’t bother. I know I don’t like reading “common knowledge” blogging posts, and I’m sure you don’t either.
And finally, sometimes I realize while I’m writing that the post does indeed violate one of my 5 rules for my posts. Oh well.
What should you do with rejected blog posts?
Ok, you’ve gone through all of this and realized that your post just isn’t a good fit for your blog for whatever reason. What do you do with it then?
First off, I always keep the ideas on my main list, even if I try to write the post and it doesn’t pan out. Because even if I can’t come up with a good post for an idea now, I might be able to in the future. Or there’s a chance that I’ll look at that idea in the future and it will help me think of something else that I could write about.
If I’ve written only a few hundred words on the aborted subject, I’ll usually just delete everything and not save any of it. Anything that’s just a few hundred words probably isn’t going to be too profound and I’d be able to duplicate those words again pretty easily if I ever needed to.
And finally, if I’ve written an entire post but am not happy with it for some reason (yes, this happens), I do one of a few things:
- Sometimes I’ll save the post and revisit it later to see if I can add something to it or change it. I’ve salvaged a few posts this way.
- I might submit it as a guest post for another blog. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean someone else won’t.
- Something I write might just be so lame or terrible that it’s not worth publishing anywhere. If this is the case, I trash it.
Final words
Having said all of that, let’s keep things in perspective here. In the end, the occasional not-so-great blog post will not bring down your blog. Your blog is NOT only as strong as its weakest link. Your blog is as strong as the average strength of your posts. And THAT is why you need to be consistently picky with what you publish. One above-average post every once in a while isn’t going to be enough to keep your sinking blog buoyant.
- I’m guessing most bloggers have unwritten criteria for their blog’s content. In your comment, write them out. This will help you with guest posts (you can even post it on your guest posting page if you have one) and with the posts that you write.
- Have you ever rejected one of your own posts?
- If you HAVE rejected your own posts, how often does it happen, and what have you done with them?
- What kinds of posts do you NOT like seeing on other blogs?
{ 92 comments… read them below or add one }
hi Tristan! i haven’t rejected any of my blog posts so far. i do a lot of drafting and editing though before i publish my posts. since i blog about books, i guess it’s not as tasking or daunting for me but i may be wrong. i can only speak for myself here. nevertheless, what i like about this post and your other ones too is the fact that it applies to everyone on the blogosphere – whether one blogs about making money online, cats, slippers, books, jewelry, etc. thanks again for the great advice! c”,)
I don’t think the fact that you blog about books really matters. Maybe you’re just a much better editor :)
Thanks, Ao!
I reject my own posts all the time. Its funny tho…I’ve written a post that I thought would be very poorly received and I turned out to be totally wrong. My readers didnt like it, they loved it….and other timtes, I’ll write something I think is just amazing, unique, profound even, and it goes over like a lame duck.
As far as what I dont like seeing on blogs, I dont like seeing same old, same old. Say something new or shut up about it. oooh..I just remembered another thing I loathe :-)
Writing same old crap but using some new thing and making it analogous to old crap. In other words, new spin on the same old topic.
It sounds like it should work but so few pull it off.
I just had to lol at your comment Dino. It is soooo true. The post I think everyone will LOVE is the one with fewest comments and vice versa. This a good thing to remember, thanks for pointing it out :)
Tristan/Dino/Theresa: (I think I got everyone :)
I have posts that I have rejected due to exactly what you point out Tristan. I think I have this great idea, I begin writing and Ihave nothing to say! Or, I write and it just sucks or even worse, is pure crap. I think we are our own worst judeg, which can be a good thing, sometimes.
I know exacty what you mean Dino and Thersa in regards to our epic post that we can hear grasshoppers chirping around. And no matter how much we promote it, silence. This is one time when silence is not golden!! I think it’s good we reject ourselves sometimes though, keeps our egos from exploding!
Cheers,
Lisa
Same here. Although I don’t trash my posts I agree with the fact that sometimes I think I wrote a great one and end up with less comments than usually.
I don’t trash them cause I usually think about topics weeks ahead so I have time to think the post content over and over before I actually write them.
But not every post can be interesting to everyone so I kinda deal with it. Different posts will help different people and I am satisfied if even one of my readers find it useful.
Brankica, I like that you plan out your posts ahead of time. That’s something I really don’t do very often (ok… ever). But it makes sense that that gives you a better grasp on what exactly you want to write about without wasting time writing about something else.
I do like how you said “But not every post can be interesting to everyone so I kinda deal with it.” That’s awesome :D
Thanks Brankica!
“Or, I write and it just sucks or even worse, is pure crap.”
Hahaha. Yep! Can definitely relate to that one! And “keeping our egos from exploding.” Awesome :)
Thanks, Lisa!
To be honest, this hasn’t happened too much with me! Maybe I’m too ruthless at cutting out my own stuff and don’t give a chance for things unless I really KNOW they’re going to be good with my readers. There have been a few posts where I thought they’d either bomb or be really popular, but not too many have taken me by surprise.
Thanks Theresa!
That’s funny, Dino :)
I’ve seen that to a certain extent. I feel like I know pretty well which of my posts will get a big reaction and which won’t. But there have been a couple where I felt like they could either bomb or go big.
I think you’re spot on, though, with the rest of your comment!
I like what you said in a post of yours, Dino. “Choose a posting schedule and don’t stick to it”
I guess that helps in filtering good posts from bad ones.
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve scrapped posts before Tristan – and I mean those crazy long ones that are hitting 3k words – nope, baaaaleeeeeted.
Sometimes it just doesn’t click; you can easily pour out the words but something seems off; there’s no harm if you deleted it.
In fact, I flat out delete posts that I don’t complete in a single sitting because often times, when I come around to working on the post again, I have a wealth of additional information so what’s down really isn’t up to par with what I want to teach with my new knowledge, ya know?
Although, like Dino said, it’s amazing what posts sometimes fly off when you least expect them to. I’ve had a few that have been really well received despite me writing them when I was generally pissed off about a subject – the passion bleeds through the screen I suppose.
Interesting subject overall Tristan – I think when you start deleting your posts, you’re really starting to come into your own because you know you have to push the quality; it’s no longer the one and done, it’s about legacy :D
I usually write my posts in a single sitting, but I’ve never felt the need to delete one because I didn’t finish it in a single sitting. That’s interesting. Hmmm… I guess that can make sense, though.
I have noticed the same thing about rants. That passion usually stirs up a lot of passion in others, too.
I love how you always talk about legacy, Murray. And it’s true! If that’s what we’re going for, then everything else will fall into place and the money will follow.
Thanks for the great comment, man.
I know exactly what you mean man. It’s often that I reject my own posts, too. I did it last last actually. I was writing about a topic that seemed interesting to me on Friday, but come Sunday, the idea (although still good) wasn’t that exciting anymore. Just wasn’t “in the mood” as you said.
Our industry is definitely saturated with mediocre posts – writing great content is not longer an option.
Thanks for sharing
I’ve experienced the exact same thing. An idea is awesome one minute and “what was I thinking?” the next.
“Writing great content is not longer an option.” YES. Nicely said, man.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a great comment, Hector.
Very interesting, and I understand what you’re going through. Because we all see the results of your posts. They’re awesome.
I usually don’t reject posts where I have written more than a hundred words. I usually spend a lot of time to figure out what to write about, then when I start to write I sort of know that I am going to finish the blog post. I have ended up writing a lot of “not so good” blog posts, but I just don’t have the heart to delete them :)
I have written many short blog posts, where I believe that the question I am asking is important, but I don’t have a lot to say on the subject. So, I am either looking for comments or just let people know about the subject. The blog post might be fairly bad (as a blog post), but since I think the question is important, then, I’ll publish it anyway.
I think that by taking a lot of time to think about a post beforehand (like you do), you eliminate a lot of what I talk about here (that is, the need to delete a post after you’ve started writing the thing).
I like what someone else mentioned here in the comments about using not-up-to-par posts as articles for EzineArticles or other directories. Not a bad idea.
Apart from just not liking to post short posts here on Blogging Bookshelf, I think that long posts are part of my branding. People know what to expect from me, you know?
Thanks Jens!
I reject my own posts all the time, or mainly just delete the headlines that I’ve scheduled. My main criteria for the content I produce is that it has to be beyond what others are writing (or have my own very different take on a subject), be thorough enough for someone to get value from it, and tie into my master world domination plan. If it fits all of that I’m golden.
And I don’t think that short posts cannot be profound. Sometimes you can be very succinct and get a point across.
Robert, I agree that short posts can’t be profound, but I also think that long posts are part of my branding here at Blogging Bookshelf. People know that this a blog to come to if you’ve only got 30 seconds to kill, and I like that.
Having said that, I’ve got a lot of material for short posts. I think I’ll group them together and put 5 or 10 of ‘em into a post.
I love your “tie into my master world domination plan.” That’s awesome, man!
My post ideas generally all go on the “Ideas List” before they have the opportunity to hit the screen.
That helps parse through the best ideas relative to each other. Some sound great when the light bulb first goes off but don’t seem so exciting once they’re on the list and have to compete with the others.
Papa, you just described my ideas list perfectly :) That’s awesome.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, and I hope your week is going well so far!
Hey Tristan
Yep, if I was to show you my blog admin panel you would see a ton of draft blogs that didn’t quite cut it or make the grade!
So I can see where you are coming from with this post.
I don’t delete the posts though, I keep them because I feel one day, I may be able to add more value to them, and let them fly free on blog !
Alex
I guess I have no problem keeping my posts caged, or even putting them to sleep when necessary :)
Thanks for the great comment, Alex!
Sounds like it’s pretty common after all, I trash more blog posts then I release sometimes.
Yeah, I’m a little bit surprised here, too! Thanks for taking the time to comment, John. I appreciate it.
Hi Tristan,
I can’t seem to hit the delete button, but if I feel a blog post idea is going south, I stop it before I’ve got too many words going and too much time invested.
Often times, I realize it’s not a good idea for a post for *my* blog, but it’s perfect material for an EzineArticle or a PLR article. The quality of the writing is still high, it’s just not a good fit for my blog. So what I’m saying is I like to leverage my writing. :D
I don’t like to read the same old thing on blogs either, but I do keep in mind that I’ve been blogging for a while and while a topic might be “old” to me, it’s fresh and new to someone just starting out.
Peggy
Peggy
That’s a really good comment that people should take on board – YOU are not your reader. So if your blog is aimed at ‘newbies’ then by definition you are going to be covering ground that has been covered on other blogs, and by other people.
What you CAN do, is give it your own stamp and add the personality and/or uniqueness that makes people read your blog in the first place.
Paul
Being in a very competitive field I tend to trash the posts which has been published by some other sites as they dont add much value to the content on your site
Yep, same here Ankur. Thanks for taking the time to comment! I hope you’re having a great week.
Hi Tristian!
I give you a lot of credit. It’s difficult to shelve a post that doesn’t work for the moment (or maybe not at all), but I’m with you on the “meh” sentiment. I see a lot of average posts, even on very popular blogs and I think it’s deadly to your brand if your blog is part of your business model.
One way to combat the “meh” blog syndrome is to develop a blogging schedule that you can maintain. I think many bloggers post content just for the sake of writing something everyday. In my experience, it’s better to write something incredibly valuable when you have something of value to say rather than just post anything.
If you can’t keep up with a daily posting schedule of killer content, scale down. It will help you, not hurt you.
Marlee, oh boy, do I ever agree with you regarding a blogging schedule. I’ve had several blogs in the past that I wrote for every day and it was just terrible. My content suffered and I got tired of it fast. I don’t like commenting on blogs every day and I think it’s difficult to maintain quality posts every day.
I currently blog here 3 times a week and any more would definitely be too much.
Thanks for commenting!
Hi Tristan,
I understand what you mean. I have set high standards for myself as well. I want my posts to be unique and memorable since there are so many bloggers out there in my niche. They are writing pretty much about the same things.
So, I have decided not to go down that route any longer and spend a lot of time doing research to come up with killer ideas.
I usually publish the content that doesn’t fit my blog criteria, on EzineArticles and HubPages.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Tristan.
All the best,
Mavis
I think putting your unused content on EzineArticles or Hubpages is a great idea, Mavis. I also like your idea of doing more research to come up with killer ideas and articles.
Thanks for the great comment!
Tristan, we share some of the same techniques. I also have a long list of at least 100 ideas for blog posts. I also keep my digital voice recorder with me at all times; I dictate post ideas into it whenever the inspiration strikes, and that’s usually at least once a day.
I’ve had several blog posts that I started to write, but then they fizzled for one or more of the reasons you discuss. I keep them as drafts in case I want to revisit the topic someday with a fresher perspective.
I also copy all of my drafts from Wordpress and paste them into a Word document. I don’t want a hack or server crash to destroy my work.
John, I actually write all of my drafts in Word before pasting them into WordPress :)
I like your idea of using the voice recorder to make sure you don’t lose any of your ideas. I often write those ideas down on my phone. It works pretty well!
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a great comment, John. I really appreciate it!
Your points make sense, overall I agree apart one thing.
I wouldn’t trash the post entirely, heck, I don’t do it myself. Even if I think the post isn’t good enough, I keep it on my list, everything I have already written.
The reason is that your theory is good just if you consider yourself a machine. Immovable thoughts and feelings. Truth is, sometimes, a post might look like shit just ’cause you’re in a bad or negative mood. In some days, those 300 words might be rethought out to be an awesome 1000+ breakthrough post, so what’s the bad in not trashing it? You could effectively be trashing your next top-viewers post just because you messed up a bad mood with an objective judgement.
What’s the bad in not trashing it? For me, it just becomes a distraction. I go revisit those partial posts and try to turn them into something better, but I often just come to the same conclusion and end up having wasted even more time on them.
You said “You could effectively be trashing your next top-viewers post.” Yes, that’s true, that COULD happen. But I trust myself to know what my readers would and wouldn’t like, and it’s much more likely that I was right and that it’s not something that my readers would like. I don’t think just being in a bad mood is enough to cloud my judgement.
And moreover, if I’ve canned an idea, that means it’s not something I want to write about. And if I don’t want to write about it… Why write about it?
This just goes to show that there’s no one perfect way for everyone to do something, right? :)
Thanks Gabriele!
I guess I never outright thought of it as “rejecting” my own posts but that’s what happens.
Sometimes I’ll get right in the middle of it and think “does this actually have any value to anyone?”
Although when I’m posting tutorials, I usually have a little bit a different trick or method that might make things easier for someone.
I know it’s almost all “duplicate” because there are tons of tutorials out there, but those posts are actually written for Google just in case some poor, frustrated person is out there somewhere searching around for another way to get around a problem. It seems to work pretty well.
Creating and formalizing a standard rejection procedure could definitely help the blogging process and cut down on wasted time/energy.
John, writing for Google and writing for my readers at the same time I think is the single biggest challenge I face in my blogging. I get more social media shares and views if I name the post something cool, but get more search engine views if I optimize the titles.
I dunno man… It’s tricky!
Also, sometimes I’ve been writing a post and it’s not going well, then I’ve thought “if my Wordpress admin panel were alive, it would probably spit this post right back in my FACE!”
Maybe if they could build that sort of thing into the next Wordpress release we could really thin out the clutter in the blogosphere.
Hahaha. I literally lol’d when I read that, John. You’re the man!
OMG I do this too Tristan! This usually happens if I feel I ‘should’ write about something. But if I’m not in the mood, or I simply have no passion for the topic, I scrap it. 9.9 times out of 10. In the early days, this was typically after I spent hours writing the post. And, do you know why I spent hours on it? Because I just couldn’t get it right. It was a struggle. And I refused to throw in the towel.
I’ll tell you what Tristan. It’s simply not worth it to me to fight a post. Once I made that decision, it was easy to move on early in the game. You know, this games just not worth playing.
There are millions of ideas out there. And, I’ll add, if you struggle to find even 3-5 ideas, you might reconsider whether you want to blog at all. If I have no passion for what I’m writing the first person who knows it is my reader.
If I’d read your post a year ago, you would have saved me hours of frustration. I know you will help others. Awesome post. Awesome advice!
~Theresa
Theresa, I know exactly what you’re talking about as far as struggling for hours only to eventually scrap it goes! I know that all too well… It’s still something that I struggle with, though I’ve cut down “hours” to “hour” :)
Thanks for the kind words and the comment, Theresa!
Ah, I’m pretty good at this art! The main reason usually being that I am just not into writing it at the time. I do my best writing in within the first few hours of being awake. If I try to do any serious content creation after noon, it usually doesn’t turn out the way I want it to.
That’s funny, Susan… I do my best writing within the last few hours before going to bed! Anything in the morning just doesn’t end up being pretty for anyone involved…
What an important post! I’ve never thought of it as “rejecting” my own posts, but I know that a lot of my posts turn out to be a very different thing than when they start. I may begin a post on a certain topic, and the more I write, the more I realize that most of my focus is turning down a different path. When that happens, I will go back and rewrite the title and the intro to fit the new direction. So far, there have only been a couple of times that I’ve scrapped a post completely. (But then, my blog is fairly young.)
I’ve done the exact same thing, Teresa! I start writing a post, it goes in a different direction, and I have to go back and rewrite my intro and title! I’d much rather do that than scrap the post altogether, though :)
Thanks so much for the comment, Teresa!
Hi Tristan,
Seems like every blogger rejects post here and there. I think it’s a good sign. It means that a lot of us aren’t willing to put crap on our blogs just because we already spent a bunch of time writing!
Of course, I do it too. And I know what you mean about getting an idea that sounds awesome in your head, but when you try to write it out… it just doesn’t work! And sometimes I’ll get an idea and start writing, but the end result is something totally different from what I anticipated. LOL. I’m sure this is pretty common for bloggers.
How often does it happen? Well, I do 2 blog posts a week, so it definitely happens to me at least every other week or so.
I don’t like seeing other blog posts that haven’t been proofread for grammar and spelling, and also those that have such mediocre, beginner information. I mean, it’s probably great for beginner bloggers/marketers, but I couldn’t care less about a blog post talking about “what affiliate marketing is” or “what SEO means.”
I think it’s good that we all set such high standards for blog content. It’s a true challenge, but it’s a total waste of time and effort to post something that’s not very unique or relevant. Also, rejecting our own ideas and already-written blog post is a learning mistakes, and I think we learn from them by gaining an understanding of how we write and how we need to lay out or ideas, planning, etc.
Great post Tristan! Going to give ‘er a RT! :)
Spelling and grammar don’t bother me too much these days unless they’re basic things like your/you’re, its/it’s. By far one of my biggest peeves are the “what affiliate marketing is” or “what is SEO” posts. Ugh. If someone is smart enough to be looking at your blog, they’re already going to know those things, right?!
I really like how you said that “it’s a total waste of time and effort to post something that’s not very unique or relevant.” SO true.
Thanks for the comment and the RT, Elise :)
Tristan
Peggy made a great point in the comments above – I commented in reply to her point too, as I feel it deserved highlighting.
Imagine this. If you were a Gary Vaynerchuk fan, and Gary did a video blog post on how to write a blog post that was SEO optimized then you’d probably watch it as opposed to say reading about it on ProBlogger – because I’m guessing not too many Gary V fans read Problogger. (Different mindset, different tone of voice, different goals, different audience).
That applies to Tristan Higbee too.
FFS – how many articles have been written about leaving Blog Comments in the history of the Blogosphere – and yet you came along with your new commenting policy. And YOUR audience – the audience that YOU’VE built – want to hear what YOU think about Blog Comments.
Or other topics about blogging.
That’s something you have to keep in mind – people come here not just to hear your ideas. But also something in the way you present those ideas resonates with them – and will carry on resonating with them whether you’re talking about ideas that have been written about by others or not.
That should be what you’re aiming to do. Write and reveal your inner voice. When you do that, your audience will hear the truth as you see it. THAT’S what they come here to read – it doesn’t matter if other blogs have covered the topic. They want to hear what Tristan has to say on the topic. That I think is an important thing to remember when you’re blogging.
Paul
Great points and a great comment, Paul!
I was partly playing the devil’s advocate in this post. I definitely understand what you’re saying and I agree with you, but I think that people lean on that crutch of “it’s my audience, they just want to hear from ME and I can write about whatever I want” way too much. People overestimate their own value.
But I do disagree with what you said about it not mattering if other blogs have covered the topic, and I think that this kind of thinking is one of the biggest reasons the vast majority of blogs never make it very far off the ground.
People only care about what you’ve got to say IF you give them value of some kind. Even my best friend isn’t going to read my blog if he doesn’t extract any value from my writing. I’m mentioning this because if you’re writing about what’s been written about 10,000 times on 10,000 blogs before (and you’re writing it in the exact same way), the chances are greater that your readers won’t find value in it, and they won’t be returning to your blog.
As much as I admire Darren Rowse and Gary V. and would like to emulate their success, I really don’t care what they have to say unless it’s something meaningful for me.
You also said, “Write and reveal your inner voice. When you do that, your audience will hear the truth as you see it.” Again, I think this is a fallacy of the blogosphere. “If you write it, they will come” is NOT a reality.
Here’s an excerpt from a reply I made to another comment in this post:
“I’m not saying that you shouldn’t trust your voice. What *I* want to write about is always the first filter before I think about whether something is good for my audience. But I’m saying that this “trust your voice, write what you want, and others will appreciate it and see your passion” thing is bogus. It just doesn’t work that way. People don’t read your blog to do you a favor, they do it because they get something in return–something of value–out of it.”
In other words, yes, “reavealing your inner voice” is important, but you don’t read a book or pay for a seminar to hear someone reveal their inner voice.
Anyway, I could go on but I think I’ll call it quits here. Thanks for the great discussion, Paul! I guess we’re just going to have to agree to disagree here :)
PS
I got carried away and meant to add that the kind of things I don’t like to see on other blogs are tons of ‘product reviews’ or blatent affiliate links. And people who write and don’t know the difference between ‘their’ and ‘there.’ Or ‘you’re’ and ‘you.’ It’s not rocket science – it just speaks of laziness and a degree of contempt almost.
Paul
of course I meant you’re and your
I agree, Paul, “product reviews” and blatant affiliate link posts are SUPER lame and provide no value for the blogger or reader.
I consider myself a good writer, and I studied editing in school, but I still make mistakes all over the place. And even you incorrectly spelled “blatant” as “blatent” in your comment :) And those people who suck at spelling can usually dominate me at programming or math or something else, so I’ve been trying to cut people some slack when it comes to writing.
Tristan,
I have a draft section at top of my post dashboard that is full of those posts that haven’t made the grade. Every once in a while I revisit them. I hate just flushing them. Especially if I have pu work into them. I think there are a few I don’t even check anymore so I guess ignoring them is just about the same as getting rid of them.
I do have a few that would make good guest posts. They did not fit my niche. I like that idea.
Like Theresa said…there are millions of ideas. Sometimes it is just a matter of grabbing onto one that really works.
In addition to using unused posts as guest posts, someone in the comments here mentioned using them as articles on EzineArticles or other directories. Not bad!
And yep, since there are millions of ideas out there, it seems dumb for us to write about something that doesn’t meet all of our criteria.
Thanks so much for commenting, Sheila!
Tristan this post truly hit home!
You can only imagine how many of my “brilliant” ideas I’ve tossed away or are still sitting in drafts cause I’m hoping I’ll find either the time or the right words/content for them. I think I’m up to 70 drafts right now! It’s safe to say that some do belong in the trash at this point. But others that have interesting topics – I intend to go back to and maybe refresh my brain with some new ideas with time.
I don’t think I’ve actually written the entire post then tossed it. Usually, I’ll realize half-way through that it sucks – but then again – half way through for me means a good 500 words if not more.
My criteria is this:
- It must be easy to read and somewhat entertaining.
- It should sound like me if I were to read it out loud and good friend was listening
- It should be helpful/useful in some way to my audience
- The topic must not have been worn out already but if it has – since a lot have – it must truly be a new outlook and have a different tone/voice than any others I may have come across
- It should encourage people to join the conversation – by including questions and so forth
- It should be somewhat relevant to the theme of my blog
Another spot on post Tristan! As usual. Thanks for initiating a great discussion. Tons to learn from others. Well done R2D2 :).
Cheers
70 drafts right now?! Holy crap. That’s insane, Ingrid! I think I have probably… 8 or 9 right now.
I REALLY like your “It should sound like me if I were to read it out loud and good friend was listening” criterion. I think that’s probably the best way to define what your voice is that I’ve heard!
(Oh, and sorry I haven’t replied to your email yet! I’m still very much willing to do the ebook, just send me the rest of the stuff when you can.)
Thanks for the great comment, Ingrid. You’re definitely a contender for the “best comment” prize for this post!
This happens to me too. More often that I realize. I saved all of them and hoping that I can salvage them one day. Another great post Tristan! Thanks!
Awesome, glad you liked the post, Dennis. Thanks for the comment, man!
Jeez. I hate to be the weirdo here, but I don’t delete anything. Ever.
That is not to say that I publish everything, though. I just save the horrible things away for some future experiment. Or, so I can read it later and think of ways to improve.
Actually, I had an idea at one point to put together every second paragraph from a bunch of unused posts into a single article, post it, and see if anyone noticed. But then I thought that might be a bad idea. If you have ever tried to read any of Burroughs’s later work, you know what I mean. Ugh.
Anyway, I tend to try to come up with a new angle on an old topic. Once I have that in my head, I start writing. So, I do basically the same thing you do in a bit of a different way.
Also, most of my posts are written on a blackberry whilst riding public transportation. If you can’t find inspiration on a bus filled with lunatics (it is a seemingly special bus), then I don’t know where you can.
Have a great day!
Yeah, you’re super weird, but we still love you, Mark :)
I’m curious… You mentioned saving horrible posts for “future experiments.” Uh… What exactly would those be?
And I’ve never read Burroughs so… No, I don’t know what you mean :)
Thats’ pretty impressive that you write entire blog posts on your BlackBerry while on the bus. I can definitely see how that would be… uh… inspiring.
Thanks for the great comment, Mark. Always a pleasure.
I think I reject more than I accept. I rarely delete in hopes that my original thought comes back to me. There are times that the title alone sparks the idea that I’m looking for. I reject my post maybe 25% of the time. But in those cases, I end up using a good 50% of those at a later day.
This article was good for because it made me think of my current M.O. I certainly need to better strategize the way I approach creating content; from the idea to the publication. Thanks Tristan, I’m glad you wrote this. Very valuable to me.
That’s funny, Jk. The reason I delete is so that my original idea DOESN’T come back to me! I don’t want to waste more time on it, and I don’t want to be influence by my previous, aborted attempts.
I’m glad the post helped, Jk, and thanks for commenting!
I’ve enjoyed reading all the comments here, as it’s something that we all go through on a regular basis. Here’s my requirement, plain and simple:
1. Have I lived an experience that has taught me a lesson?
Honestly, that’s it for me. If it taught me something then I’m going to write about it. I don’t know if I’ve ever rejected a post. Thinking hard about it, maybe once or twice in a 15 month period.
By no means do I think I’m superior for not rejecting, I guess I just believe in the power of personal experience, and let its life lessons dictate my writings. I think sometimes we can over scrutinize and analyze our writings. If we’re passionate about the subject, that’s enough. If we think others won’t like it, then we’re missing the mark, IMO.
Great stuff, as always T’.
Marcus
That’s very interesting Marcus. I feel like I am learning something every single day when it comes to marketing. What I have been missing is to take notes whenever I learn something (in order to remember the small things) and to relate what I have learned to my job or to marketing in general.
It’s like when I see the students at the college can’t get a parking space. They’re frustrated and can’t get to class because all the parking spots are occupied. I find it very interesting, and one of the easiest way that the college where I work can help our students :-)
I *hated* not being able to find a parking spot at my school! I agree, that is a very basic way to get your students to not hate you :) It’s like if you’re the ruler of a country, your people won’t rebel against you as long as you give them jobs and food!
Thanks for the comment, Jens :)
Marcus my friend, I’m going to go ahead and disagree with you here :)
I think that passion is enough if you’re writing only for your own reasons. But if you have some other goal in mind (to make money, to get a book deal, to gain a large following, etc.), I don’t think it’s enough. I actually just wrote down my thoughts on this subject in my response to Monica’s comment below, so forgive me for copying and pasting part of it here:
“I actually feel that most bloggers don’t over scrutinize or analyze their writings enough!
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t trust your voice. What *I* want to write about is always the first filter before I think about whether something is good for my audience. But I’m saying that this “trust your voice, write what you want, and others will appreciate it and see your passion” thing is a bit bogus. It just doesn’t work that way. People don’t read your blog to do you a favor, they do it because they get something in return–something of value–out of it. If you want people to read your blog, you have to very consciously think about what value you’re providing.”
Now having said that, I think that asking yourself your question of “Have I lived an experience that has taught me a lesson?” is a great way of ensuring you provide value to others. It would be great if other bloggers took that to heart and used that as their mantra for blog posts.
But… they don’t.
Anyway, it’s kind of fun disagreeing with you, Marcus. I don’t think that’s ever happened before :) Thanks for the great comment!
I think your advice does apply to all in the blogosphere or even if you’re writing drafts for a book or some other great literary pursuit. My ebook underwent many rewrites and I still have pages of stuff I rejected from the final published version.
Having said that though, I kind of agree with Marcus that authors (of blogs or books) should not overscrutinize or analyze their writings too much. It depends I guess which genre you are writing in, but ‘trust your voice’ is always a helpful mantra for me.
I think it depends on how well the author knows his/her audience. I feel like I have a fairly accurate grasp of what my readers would and wouldn’t react well to.
I actually feel that most bloggers don’t over scrutinize or analyze their writings enough!
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t trust your voice. What *I* want to write about is always the first filter before I think about whether something is good for my audience. But I’m saying that this “trust your voice, write what you want, and others will appreciate it and see your passion” thing is a bit bogus. It just doesn’t work that way. People don’t read your blog to do you a favor, they do it because they get something in return–something of value–out of it. If you want people to read your blog, you have to very consciously think about what value you’re providing.
Sigh. This is another one that I could go on and on and on about for a while, but I think this is enough for now.
Thanks for the great comment, Monica!
I believe there is one ingredient missing from your list that may explain why so many posts get trashed or post-poned: inspiration.
Jason Fried wrote about it in REWORK how ideas have an expiration date. What may have sounded like a brilliant idea a week ago, may still be a great idea but you lack the inspiration and motivation to make it great.
I realized that the posts I enjoy writing the most are the posts that flow off my fingers and are done in no time. The posts that I try to write but I get disrupted when writing almost always either suck or end up in Draft Purgatory. I will look back at some of those drafts and will never be able to get into the right mindset to finish it. It’s part of the reason why I have stopped keeping an ideas list. If I like an idea, it sticks with me until I am able to write. If not, then I probably wasn’t meant to write it. There is more on my blog about these ideas.
The other thing I wanted to mention is don’t be scared of publishing shorter posts. If you can get your idea across in less than 300 words, go for it. Seth Godin always writes short posts. Daring Fireball, kottke, Boing Boing all publish short posts at times and have huge followings. Not everything has to be 1,000 words.
I’m the opposite, James. You said the posts you enjoy writing the most are the ones that flow from you and are done in no time. I love the ones that take a lot of life and hours out of me.
You’re the second or third person in the comments here who has mentioned the need to get everything written down in one sitting or else you lose your momentum with the post. I honestly don’t think I feel that.
My blogging life would be a lot more stressful without my ideas list, but props to you if you feel better without one!
It’s interesting how we’re doing the same thing (blogging) but seem to have totally different approaches to certain things. It just goes to show that you need to take what you read on these blogging blogs (including mine) with a grain of salt. Try new stuff, find what works well for you, and stick with it.
And then regarding Seth Godin, Boing Boing, etc. Yeah. They write short posts, and good for them. That’s not my style or my brand, though. I like writing long posts, and I find on other blogs that more often than not (though like you pointed out, there are exceptions), the longer the post on other blogs, the better it is and the more other people seem to like them.
Thanks as always for the comment, man. I really do appreciate it.
I’ve scrapped far more posts than I’ve ever published. In fact, I’m probably a bit hyper-critical. But I’m working on it :) I’m still finding a balance between staying on target with the brand which I want to create for my blog, and the core message; and being open and authentic. Sometimes too many guidelines feels like a straight jacket when you just need to “be yourself”—maybe you’ve moved on from where you were when you started out. When I started out, I drew up some guidelines of the kinds of qualities I wanted to infuse into posts, and qualities that I wanted to avoid. I can use it as an editorial policy to see if a given post is fit to be published.
I don’t think I’ve scrapped more posts than I’ve started; I think I’ve probably published slightly more than I’ve scrapped.
I think the idea of having editorial guidelines is a good one, but like you said, sometimes you need to just do what feels right and hopefully it will sit well with your readers.
Thanks Lach!
Hi Tristan,
Anne Lamott (author of Bird by Bird) talks about the shitty first draft and how writers frustrate/shame themselves by comparing their first draft to the works of other authors, forgetting that the published authors also had “shitty first drafts”. I remember reading a beautifully written book in which the author casually mentioned that he rewrote the book nine times before he was comfortable with having it published. So I guess what I’m saying is that many well written blogs with good content require reworking and provide you plenty of practice shooting hoops with your trash basket.
Riley
That’s really interesting, Riley. I’m fine with having shitty drafts. It’s not other people’s writing that I compare my stuff to, but rather my own content. But sometimes I just can’t save them and they flatline despite my best efforts.
I really like how you said that the revision process gives us “plenty of practice shooting hoops with your trash basket.” That’s great!
Thanks for the great comment. I really appreciate it!
Hi Tristan,
I’ve rejected my own posts. Although I would say that aborted is closer to the correct term as I’ve never rejected a completed post. However, I find that I’ll start writing on a topic that I thought was a good idea and realize I didn’t really have anything compelling to say. I might stop after just a few sentences or a few hundred words. But I’ll just end up aborting the post altogether.
Perhaps if the writing bug gets to me I’ll try and finish a complete post that may not fit my own blog and use that as a guest post.
Using a finished post as a guest post is a good idea. Another good one that someone here in the comments mentioned is publishing it as an article on EzineArticles or some other article site. I hadn’t thought of that, but I think it’s something I’ll try.
Thanks Richard!
Really very sad! After doing a lots of efforts we have to lose our time consumed content. But dear I like your policies a lot “relevant to my audience, unique, interesting, helpful, better than what other people are writing on the subject”
Yeah, it’s a little bit sad because you DO waste some time, but I think it’s better in the long run for your blog and readership.
Thanks!
Hey Tristan,
Interesting post !
Yes, I have rejected my posts. Like you said, sometimes I just feel that the post might not be worth it. Sometimes, I wouldn’t have that many things to add (I have published 2-3 articles of this type, in total). Sometimes, I just feel that other bloggers have written about it a thousand times. On average I get 5-6 of these per month. I think these types of ideas are great because it will help me to learn – to think in a new way. For me, I don’t like seeing basic posts (this is the primary reason why I don’t like commenting on these websites). I (also) don’t like to read posts that I have written about (unless its from a new perspective – contains a new idea – I am going to close that tab).
Anyway, thank you for writing,
Jeevan Jacob John
Jeevan, that’s really interesting that you don’t like to read posts that you have written about, but it makes sense. I mean, we’ve only got a finite amount of time and why read stuff we’ve already read?
It’s great to hear I’m not the only one who gets rid of his own posts :) Thanks for commenting!
I have done it quite a few times. At the initial stage it seemed a relevant topic. But then I’d come to the next paragraph and realize that I don’t have much knowledge to the topic myself. As a result, I’d chuck it away. Like you, when I write something I want it to be well-researched and substantiated and it should contain ideas or information that others don’t already yet. Otherwise what’s the point of writing about it?
Exactly, Anne. There’s not much point in writing something if you add nothing new to the discussion. It’s boring for readers to read and it’s just not much fun for us to write.
Thanks so much for the comment!
The best part of blogging is that there isn’t one single path to success. It is easy to over think things and dangerous too. Too much thought can paralyze you and a lack of activity will kill your blog faster than bad content.
After 7 years of blogging the one constant that I see in successful bloggers is engagement. True there are some that don’t do much, like Seth Godin, but overall engagement has always been a part of success.
Right, there’s no single path to success, but some paths are more well worn than others. And at this stage of the blogosphere, I think “too much thought” is very rarely going to lead to failure, and will more often lead to success. You said it’s easy to overthink, but it’s far, FAR easier and more common to not think enough, as we see in tons of crappy blogs every day.
Now if you’re talking about too much thought that consequently leads to inaction, yes, I agree with you there. There’s a line, of course. You can spend all day reworking a post but if you never publish it, it won’t do you or your readers any good.
We just seem to not be agreeing on much today, Jack, but I DO agree with you on engagement. Again, there are outliers, but the way to a successful blog in the blogosphere in 2011 is definitely through engagement.
Thanks for commenting, man. I really do appreciate it.
My policy to publish content is not too much solid but I also try to maintain minimum quality of my online content.
Guest Posts are your representation on other blogs so we should only share quality posts on other blogs, I usually use Article Directories for my rejected posts.
well that is the sign of being a more advanced, professional blogger, thinking more of your reader put you in a position to dictate what you want put on your blog.
I’m right there with you, Tristan. I have one to two of these posts each week. It seems to happen the most when I write on the weekends and have the most lead time to my next publishing deadline.
Sometimes, I just need a little more time to flesh out my idea. Other times, the post took a bad turn or my mind just went blank.
If I think it’s recoverable, I’ll keep it for a few weeks to see if I come back to it. If not, then I’ll delete it.
Keep up the high standards, Tristan. You have a great blog here.
I can certainly relate, Tristan! This happens to me most when I sit down to blog and I haven’t thought about the idea ahead of time. Then I go off on a few tangents, get several ideas fleshed out, and feel like I need to pick one and run with it. Sometimes it works, but many times it just doesn’t have the weight of a good idea. I do much better when I sit down to write if I’ve had an idea percolating for a few days and just need to put some meat on it. So, I try to noodle on a few ideas every day so that when it’s time to write my brain is already moving, the idea has some starting momentum, and writing feels more like fine-tuning than inventing from scratch.
I haven’t had the pleasurable opportunity of trashing one of my posts yet, but the chance of it happening in the future is high.
Sometimes I too get a lot of post ideas, but put them on hold so that I may do some proper research before anything.
Thought-provoking piece, here. I probably trash 4-5 posts every few months.
Reasons include:
* several can be consolidated (different takes or new dimension on same subject);
* seemed appropos relative to a time, event, happening, but no longer truly relevant;
* been hanging around much too long and would rather scrap it and let it resurrect itself when it can come fully to life :)
I don’t mind rejecting my own stuff. I have high enough standards on what comes out the gate and is presented to you, my clients, the world … that I’d rather it not come out if it’s not right and ready.
Thanks for this, Tristan.
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