I save every post. Not because I consider it holy writ, but because it represents my life's work on the blockchain. This article is for both those of you who treat Hive as a business, and thos who create primarily to add value to the platform. When I first create the post, it gets saved to the desktop in all it's messy glory. You should see this stinking pile of dung in its first draft. What a mess! :)
My goal is to get the raw material down before I forget it, then tidy it up later. Saving my work also allows me to track my progression as a Hive author. I can compare the current results which don't stink nearly as much as my early output on Steemit back in 2017.
There's a folder on a number of different computers and storage devices where I archive old articles. Recently, a respected Hive veteran wrote about some Hivians who regurgitate old work, making tiny changes instead or creating something new. Saving my stuff allows me to go back and check against what I wrote in the past.
This post was originally titled: 'Create Every Day' however it seemed like I'd written about that before, so I went back and checked. Turns out I'd written about that a couple of times before, but the posts contained enough different information and were unique enough that they didn't come off as a lazy repetition of myself (When you're in your 7th year on Steemit/Hive, you tend to return to similar themes over time.
Don't Be Afraid To Start Over... (Good Writers Create Several Drafts)
So not feeling that I could share enough new information with 'Create Every Day' I scrapped it. My goal is to provide value on Hive, not to repeat myself endlessly. I want to share high-effort, long-form content, and wondered what content creation workflow aspects of my writing could I share that might help someone new to the platform? That's when it dawned on me that I save every post, and it might be informative to let a new blogger know exactly why I do that.
Its interesting to recall what we thought of our early work. One of my first Steemit posts was about an explosion in China that killed many people. It seemed like good writing at the time, but only by looking back at it from my current output, am I able to see that it could have benefited from a lot more polish.
But you don't wanna be too hard on yourself either, as I can also see my progression as a blogger over the years, and know I'm SLOWLY improving my writing over time. So if you're new to Hive and you've made it this far; save your work in order to grow as a content creator.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes, as real creating often starts out messy, yet it gives you a base to work with. Oh, and do indeed Create Every Day. Freewriting, commenting, Threads, or just noting a potential post idea. All of these will help to sharpen your skills as a writer, and make you a better blogger on Hive!
Please check out my recent posts:
Image Credit: 1