Diary of a "Slow" Blogger...
There's a part of me that has always admired those who can churn out lots of writing in a relatively short time; I have a couple of friends who seem able to create 8-10 "articles" in the course of their average day.
I have never managed to gain membership in that particular "club."
I'm one of "those people" who still journals longhand... sometimes
Truth is... I'm a "slow" writer.
Well... that's not really true. I can rip out a quick draft of an idea in 20-30 minutes.
But then everything grinds to a halt. Maybe I'm just a slow finisher.
I think I end up getting in a fight with my perfectionistic tendencies. I have never been able to bring myself to publish half-baked schlock. It's a bit weird, really... I even have private journals/blogs, kept only for myself, and even there I take time to write properly.
Pretty much every blog post; every article I write... ends up "sitting" in rough format for a few hours to a few days. Then I come back and revisit it, and start polishing it up. Or deciding there really isn't enough "meat" there to warrant any more work... after which it goes in the recycle bin. It's a process I started using in my 20s, in creative writing classes. And it's pretty amazing how many pieces of writing I discard because "they weren't as good as I had originally thought," when I first wrote them.
Blooming thistle in our yard
After the Discards...
If a piece of writing makes this first "cut," it has to be edited for grammar and typos; then formatted for easy readability and -- yes-- some sense of visual appeal. I don't like "messy" content, or so-called articles that consist of one very long paragraph.
Then I start going through my tens of thousands of image files on my hard drive, finding and formatting a few photos I like. I have always used my own photographs in all my posts and articles... kinda bypasses the whole copyright issue...
No doubt I have my years as copy editor and proofreader to thank for limited output!
Maple leaf in fall
It all takes time. By the time even a short simple post like this one is done, I've probably invested a couple of hours, all told. That might sound ridiculous to some... especially those "fast" writers, but that is just my process.
And that's what makes me a "slow" blogger, and why it's unlikely I'll ever post more than once or twice a day, here on Steemit.
As an afterthought (aka "truth in disclosure"), I am a fairly slow and methodical person in most aspects of my life... sometimes to the frustration of those around me. I still write a lot of stuff, longhand... pen and paper.
How about YOU? Do you have a writing "process?" Are you fast? Slow? Can you do the whole "write it from start to finish and hit publish" thing, or do you put time into polishing and revising your writing? Leave a comment and share your experience. Start the conversation!
(As always, all words and images by the author, unless otherwise specified. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Personally, I am trying to increase my volume a little. I have the tendency to drop the idea ball and pick up another too often so am experimenting other ways.
I spend hours on each long form text and constantly take notes for more to come. My type of work provides material to discuss too and I observe my surroundings constantly and extract more.
Generally, and I say generally because looking back I find errors, I am pretty decent at keeping grammar and typo errors lowish. You may notice that I occasionally go back and correct them when I find them. I do not enjoy reading articles written by native speakers that are filled with errors. Of course, I have much more tolerance for non-native as it takes a bit of courage to write outside of the mother tongue.
I also only use my own pictures and am lucky to have a massive amount to choose from.
I think overall, the few followers I do have appreciate the effort but from a return perspective, I have resigned myself to doing for the love. Which is not bad at all.
Edit. A lot of my comments come from my phone. I hate writing on my phone. Lately, text from a tablet...hate that too. My PC is in the baby's room and I usually only have the nights to write so, it is what it is.
Thank you for taking notice. Whatever I do I hope it brings with it some value for someone. Enjoy your day/night.
I must confess that I have a lot more ideas than I end up executing... just today, I had "planned to" put out three new posts, but so far it has only been one... and then life happened.
I suppose it's also about setting priorities-- whereas I do like to write something every day, I am self-employed and always have "lots of stuff" clamoring for my attention, aside from blogging.
I sometimes wonder if the fact that English is not my native language (Danish is) is partly to blame for the fact that I nitpick a lot over my articles before setting them free into the blogosphere.
I can't even imagine trying to write anything from a phone... I know a lot of people do, but it must be massively inconvenient... unless I have a full-size keyboard I feel rather encumbered and unable to write anything much longer than a tweet!
Thanks, as always, for your thoughtful comment!
If the Danish system is like the Finnish, it is likely you do worry a lot about grammar. It is a good thing...to a point.
I am self-employed also and have an 8 month old. Definitely lots if distractions. My long form texts are almost entirely written between 10pm and 1am as I wait for her first feeding :)
I think writing helps me a lot to think better as generally I am quite tired and need all the help I can get.
Most of my writing happens between 6:30 and 8:30 in the morning, before there is much "activity" around me... after that, too much chaos. I can "polish up" and finish something later in the day, but it's hard for me to gather my thoughts effectively when I only have 5 minutes at a time.
I don't know about Finnish, but Danish has far fewer words than English, so yes, grammar and punctuation is very important because the language is highly contextual... where you put a word in a sentence with other words determines what it means.
I find writing to be "therapeutic" in a way-- it helps me empty my head of too many thoughts.
I don't kniw about Finnish either :)
The school system however spends a lot of time in the testable grammar areas of language. As a result, they worry about grammar a lot but may ignore other areas completely.
I wish native english speakers spent a little more time developing grammar. Even native journalists write like google translate has done its job on an obscure language.
It is therapeutic which is lucky for me. If I had to eat off my earnings I would be quite thin. Would be an interesting post though :)
I am mortified if I find a typo or grammar mistake in the words I have written after I have posted them. And I rush to do an "edit" before any more people see! So I tend to be as careful as possible before hitting the "Post" button.
I love the striving for perfection, especially in dance, music, painting, writing, architecture - and personal relationships :-)
p.s. I haven't had the time and energy to acquire your formatting skill yet. I wish I had. Your articles are always visually appealing.
@onceuponatime, thanks for the kind words!
I guess I was just raised with the idea that "quality matters," so I can appreciate your process. As I mentioned elsewhere, my father was always teaching me that "if something is worth doing, it's worth doing WELL," and that idea has pretty much stuck with me... notwithstanding that I also worked in the publishing industry.
I guess I am even more careful here on Steemit (and I consider it good practice in "paying attention!") because everything gets recorded on the blockchain; even though my corrected version is what people see, any errors will be committed to the archives for all eternity... or at least as long as the Steemit blockchain remains on some version of the Internet.
The formatting is pretty easy... some basic bits of HTML from a distant past of creating web pages "long hand." Ironic, that use it now... I never liked coding!
The points you make about your personality (perfectionist) show up in your articles and I like them.
I usually think things through, often for several days, without writing anything. Then the actual writing part goes quite quickly. I'm horrible at proof reading my own stuff as my mind mind tends to read what I thought I wrote.
Later when my wife reads the uploaded article I often hear grunts of uh oh!
Glad to have you here on Steemit @denmarkguy!
Funny, about your wife's occasional comments... my wife is a former editor and magazine publisher, and to some degree she did put "the fear of God" in me, when it comes to writing, and especially writing "for public consumption."
Of course, I did my own time as a technical writer, and I worked for a local newspaper many years ago as proofreader and later copy editor. I also grew up in the time where you could send first editions of books to (some publishers) with typos and errors marked, and they'd send you back the book PLUS $1 for every mistake you found... a practice long gone, I fear.
I think you have to proof read your article. I read mine over again and again. It's amazing how many things you miss. I think I am quite slow as well.
Slow and steady wins the race ;0D
I'm fairly satisfied with "slow and steady," on the whole... but sometimes I get a little frustrated because I have a lot more ideas than I feel like I have time to explore and write them out...
Maybe you should break out and experiment and have a fast writing week, deliberately not doing it as normal! It could be liberating!
You might be right... and I have considered it.
I remember reading a post a long time ago (maybe it was even yours?) about creating a separate account to explore a different "persona;" writing almost in opposition to our normal style as a writing practice and experiment in expanding our skills. Still considering that possibility, too... maybe in the autumn, when I have a little more time on my hands again!
I think I read that one too. It was good, sadly not me. It's a very good idea and is worthy of doing to see how it goes. It might even end up becoming the dominant writing persona!!
Every writer has own style, even as "slow" blogger. Fast or slow only matter of speed. Everybody can write one or more articles, but it does not mean that articles is good or easy to read. I have just finished watch a video about David Hill (young reader author) interviewing a native writer from New Zealand. He said that everyone can write fast and quickly, but they were to much thinking about their idea rather to write it. So just write and let it come up from your mind. NIce ! :)
Thank you... yes, we each have our own style. I didn't really get to it in my post, but I also do find that a lot of the people who can "write 10 articles a day" aren't particularly deep or insightful, and often their work is pretty thin and filled with errors... almost like the only thing they value is quantity rather than quality.
I feel very related, for me it's also a slow process, I don't have much experience writing, but I like it and it takes me a while before publishing any post or article.
But I also believe taking the time makes it more enjoyable :)
Yes, you're right... I also find it more enjoyable to "do a good job." Maybe that's also to do with my age (56)-- I was raised with the idea of "pride in workmanship," whether it was writing or building a piece of furniture: I remember my father saying "If it is worth doing, it is worth doing WELL!" I guess that idea has stuck with me.
Great words from your father and I coud not agree more! It's really nice to share all of this in this community as well, I will follow you and thank you for upvoting my post!