How To Make Shorter Posts? Help End My Addiction

[Maya Norton]

I have a problem, a basic blogging problem that I know you can help me with.

My posts are too long. I am a perfectionist and although I know that great editing makes good writing, I have gotten into a pattern of wanting to provide encyclopedic entries instead of Cliff's Notes.

Is it an addiction? I don't know, but I do know that your expertise will help bump me out of it. What do you say...

Maya

The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy
www.TheNewJew.wordpress.com

[Michele Martin]

Hi Maya--I'm one of those people who doesn't necessarily see this as a problem--it just depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Jakob Neilsen--web usabilty guru, says that if you want to establish and maintain credibility, you should actually focus on writing articles, not posts, although he also found that a mix of long and short articles may be the best overall content strategy.

Although of course I can't find them right now, there's been a big discussion among A-list bloggers recently about length of posts and posting frequency and what works best. The upshot seems to be that all sorts of strategies work and will attract different audiences. It depends on what you're trying to accomplish and the readers you're trying to attract. From what I've seen, if you want a large group of readers, shorter, more frequent posts may serve you better. If you're looking for a smaller, more passionate group, then you're better off with longer posts.

I'm wondering--what makes you think that long, well-researched posts are a problem? I see them as being a part of your "voice," but maybe you feel like they're a drain or something?

[Maya Norton]

Hi Michele,

Thanks so much for your reply. I actually do think of my posts as articles, which is exactly where I get into trouble with length. As a writer I want to be complete and as a blogger I don't think it works as well because I am asking for an investment from my readers.

I know that your blog posts also tend to be longer (which I so appreciate) as well as others, Beth Kanter's and Rosetta Thurman's in particular have a nice level of detail to them that makes me feel more connected to them (while I don't feel as though I know other bloggers as well who are well thought of in the field but have a shorter posting style)-- proving your point to a tee.

I am familiar with the newly emerging argument that how often you post "doesn't matter" and for my own blog I haven't found that to be true at all. Please do let me know if you think of the other links and I will be checking these out in the meantime.

Maya

[Michele Martin]

Oh I do think that frequency of posts matters, especially at the beginning when you're trying to establish yourself. I personally find that if I don't post every day, there's a drop in readers in both RSS feeds and in pageviews. It's a challenge, though, to write longer posts on a daily basis--no doubt about that. :-)

[Maya Norton]

Exactly.

[Christine Martell]

Maya,
I need more help understanding why you think your posts are too long. I think your posts are pretty awesome, always insightful, full of information but well structured so not to be overwhelming.

I also think it may be appropriate to ask for investment from your readers......a large part of your message is about investment. Are you looking for large numbers? what are your goals? It might be easier to offer ideas if you could offer me a bit more framing so I could understand how you see problem.

[Maya Norton]

Thanks for your reply, Christine. I am thinking about these excellent questions and will write back shortly after I can better answer them.

Best wishes,

Maya

[Ignatia]

hello Maya

I agree with the others that your posts are insightful and this nice as long articles.

What I miss however is kind of a tag cloud, with which I could easily find certain content. I have seen that your tags feature a lot of names, but only a few tags relate to content or topic of the post on which possible readers would like to search . If I want to look for easy access to content, you could add the wordpress tag cloud: ( http://sw-guide.de/wordpress/plugins/category-tagging/ )
If anybody comes to your blog they will soon see that your write indepth posts, they will not mind as long as they can skip to the content they need in just one click.

[Maya Norton]

Thanks, Ignatia. I only just realized this was a problem as I mistakenly believed that my readers could navigate the site in the same way that I could internally.

I am having a hard time understanding how plugins and the technicalities of Wordpress work, which is why my blog is not more navigable, but I will certainly keep the tag cloud link in mind as soon as I do.

All the best,

Maya

[Emma Duke-Williams]

To me, what's probably more important than the length of the post, is the content. I'd far rather read a long, interesting post, than a short one that I'm not interested in.

To me, a significant aspect is why you're blogging in the first place. If you're primarily writing for self - and audience is an added bonus, that's very different to writing primarily for the audience, and fitting your writing style to their expectations (or what you think they are).

[Maya Norton]

Hi Emma,

Sorry not to have responded earlier, but I just saw this comment.

Our preferences completely align in that I would rather read a longer, more complete post than ones than one that seems to leave the point hanging. To me the former is much more satisfying.

Maya

[Simon Thomas]

How about using a platform that forces you to limit your posts? I think I suffer from the same problem, so I'm going to experiment with Twitter a bit. I'm hoping that limiting myself to 140 characters will help me be more concise.

I don't necessarily think long posts in and of themselves are bad. If you have a lot of information, then the post will be long. My problem is that I'll say something in 200 words where I should only be using 20.

[Sue Waters]

Definitely Twitter does teach you have to write short, sharp and concisely. The only negative is twitter has put some of my friends off blogging because they feel everything is said at Twitter, everyone must already know so what is the point of blogging the information. My twitter name is dswaters if you want to add me to your twitter stream.

Sue