Do you start writing a post but sometimes not finish it? Resist the temptation to toss it. Incomplete posts could save you in a pinch.
I woke up one day recently and truly felt like I had nothing to say. That’s a feeling no blogger — particularly one with a dedicated posting schedule — ever wants to experience. But fortunately, I was able to post on schedule, thanks to a collection of incomplete posts.
I suspect most bloggers will start a post with a good idea in mind. Then, for whatever reason, we end up not quite finishing it. So we set it aside.
Maybe a better idea comes along that would make a better post at that moment. Maybe we’re inspired by a more timely news story we just heard. Or maybe we get into the post and realize we didn’t have as much to say as we thought.
In my case, it was a fairly long post that I had almost finished. But at the time I started writing it, the story I was telling wasn’t entirely complete. The resolution I hoped for had not yet happened. I felt that since I couldn’t give a proper end to the story, I shouldn’t publish it just yet.
So I decided to hold that post with the idea of publishing it when the problem got solved. That way, I could provide the entire story without expecting someone to return to find out what happened.
It’s just that I never got back to it.
Then came the morning I needed something to write about
Work has been crazy. My schedule has been crazy. Thanks to those two, my sleep schedule has been off. So with everything going on, I wasn’t able to stay as far ahead as I’d like with the blog.
Fortunately, I was able to look back at some incomplete posts I’d started. I found the one about the issue that had not been resolved at the time I started writing it.
But on the day I needed it, it turns out, the situation had been resolved.
I was able to pick up where I left off, add a couple of paragraphs and publish the post. I didn’t have to rush to crash something together. Doing so, after all, would almost certainly have resulted in a sub-par post.
But having those incomplete posts on standby in my editorial calendar gave me that option.
So if you’re frustrated with that post you started but couldn’t find a finish for, it may be a good idea to keep it in drafts rather than trashing it. It may be that you need a little time away from it so allow the full idea to simmer a bit more.
And on one of those terrible days that you feel you don’t have anything to say, that post might be the one that saves your schedule!
Been there done that.
I even created folder called “In the future” the has the URLs of stories as well as half finished articles and I also have some pre-written posts that are not current-event related so I can post them in a pinch.