It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect

It doesn't have to be perfect, in fact it doesn't have to be any good but it does have to 'be'. Talk about stating the obvious that we all pretend isn't there.

This is one of my 'saved' posts from my 'Create a blog' list. All that was there was the title and one line, a 'misspelt' half sentence. It read "A from of procrastination" That was it, with a typo to boot. I read it, thought about it and went in another direction.

Let's get to on it. First off, everything everyone has said, forever, about writing content or posts is right. Now you can all sit back and know that there is no right or wrong when it comes to writing anything....if....you actually write something.

Now, before you throw you arms up and shout at the screen about grammar, syntax, spelling,

hooks, engagement, blah blah blah, you're right, of course you are. However, if you've read about how important those things are and that you must, must, must get all of them right, then the chances are two things will be happening. One, you'll be sat in front of a blank screen for hours. Two, you'll be in front of a full screen for hours not knowing whether to click 'publish' or not because you are unsure whether it's 'good' enough.

Here's a truth that will apply to the majority of us here. You may not like it but it is what it is and most of us know it's true, there will be exceptions, as there always are. Here it is. There's a good chance that no one is going to see it. There, I've said it.

Traffic, visitors, readers, users they will all come in time and in that time you will improve.

My first site, the one I set up way back when, is pretty horrible. Thirty or so posts that look like they've been written by someone else and that someone is boring. I'm not kidding, it's cringe worthy. It sends little shivers up my spine just thinking about it.

Cliche alert. It was a learning curve and a steep one at that. When I wrote it, I thought it was pretty good, I hadn't written in years, never built a site, knew nothing about the world I was entering into. Yet without it I would not be here now. I needed to just get it out there. Now I have a comparison.

You can get bogged down with all the do's and don'ts. Make sure you do this and not that. Check this and check that. The list is endless and you will not please every critic, so don't try to.

Just write and enjoy the process. Be proud that you have created something. If you need any pointers, just to give you a leg up. Use the spell checker. Use paragraphs. Drop in a few relevant images. Don't worry about word count, that will come. When I first started, a thousand words may as well have been five thousand. It was daunting and unreachable. So I wrote what I could.

As one post becomes two and then five and then ten, you'll improve and at some point you can go back to the first one and give it a makeover.

It doesn't have to be perfect but it does have to be.

Here's to a wonderfully productive and enjoyable week for all of us.