Dear WordCount is a weekly advice column answering your questions about writing, blogging and running a freelance business. What do you want to know? Ask me at wordcountfreelance@gmail.com.
Dear WordCount:
I find it really hard to write 300 to 500-word blog posts on a regular basis because I edit obsessively. I had a conversation about this with a friend who said he assumed people who blogged a lot just tossed them off. I maintain that there is no such thing as tossing off any readable writing. How much do you edit your posts? I’m guessing a lot more than any of your readers imagine. — KL
Dear KL:
I always edit blog posts, some a little, some a lot. Sometimes I see or read something that inspires me and I write a post or the beginning of a post in a white heat. I save it in Draft mode, using the WordPress editorial calendar plug in and schedule it for the date and time I want it to run. Then when I have time allotted to working on the blog, I go in and rework it into a final draft, add an image, category, tags and other essentials, and either publish or put it in the queue.
Other times I start and finish a post in one sitting. When I do this, I edit as I go, checking a paragraph or two as I finish them to see how they read.
Either way, I always use WordPress’ Preview mode to see what a finished post will look like published. I check spelling, grammar, and sentences that run on too long — I usually write too much, so I’m constantly whittling down the word count. I usually look at a post at least twice in Preview mode — and sometime a lot more — before hitting “Publish.”
I also edit guest posts that run on my blog — I’m very upfront about this, and mention it in the guidelines I share with people who inquire about guest posting. I prefer to edit posts in Word using Track Changes; I send edited copy back to the writer/blogger and they can tell me if it’s OK or suggest additional revisions. Once it’s ready I drop it in WordPress and preview once or twice before publishing.
Can you tell I work as an editor as well as a writer?
More on editing blog posts: I wasn’t the only person KL asked about this. Read what else she found out: Revising Blog Posts.
How much do you edit posts before publishing them?
I even edit my comments. *wink* Most of my posts wee written over time in a word document. I would get go back & correct an error after publication, too.
Taking the time here to say that many posts are too long. Some bloggers I have read are consistently verbose & I tend to drift away from them. Try to make just one point in each post. (This post it’s perfect length, btw.)
I edit comments too, and email.
Michelle
I most often wrote my posts in a word document with multiple self-editings before posting. I even went back to correct errors after publication. But maybe that’s just me.
I think many bloggers should limit the size of their posts, go on and on and on….I begin to avoid those blogs. I recommend keeping a post to one main point. This post, for example, is perfect.
If I see typos in published posts I’ll fix them. But other than that, what’s done is done. I don’t have time to edit published stuff. However, I do use old posts as the basis for new ones, especially if I feel I have something new to add. In that case, I’ll definitely edit parts of the older post that I’m weaving into the new one.
Sometimes posts have to be long in order to make the point. But generally speaking, a post of 300 to 500 words is optimum. All my paid blogging gigs aim for about 500 words per post.
Michelle
I use Blogger, and don’t find the Preview mode helpful. So I have a separate, totally private “pre-publication” blog, where I can edit and re-publish to my hearts content. Posts only move from there to the “production” blog when I’m 95% happy with the. (Perfectionists can never get to 100%!)
blogathon for freelance wretirs. This year close to 45 showed up. Together we blogged through weekdays, weekends and a holiday. We held a guest post exchange and wrote on another writer’s blog for