Don’t Be Afraid To Keep Editing – 3 Reasons To Keep Editing
Last night, I spent some time editing a blog post I wrote last week. When I initially wrote the post, I was running close to my normal deadline for posting, and I didn’t have a lot of time to review what I wrote. Admittedly, I didn’t put a lot of time into my introduction. There were also some grammatical issues that I should have fixed. Before I made the post public, I had a couple of choices to make:
- I could have kept the post in my draft folder. It may have made it to a “real” post someday, or it may have simply been lost forever in my draft folder.
- I could have pressed publish on the post as is. Painters or writers never move to artists and authors when they fail to release their product.
These seem like the only two choices, but I think there is a third option.
What if I press publish and then go back and edit and update later?
There is something most bloggers never consider. Editing after making the post public is often overlooked by bloggers. After hitting publish on a post, many bloggers are onto the next blog post. Today, I’d like to help you identify three reasons editing is an important discipline.
3 Reasons To Keep Editing
- Editing keeps you humble. When you edit, you are admitting that your initial effort could be better. This takes humility. If you are like me, you hate to be wrong. In a way, editing is the process of accepting that you could do a better job.
- Editing keeps you stretching. Editing is a process of learning and growing. When I sent my book out to and editor and a small list of reviewers, it gave me the opportunity to stretch. I’m glad I took time to edit my blog post from last week, it gave me the opportunity to grow.
Editing keeps you on a trajectory toward higher achievement.
- Editing ultimately leads excellence. I feel much better about the final product now that I have taken time to edit. Editing will take you to a higher level.
Here’s a link to the edited post – 3 Changes That Happen When You Go On A Short-Term Missions Trip. I’d love to get your feedback on the changes I made to this post.