I've written a lot of content since I became an online publisher. I'd like to think that I've got better and better as the years have gone by but sometimes I'm not so sure.
Although there are plenty of posts that still make me proud when I read them again, there's also no shortage of articles that really make me wince.
They might have sentences I want to rephrase, points that aren't made clearly, and ideas that were only half-thought through.
Whatever the problem, what all of these posts have in common is that they all went up quickly. I wrote them, read them, and then put them up right away.
Big mistake.
When you've just finished writing, it's almost impossible to spot the errors. Instead of reading what you've written, you remember it. So if a sentence is missing a word or if you've repeated a phrase, you just don't see it. Your mind isn't examining the words on the page, it's recalling the idea you had when you wrote them down.
When you're writing a blog post or any page of Web content then, it's always a good idea to leave a gap between finishing the writing and starting the posting.
Ideally, that gap should be overnight but if that's not possible, try to make it as long as you can.
So if you know that you need to get a new post up today, you could write the post in the morning, lay it to one side then read it through and upload it in the evening.
Giving the post to someone else to read can be helpful too, but when you're posting a lot of content, it's not always possible, and a friend can't always spot the errors as well as you can.
Fortunately, that's true of readers too. They can be a lot more forgiving than you might expect... and of course, one of the best things about the Internet is that if you do post something you don't like, you can always go back and change it!
Do I take my own advice? I don't know. Can you spot any typos in this article? ;-)
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October 6, 2008 10:10 AM
Great advice. I have made this mistake once or twice (wink) and will make a new habit of holding off and uploading.
October 6, 2008 10:12 AM
Thanks for the post Joel. I'm glad that I am not the only one. I couldn't agree more with what you said. I sometimes go back to my old post and yes, "wince." I could not believe I missed a simple word in a simple sentence. It made me feel silly at times.
One of the exercise I also do that helps during the proofreading stage, is to read the sentences backward (not the words, the sentences). That seems to break the flow of my brain and help in spotting some mistakes.
Does it mean it solve 100% of my wince? Of course not... :-) But it helps alleviate the problem.
October 6, 2008 10:36 AM
Every once in awhile, I read some of my old posts (and some of my not-so-old posts, hehe) and think, "Damn, I can't believe I misspelled 'tomorrow'" or something trivial like that.
It bothers me a lot when I do stuff like that, but I doubt it bothers my readers unless I made a big mistake or a lot of errors.
Most of the time though, I think, "Why am I whining so much?", lol.
TheAndySan
http://www.theandysan.com
October 6, 2008 10:45 AM
Guilty as charged. This can happen even more readily when the days slip by and I realize its 5 days since the last post on a blog. Not good, so up goes a post, and then I spend the next hour or so in phpadmin correcting it. Not good either.
(I edit from there so I don't end up with a multitude of extra posts in the data base, and also it's faster).
However my "normal" method which I try to follow is to write a post first using Word or even Notepad.
Look at it again a few hours later or the next day.
Copy and paste it onto notepad to get rid of Word's codes.
Copy it into Wordpress post.
Edit the headings etc.
I am now adopting the same method I use for ezinearticles, which is to add the tag words and summary to the top of my article when I write it.
That way it is all copy and paste, tags, summary and all. So the actual posting takes just a few minutes.
October 6, 2008 10:48 AM
Joel,
Sometimes the simplest advice is the best.
I used to produce high level financials
10K, 10Q SEC reports. One tip I learned
is to read your post backwards.
From the bottom up.
October 6, 2008 10:49 AM
I wince all the time! Especially the stuff I wrote a few years ago. If you look in the wayback machine you will find stuff I wrote in 1998! Now that's embarrassing. But still, it serves as an interesting chronology. ;)
October 6, 2008 11:22 AM
Great thought Joel. You can also ask someone else to read it through as well to spot any errors and check for understanding.
October 6, 2008 01:25 PM
Nice article Joel!
It reminded me of a situation I encountered last week...
Everytime I write an article or blog post, I like to add a message for my main autoresponder list that references the article. That way, as new people are added, they are sent my previous articles.
The key to doing this is to make sure you let people know that the article is one of "your old favorites". I didn't and as such, I had a couple people who received one of my older articles share their disappointment for getting "old content".
The content is still good. I just didn't manage expectations properly by letting them know that it was an older article.
Hopefully that helps someone from making the same mistake!
Take care.
Stu
October 7, 2008 11:05 AM
I'm pretty sure that happens to every writer! I know it happens to me. I recently heard of wordpress plugin that allows your readers to fix your typos. Of course, each correction has to be approved, but it can help out a lot.
I know I mess up a bunch of stuff lol, glad to see I'm not alone.
October 7, 2008 08:39 PM
I tend to make those mistakes because of deadlines that I put on myself which only creates more work for me in the long run.
October 8, 2008 02:50 AM
Nice article!
I make those mistakes all the time haha
Good job! I dont see any typos.
October 12, 2008 03:24 AM
Oh, yes....
... but then: everything worth doing good is worth doing bad.
I work under time pressure, and I prefer to get mediocre stuff out there, than refining a masterpiece that will never be published.
October 12, 2008 04:08 PM
I though that I was the only person, who couldn't spot my own errors. Thanks Joel great blog post!
October 14, 2008 01:41 PM
It's a pretty common thing that happens to most writers and bloggers I guess. I wince at my blog posts all the time :)