There was a time not so long ago, when I could not wait to click publish on a new post. Sometimes I still feel that urge but I know from experience that by waiting a week or so the post will only become better.
Cooling off time. First, I edit the post with fresh eyes a day later. I have yet to find a piece of writing I have not been able to tighten up 24 hours later. As a mater of fact, entire posts sometimes get deleted at this point in the process. Some, because I feel the writing was just that bad. Others, because whatever I was ranting about just doesn’t seem that important anymore.
Edit time. I happen to also have a fantastic pair of editors. One has a full-time day job and edits this blog in exchange for an occasional “I Love You.” The other starts school again full-time soon. Both like having a little lead time (more than a day and less than a week) to review the volume of work I churn out. (Not every post gets edited before publication but most do at some point.)
It’s all about delivery. Not that I’m a comedian, (although I do try my hand at humor occasionally) but the order in which you serve up posts does matter. I sometimes write posts about products I have an affiliate relationship with. I’m pretty sure if I reeled three of those off in a row I’d lose some readers. So, when I write a few affiliate posts in one day I’m careful to share them with you over a couple of weeks.
Continuity of content. While writing a post, before I know it I may end up with 1500 or more words. I’m finding most readers prefer my thoughts in short concise bursts, so I will break a post like that into a week-long series of five posts. That may or may not mean you’ll see manifesto-type posts here again in the future (I’d guess you will from time to time).
I think any task that becomes a habit can only help people like me that struggle with patience. What say you?