On letting posts marinate

This post, "Let Your Posts Marinate," has some useful tips for bloggers. For me, it provides affirmation. I clip a good number of items from my aggregator for possible blogging prompts, in addition to just the things I write about from experience. I have a small cue here on Blogger of items to explore. I am not as good about reviewing clips though, which is why at times I will post about something that got clipped weeks ago. However, since I am not aiming to be BibNN, it works for me to look at things as I have time and post them as I get some inspiration. I like taking my time to think about what I write. When I was taking one of my graduate courses in composition, the professor would talk about vomitting what you had in mind. It meant that you would think about the topic, let it stew, and then let it all out on the paper at once. I know, not a pretty image, but effective. Once you got it all on the paper, you could let it sit a bit more, then go back and do your revision and editing. In brief, the four tips provided by the post are:

• Jot it.
• Review it.
  
• Let it develop.
• Post.
  

In a way, that is not different from the writing process that students are taught in composition classes. Start by prewriting the ideas (jot), you look them over (review), let them develop (do some writing on it and revise), and post (write the final draft). For me, this makes me wonder if a blog is the best format for me. This is on the basis that many people have the expectation that a blogger should post regularly. Since I said the heck with expectations, I post as it works for me. I care about my writing, so I would rather put out something decent than the first flicker out of my mind. I prefer reflection given it is a learning tool for me. Does not mean I don't do the occasional quickie post. In the end, bloggers and writers should do what works for them as long as it gets the job done.

A hat tip to 43 Folders.