Let Your Drafts Simmer Like a Pot of Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

A delicious read

I used to be in such a hurry to write my stories and push that publish button. It was almost a frenzy. I would write, fuss about the perfect word, the perfect image, the perfect description of the image, placement of breaks, fonts, bold or not bold, large text, small text, and oh that perfect heading.

I got impatient. I wanted my articles out there. I craved the claps, views, comments and fans. Who doesn’t. I believed the quicker my stuff got online, the better off I would be. I even wrote an article about it.

https://medium.com/me/stats/post/74bf27d11fe

I still believe it is important to get your work noticed. Don’t spend days ruminating over the perfect title. But, and this is a big but; I have learned that it is a bit of a precarious balance. This need to publish and need for reflection and editing.

I have started taking a bit more time with my stories. My method now consists of writing one or two articles a day as drafts, waking up the next morning and taking a look at them with fresh eyes. Oh the things I see. The things I want to omit, the things I want to add, and the brilliant thoughts that entered my mind during the night. Now I sprinkle these flashes of genius in to spice up my writing. A dash of this and a dash of that. Was I really thinking of publishing that first draft?

I used to think it was OK to publish and then go back at a later date and edit. What I have learned is that editing after publishing may cause a substantial drop in views. So I do not do this anymore.

With experience, I think I have found a balance. Write an article, let it simmer for a day or two. Taste it frequently. Add a little here, take out a little there and voila, the perfect combination of taste and interest.

If you keep this momentum going, you will always have something to publish. A piece that just got better with time, reflection and editing.

Happy writing.