Write Fight: I Say Write Right or Why Bother?
I had a blog buddy pose a question in response to a comment that I had left on his site. His question reads, “Is it better to post with a somewhat less than perfect post, or not post at all?” You can read the full conversation here.
My answer – Write right, or why bother?
If your only goal is to get someone to click on the page so that they see some ad to follow, then it really doesn’t matter what you write, so long as it snags the search engine for your target audience. If, however, you want your visitor to read what you have to say, and maybe stay to read a few other posts, or even come back again in the future, I think you should write as perfect of a post as you are capable of, or not bother.
How hard can it be to write the best that you can?
Anyone not suffering from OCD should be able to check the details of a 400 – 800 word post without undue stress…
I guess my point of view is that writing a few paragraphs on a topic that you get to choose is not rocket science. Considering that, if rocket scientists get what they do wrong, things blow up and people get hurt, how can what we do be so hard to get right?
Why it Matters
When it comes to online blog reading, if I don’t know you, and:
- the title doesn’t catch my interest, then I’m probably not going to open/read the article
- first glance reveals a huge block of unbroken text, then I’m not going to read it unless I have to for research
- the article doesn’t confirm the aspirations of the title in the first couple of paragraphs, then I’m probably not going to finish it
- the article has more than a spelling or grammatical error or two in the first couple of paragraphs, then I’m not going to finish it.
If ensuring that a post is clear, focused and readable is too much of an effort for a writer to make, then I believe that it is too much of an effort for a reader to bother reading it, and no reader is going to bookmark a lack of effort for a return visit.
Then again:
Am I the exception and not the rule when it comes to online reader habits?
Well, I guess since I started this whole debate… it would be fitting for me to chime in… so here goes. Unless I’m badly mistaken, this is the infamous quote,
“let me reassure you… every piece doesn’t have to be the perfect piece…you’re not going to fail the class if you don’t get it just right.”
You make a really good point about the difference between writing for keywords & volume versus writing for readers. Certainly actual human beings reading your post will want an easy to read, meaningful post. They will also most likely be put off by excessive spelling and grammatical errors.
On the other hand, depending on your audience of course, many readers may not be bothered by a few gaffs sprinkled throughout the piece, heck, it may even make you look a little human.
There was a blog I read for quite a while where the author, lets call him Fred, refused to correct any errors he made. Misspelled words, bad grammar… he’d even edit via text (ie “forget that last sentence”). His perspective was that he didn’t have ANY excess time to spend on such trivial things. If you could read it and get his point, that’s all he cared about.
I have to tell ya, some of those posts were pretty hard to read! Even for me.
My intention in the original post was to encourage “potential” authors to get past the fear of perfection and become “actual” authors by clicking the publish button. I did not mean that you should’t try like my buddy Fred, just don’t obsess over it to the point where it prevents you from publishing.
I guess its my philosophy to fail early and fail often because when we fail, we also find a new way not to do it next time. Most remember Edison for finding a way to make a reliable light bulb, not for the 10,000+ ways he found to NOT make a light bulb. Or Babe Ruth for 714 home runs, not for 1,360 strike outs (btw, that works out to 4,080 individual strikes).
So here’s where we agree. Do strive to write the best post you can with as few errors as possible, preferably none.
Here’s what I’d like to add. Don’t let the fear of making a mistake prevent you from trying.
How’s that? Any thoughts out there… anyone?
BTW, great post and thanks for keeping me honest! Somebody has to do it! Now, check this baby for spelling one more time and I’m clicking the button…
See you soon.
@jtrigsby
.-= jtrigsby´s last blog ..This Weeks Follow Friday Recommendation – Buck Rogers… Really! =-.
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Joani Reply:
October 30th, 2009 at 6:19 am
Thanks for the added feedback. One thing about it, unless you’re in the marketing field or already a recognized expert in your field, you won’t have much of an audience starting out. There’s much less risk in “putting it out there” for a few hundred folks per month than the “big boys” getting thousands of readers per day.
I know I’m hoping there is plenty of room for mistakes as I grow! I come from a writing background, but while I have no difficulty with the writing aspects of blogging, I’m still making tons of mistakes as I go. As I look around at other blogs and play with search engine results, I discover the need for different formatting here, different category structure there, and on and on.
Hopefully, by constantly learning and trying to improve reader experience on my site, I’ll eventually build a high quality experience that people just won’t be able to stay away from! You’re right on the money that if I wasn’t willing to take the risk of putting my blog into public view before it was “perfect,” it wouldn’t be up today. However, it is as perfect as I know how to make it today. Keep on blogging! :)
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This dialogue reminds me of a quote from Sy Safransky, editor of The Sun (excellent magazine for writers, BTW – http://www.thesunmagazine.org/):
“I won’t find what I’m looking for in the mirror of a perfect sentence.”
There’s something to be said for a state between chaos and perfection, and I think this philosophy applies to blog posts. As a former copy editor, I have to admit that I don’t tolerate a lot of spelling mistakes – SPELL CHECK. Use it. Love it. That said, Spell Check can’t save you on the there/their your/you’re type things. But if you NEVER use those items correctly, I will question your grasp of the language.
I don’t mind writers playing with sentence structure. A fragment can be used for emphasis. Other construction “mistakes” can be used in ways that don’t call attention to their “wrongness,” but creatively help the narrative flow. Again, however, if your post is full of nothing but fragments and constructions that just don’t make sense or are overwhelmingly difficult to translate, I won’t be back.
Split an infinitive. Make up a new verb. Make up a new noun. Turn an innocuous phrase into a euphemism. I love it when people play with the language. But it has to be obvious that you’re transforming the language and not just using it incorrectly.
Each blog post is not a master’s thesis. There’s no need to re-finesse every sentence multiple times. But your writing needs to be clear, concise, and, above all, interesting.
.-= Suzanne Haggerty´s last blog ..Coffee Tree offers a sweet taste of home =-.
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I just stumbled across this site today and felt this post applied nicely to the discussion here. http://bit.ly/8XURWm
.-= Buzzregog´s last blog ..Parking Fail =-.
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