Comments on: Blogging Procrastination, Perfection, and Permission to be Human

By: Holly Ross

Holly Ross — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:27:08 +0000

Avi –

Great post. I completely agree! I used to think my posts had to be authoritative – like a news article. Now I think of those posts as explorations – I put thoughts and ideas and fragments and hope that it sparks a conversation that our entire community can learn from.

By: Avi

Avi — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:09:50 +0000

Michele, I hadn’t thought of it in the light of trying to say everything, but that definitely does play a role for me. Thanks for sharing!

I think a lot of newbie bloggers, and writers in general for that matter, struggle that way with authenticity and finding their own voice. Anyone have tips with that?

By: Michele Martin

Michele Martin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:24:25 +0000

Avi, I think that the desire to write the “perfect” blog post is very common among bloggers. There’s something about having your posts be so public that really makes you worry about making a “mistake.” But what I’ve found is that when I back off and focus on writing an “authentic” post–that is, one that says what I really mean to say, even if it isn’t perfect or complete–that’s when I do my best writing. Those are also the posts that get the most responses from people. They can relate to the tone of the post, recognizing that it’s “real.”

The other thing is that, at least for me, perfect posts have been about saying everything I could say about a topic. But when I do that, there’s nothing left for anyone else to add to the conversation. Letting go of perfection in blogging can be hard at first, but in reality actually makes you a better blogger I think.