The Unpublished Blog Post

I’ve written tens, even hundreds of thousands of words I started writing with the intention to publish. While I’ve published some, some of the words got no eyeballs besides mine. That blog unpublished blog post. They rest in a graveyard on my computer. Some of them I deleted. Where do deleted words actually go? Weird thought, right? But why does the blog post I didn’t publish exist?

It is obvious the reason the reason the unpublished blog post exists is that they never got published, but why?

Not That Good

While I’m not the best writer or blogger on the plane, some blog posts I’ve written were that bad. In fact, I’ve written and published some and, after reading them a couple of months later, hit “delete”. Blog posts don’t need to be perfect for publication. Having said that, I still want some decency in the quality of what I invite people to consume.

One of the reasons I didn’t publish some blog posts is that they weren’t that good. Why makes a good blog post? While that is subjective, here are broad guidelines:

Idea Is Clear

Part of blogging is thinking out loud. The idea I attempt to communicate doesn’t need to be clear or refined. It needs to have some clarity. While I grapple with something in unclear, terms I need to be clear about what I’m grappling with.

Flow

All the words I write need some sort of coherence. Everyone can waffle as long as it is in the same direction. At least, for what I choose to publish.

Nice

Some blog posts have been rants; reactions to people. Not every rant deserves an audience other than God, myself and, Ingrid. Because of their emotional and irrational nature, some rants don’t deserve to see the light of day.

Sometimes writing something and putting it before people makes things permanent.

When we publish some things, we make them more permanent than they need to be. Don’t memorialise everything by publishing it. (Click to Tweet)

Timing

Publishing the right thing at the wrong time can make it wrong. Publishing the wrong thing at the right time is also nasty.

I don’t know if I can unpack other aspects of this one for now, figure out this one yourself.

Refining

Not all blog posts are equal. Some could be cornerstone content or material and need more time and attention. They need a little more refining, thinking, research, you name it. The “unpublished blog post” exists because I it still needs more work.

For different reasons, it is easier to write some pieces compared to others. Some blog posts are worth not publishing, for now, because they need to be in the crucible a little longer.

Some blog posts are worth not publishing, for now, because they need to be in the crucible a little longer. (Click to Tweet)

Outro

I learned a while ago that ‘perfect’ is a unicorn. Despite this, every blogger must have an unpublished blog post. If there’s one reason the unpublished blog post should never exist is that it was never written.

I always endeavour to write, I don’t hit “publish” every time though. Do you have an unpublished blog post? Tens or hundreds? Why is that? Any other thoughts?

Originally published at Blessing Mpofu.