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orion_joel
01-04-2009, 07:47 AM
As i am sure some of you may have noticed i can put a lot more into a post here then sometimes is really necessary. While i hope that sometimes it does create extra value and is useful, there are probably times it isnt as well.

I having this same thoughts in regards to my blogs, in the last 12 days, i have written about 30 posts, for my 3 blogs, about 50% published and 50% waiting as drafts, with a total of more then 13,000 words.

Does this sound like overkill or is it just good sense that i am confusing with over doing it, in getting a good supply of posts ready?

KristineS
01-04-2009, 10:15 AM
I always like to have a bunch of posts in reserve. I haven't been doing as well as I want to do with that, but it's one of my goals. I don't think there's anything wrong with writing posts when you have time. The only time I would see that sort of thing as a problem was if you were neglecting other work or other important things to do the writing. Otherwise, I'd say it's just good sense. You never know when your schedule might get busier, so having some posts in reserve is smart.

seolman
01-04-2009, 12:28 PM
I really don't have time to read much (and I think most people are the same) so even if someone posts more than one blog a day I'm not likely to read it. If the blogger has a great reputation - that is: the stuff he/she put's out is like gold, I'll read it. But to be honest, most of the best bloggers put stuff out, at most, daily - in some cases weekly. It all depends on what your blogging and whether it's mashups or some technical blurbs.

For me it's really more about quality than quantity. I'm more guilty of waiting too long between posts :(

But I should mention OJ - I like your posts, amount of words doesn't matter - it's substance ;)

greenoak
01-04-2009, 07:48 PM
if i was enjoying visiting a blog it might not be too much..i dont mind reading.....but thats a lot of words to wade though.....guess i would wonder if the time it takes to write all that, couldnt be spent better...but if its making you money thats great...

i blog 2 or 3 times a day sometimes....usually depending on what pictures i got..but i dont labor over the posts at all....im not trying to be picked up anywhere.... but im glad when a customer says they saw something on the blog.....
ann

vangogh
01-04-2009, 09:10 PM
I think quality is much more important than quantity too. It's good that you've written as much as you have and now have some posts stockpiled for the future. Now to take those posts and really look at them to see how you can make them better.

orion_joel
01-04-2009, 11:27 PM
Some good points, thank-you for your input.

The basic method i use for posting is to look to publish a new post every 2 or 3 days. Probably half of my current stockpile is awaiting some other articles that i want to release in a series, so it means i have to still do some more writing before releasing those. The probably good thing about this is, that the writing i do is all done within maybe 1 to 2 hours a day, and on occasion in a single session i can write 4 posts.

One of the posts i wrote last night that was what caused me to stop and think, was 735words, and it took me from first word on the screen to last word less then 15 minutes to write. Just had some spelling to correct and it is ready to publish, now this is not how all my writing goes but once i get a topic and the main direction i want in my head i can write that fast.

the only disappointing part at this point is that currently i am not actually making any real money from this. Maybe on average some cents every month from adsense if i am lucky.

vangogh
01-05-2009, 10:30 AM
Just had some spelling to correct and it is ready to publish

Nope. I guarantee there's more you can do.

Omit Needless Words

I guarantee you can improve your posts by going over them again and removing words that don't need to be there. I bet your 735 word post could be reduced to less than 500 words and end up as a better post that gets read more.

As far as the money is concerned it will probably take some time. First work on attracting a loyal audience and building it into a community. Once you have traffic and a loyal community you should have better success bringing in revenue.

orion_joel
01-05-2009, 11:33 PM
I would have to take a look, however i have found that the more time i spend on an article the more i include padding words. I might take a look at it and see what i may be able to modify.

vangogh
01-06-2009, 01:30 AM
Cutting out words is not an easy thing. It's not my specialty either. Still most every piece or writing can usually be cut down. Common advice would say you can probably cut your posts in half and still have all the important information in there and ultimately end up with a better post because of the brevity.

seolman
01-06-2009, 06:47 PM
I envy people who can write easily. I see several persons in this forum who seem to just pour out the words naturally in their blogs. For me I'm looking around for a bottle of wordlax. Writing has never come easy and getting my thoughts organized and down on paper is nightmarish. My grammar stinks, spelling is worse...*phew*

That about covers how I feel about writing...

Steve you posted up a great link a while back - top ten writer resources or something like that. It was a GREAT help. At least two of those sites have made a dramatic difference in the way I approach writing. Big thanks.

vangogh
01-06-2009, 07:46 PM
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
01-07-2009, 12:00 AM
Seolman, maybe have a look at this site Freewriting Techniques (http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/freewrite.html) 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
01-07-2009, 12:06 AM
Thanks OJ - I'll give it a try.

vangogh
01-07-2009, 12:41 AM
You can also check out my own take on freewriting. I adhere to the Jack Kerouac school of spontaneous prose (http://www.vanseodesign.com/blog/blogging/spontaneous-blogging/).

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
01-07-2009, 12:58 AM
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
01-07-2009, 02:44 AM
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
01-07-2009, 07:14 PM
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
01-07-2009, 09:26 PM
If only we could get those conversations in our heads down on paper. My blog would have a few new posts daily.

orion_joel
01-07-2009, 11:20 PM
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
01-08-2009, 10:46 AM
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...