Finishing that one post...

byIwienert

360 followers

10 years ago

We've all been there, or we all will be, struggling with a post for whatever reason. Maybe it's because our heart isn't really into the subject matter, or maybe it's because it turned out to be a lot more work than we initially thought it would. Maybe we can't figure out how to say what we want to say, or maybe we are defeating ourselves with the poison thought, 'no one is going to want to read this so why even bother?'

Whatever the reason, we will all struggle at least once (most of us multiple times) to finish a blog post. And I am here to tell you that is okay. It is okay to struggle with creating content. It should in fact, be expected. If creating something interesting and worthwhile were easy, everyone would do it. But it is not easy. At least not always. Sometimes it is, and the words and ideas flow into one great shining moment of cohesion and coherency. But when that does not happen, it is important to remember not to get discouraged, and it is a normal thing in the content creation process.

So when you do find yourself trying to finish that one post that just does not want to be finished you have some options. One, just scrap the thing. This is not a terrible action to take, especially if it brings you peace of mind. No one is going to come to your home and drag you away for starting a post and not finishing it. The problem with this choice, though, is that it is too easy to fall back on. Oh this is hard. I am struggling. I guess I will just delete it and forget about it can become your mantra and then you run the risk of not challenging yourself, and it is important for us to challenge ourselves because that is how we learn and grow in everything, not just content creation.

Another option you have is to work intermittently on the draft. Adding to it as ideas come to you. This method provides the benefit of keeping the post alive in your mind, and giving you the opportunity and means to finish it. Of course the drawback is that you might tinker with it so much that you will never feel confident enough in it to post it, and it will just sit there in the purgatory of your saved drafts folder, or it will become irrelevant to your readers if it is a time sensitive topic. If you spend over a week writing a post about a television show, the chances of the majority of your audience still being interested are going to slim down because they will have already looked elsewhere. Now, some of them might seek you out, and some others might read what you have to say, but if the material is time sensitive, the quicker you get it out, the better.

Your third option is just to power through that one difficult post. Write it as best you can and post it without thinking too much about it or looking back. This has the advantage of completion. Yeah, it might not be your best post, but it is a post and it is finished. Content has been created, and you can move on feeling confident that you were able to overcome an obstacle. And yeah, your readers might comment that they are confused by the post, or ask for clarification. A few of them might even wonder why they bother to read your blog at all, but that is okay. Readers come and go, and chances are one messy post is not going to make all of them jump ship never to return.

Regardless of which option you choose, and I am sure there are more, be sure you are creating and posting content. If you are struggling with a post, save it as a draft and move onto a different one. Once that second one is done, return to the hard one and see if you can work the kinks out after doing a bit more research or rumination. But write write write, and don't worry too much about that one difficult post because there are going to be plenty of them in your future as a content creator so it is important to not let one little post drag you down and stop you in your tracks.