Do You Have to Let It Linger?

Posted by danleone on June 26th, 2007 filed in blogging

Because it is 2AM and I am lying here awake after only 2 hours of sleep, I have a question to ask BoMR (Both of My Readers):

Have you ever written a post that you were so happy with that you simply let it linger at the top of your blog for as long as possible just to give a chance that all your fans will read it? In other words, have you ever intentionally delayed writing a post because you were so proud of your current post?

For example, I wrote something once about an event that happened to me while working on the ambulance. It touched me deeply and the post really brought back a lot of memories. I really loved the feelings of the post and was proud of it and thought that others might find something useful in it. Then the very next day, one of my Baby Goats said something witty that I wanted to share. BUT, I decided to postpone the post because I did not want anything to detract from the deeper, meaningful post of the day before.

We all know that a big percentage of our readers stumble upon our site as part of the 30 second visits forced upon them at BlogExplosion, et al. In order to get hits on their site, they rapidly crank out visits to others’ sites. If these people look beyond the banner, I am surprised. But if your first post is a winner, then perhaps you have given them reason to stay and read on. If I replaced my Pulizter Prize winning post with a story about my 3 year old pooping into her hand, then perhaps my blog would have been dismissed as a “daddy blog” which is almost as bad as a “cat blog” or a “crocheting blog.”

Do you write to write or are you a more “strategic writer” and consider others?

(I am not going to proof-read this post because I am starting to fall asleep again)

Goodnight Moon

Dan


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6 Responses to “Do You Have to Let It Linger?”

  1. terri Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 5:03 am

    I have done that! But more often, I feel like I’m writing for myself and if others find it interesting, that’s great. I can’t deny basking in positive comments on a good post though.

  2. Laurie Anne Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 5:55 am

    Dan, absolutely. I don’t think you can be a writer without “crafting”, without strategy.
    No real writer wants to go unread, right?
    I have more readers than when I first began earlier this year. There’s one particular post I really want to rerun, I’d really love for more people see it, get a chance to comment.
    So why shouldn’t I? I don’t know why….it seems….self-indulgent.

  3. Michael Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 8:44 am

    It’s been a while since I have written anything that I would want to linger on. I have posted hastily to push down a bad post though.

    Take Care
    Michael

  4. Prudence Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 8:51 am

    I think I’ve done that, too. And then, when I thought I should write another post already, I kept the link to that blog post in the sidebar where everybody could see it and labeled it “Important Articles! Please Read!”.

  5. Dan Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 2:18 pm

    Oh yes. Usually when I’m want people to comment on something. Like my recent request for song suggestions post. I left that up for three days, when usually I post daily (I have no life)

    I don’t think there is anything wrong with that tactic however, it’s just part of the fluidity that is blog writing.

    Dan H. A daddyblogger :)

  6. People in the Sun Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 3:55 pm

    See, I have this random-previous-post stuffablog thing on the left column, which makes me feel my genius isn’t lost just because I write a new post. Of course, it only makes a difference if people actually read the previous posts, and that doesn’t happen often (but my trusty Statcounter tells me it does happen sometimes).

    And I suppose some people write only for themselves, but I’m not one of them. Comments, links, and feedback in general keep me going. Whether or not the world is a better place for it, I don’t know.

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