Blogging as writing on a sketchpad
There are a few posts of mine that I really like, that I feel that if I had put a little bit more time into them, I probably would have wrangled a great, well-thought out, articulated post. Admittedly, sometimes I just want to crank out the content and even though the idea is *there*, it may not be fully articulated. There are other posts I really like, like the one I wrote on dissenting opinions. That entry was, I think, solid.
But there are blog entries where I can feel I am *this close* to articulating a great point, and somehow, I’m not fully happy with what I write. For example, I was re-reading the two posts I wrote about Malcolm Gladwell and the strength of weak ties (Granovetter) and I found some beginnings of a gem, but not fully fleshed-out. I do think it’s good to have my blog as a sketchpad, where I can draft some not-fully-fleshed-out-thoughts that I can then polish.
Do you use your blog or Twitter stream as a drafting pad?
Related posts:
- On furthering my academic writing
- Schedule your posts throughout the week (Blogging 201)
- The painful process of writing academic book chapters/articles
- Blogging as a professional gig
- Blogging about blogging, Twittering about Twitter…
So the n what do you do with them? Do you edit them later? If so, how do your readers know there hav been changes? Or do you post another, feshed out versionater? Also, what’s the benefit of putting out the partially fleshed out one vs. writing it but leaving it in your draft folder while it is percolating in your brain and then posting it only when it is done?
I do edit them later. If I edit thoroughly, almost as a rewrite, I announce it on the top of the post, but if not, I just simply announce on Twitter that I’ve made some changes.
I benefit from the partially-fleshed out post when people provide me with feedback on said post.