As mentioned in the last article in Nothing to Blog About, not every idea is worth publishing. Not every blog post is publishable. Not every blog post should see the light of the public eye. And sometimes that type of blog post is stopping us from producing blog content.
I can’t tell you the many hours I’ve spent struggling over a blog post, determined it had value and needed to be published. I’d beat at it, thrash it, rip and tear it apart, only to decide it wasn’t ready, nor was I, to have this ever be published.
Has this happened to you? A blog post you want to publish sits in your drafts or stares at you from your blog screen screaming, “NO! NOT YET!”
Are you listening?
Not all ideas are good ones. We think they are at the time, but as we develop them, the spark in the idea melts away and we are left with a hollow sense of purpose. What happened?
We all start many things full of energy and enthusiasm, then figure out midway through that it’s just not right, expends too much energy, or it just runs out of steam. The passion is gone. It’s not as exciting as it once was. It’s boring.
When I review something I’ve written and get bored, I know my readers are going to get bored faster than I am. It’s time to spice this thing up, or let it sit and mellow until I can find a way to add some color or flavor to the recipe.
Other times, I’ll look at the article and think, “It’s not done.” It’s incomplete, missing something, or just lacking. Or I’ll realize it says too much. I don’t know how to cut it down, but there’s too many points and not enough clarity.
If you get an intuitive itching at your creative spirit that says don’t hit Publish, don’t. Trust it. Not every blog post must be published.
If you find yourself spending too much time and energy on a blog post without moving to out of the draft bin, stop. This post is not only sucking away valuable energy and passion, it is a black hole you might never pull away from. It is draining your energy from other more productive and entertaining writing and content generation projects, ideas that need that energy.
Keep it in draft or delete it. Either way, stop messing around with it. You can come back to it later, but walk away. Put your energy where it will do it’s best work.
