How much is to much

[vangogh]

Glad to supply the link then. I forget what it was, but I think it linked to a top 10 writer's blogs. Is that right?

Writing here in the forum is easy for me. I'm very good at responding to questions and just writing off the cuff. I write long emails too. In situations where there's a back and forth or where I'm simply responding to someone else the words flow quickly and naturally.

On the other hand when I write a blog post or an article the writing goes very slowly. I'm not sure why it's so much more difficult to get the words out. Maybe it's because forum posts and emails seem more informal to me and there's less thought about making the writing perfect. With the blog post the the editor in me comes out more slowing the writer down.

[orion_joel]

Seolman, maybe have a look at this site Freewriting Techniques as well. It is a technique called free writing, it is basically you need to write, or type your thoughts as fast you can not really going in any specific direction, with your thoughts but just writing. i have tried it once, and as i am a fairly quick type was writing an average of 70 words a minute for 28 minutes, this was just writing my thoughts, and i was quite surprised i only had one or two few seconds where i was lost as to what to write but it came back again.

Vangogh, maybe the slower writing on the blog posts, could be caused by that you are answering your own internal question or a question you have formed from others comments somewhere. Which is also something i have had some problems with. If i see a questions someone asks, i may modify it slightly but i can reply to it much easier then if i make my own question.

[seolman]

Thanks OJ - I'll give it a try.

[vangogh]

You can also check out my own take on freewriting. I adhere to the Jack Kerouac school of spontaneous prose.

I think freewriting is a great way to build writing chops and help you write at a moment's notice. I think spontaneous prose is a great way to write first drafts.

Joel I think with the blogs I let my internal editor rise to the surface much sooner than he should. Also even though blogs are conversational that conversation isn't really there when first writing the post. The conversation generally comes after the conversation. I think I'm better at getting involved in the conversation after it's been started than starting it.

Interstingly (to me at least) I'll often compose blog posts in my head as though it's a one to one conversation with a single person. The words flow easily. Unfortunately I usually don't have something to record those word thoughts at the time. By the time I sit down to write the conversation is lost and the writing doesn't flow as well. I have to find a way to get the conversation flowing better while writing. It's probably something that will come down to more practice.

[seolman]

Interesting stuff Steve. I definitely find myself more in the assembly line mode more often than the inspired mode of late. Too many hours at the grinding wheel and not enough daydream time. There was a time when words flew out more freely but not lately. I think rest is the key - well rested = better writing. But our business has been super busy and I have much less time for reflection and writing...so I end up doing more research, writing an outline and building a post rather than writing a work of art.

[vangogh]

A lot of it is just practice. When I used to freewrite the goal was to grab a pen and paper and just start writing without stop for 15 minutes. What you wrote was irrelevant as long as you kept the pen moving across the paper.

At first it was very difficult to go 15 minutes. A couple years later I could sit and write non stop for a few hours and actually write some decent stuff. The repetition makes it easier. I don't think it leads to finished writing, but rather the stuff of a first draft. The free or spontaneous stuff is like roughly shaping the clay which then needs to be refined to turn it from a recognizable shape to a piece of art.

[orion_joel]

Vangogh, i have similar conversations in my head a lot. I mull over so many different things and have some many different things going on in my mind, that never make it to anything i write, because i never seem to have a notebook handy at the right time.

Seolman, Well rested isn't always essential, i seem to be in a constant state of not being rested well enough with the schedule and times i got to keep for work. So sometimes my writing is done when i am not entirely there. However i have found that if i am focus on the writing rather then other things that have been bothering me, then i can do the writing a lot easier.

[vangogh]

If only we could get those conversations in our heads down on paper. My blog would have a few new posts daily.

[orion_joel]

If that was possible in some automatic way rather then having to write it out or type it out. I think that there would end up a lot of stuff that just should never be written as well unfortunately.

[greenoak]

i have to say i admire good writing...but thats not everything...
.. in our business dh almost perfect with the numbers...hes great and the all the finance parts... you would naturally trust his numbers over my sloppy generalizations,,,....but i make almost all the sales...i can price anything anytime,,, anyone who wants to know something or buy something usually comes to me.. i could price a whole wall of stuff for you in just a few minutes....
i have a friend with a beautifully written blog about our subject...i like putting links on my blog to her beautiful informative posts...on the other hand my blog is fast and slapdash and full of pictures..
.i couldnt do it the good way, so well laid out on this thread. ..but mine works too..... i get such nice feedback on it..and i know its helped bring in lots of buyers.....
..and i probably couldnt do it dhs and vgs way if i tried.....
i really think for a blog to be interesting it should be true to the author , above all else....authentic....
and if you are doing my dhs work, the checkbook, etc.or doing web work ..you want it perfect...but in the blog and selling world there are other good ways... real good ways...
just a thought from the other side....the side that cant bother to punctuate or keep subjects and predicates straight...