Pruning Old Posts
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69413)
Germany
June 25, 2020 2:29pm CST
Contrary to what some members do, namely, delete their posts after some weeks and begin again from scratch, I've saved my intellectual effusions. I've put some effort into them - after all English is not my native language - and feel that as many members as possible should read them and help me earn with them.
In the past, I was active on sites which allowed double posting. The same text could be posted on different sites at the same time. This is not allowed on myLot, at least not if the original site still exists and the posts earn money.
Yet, if the site has gone the way of all flesh - to use a quote from the Bible to make our pious readers happy - and the text doesn't exist anymore on the net, it can be used again in a new post.
Yet - another yet - if the member used to write posts of 1.500 to 2.000 words and the new site has a membership that excretes mainly one-sentence-posts and falls into a semi-koma after, say, 500 words, the big pruning shears must come out.
Try to cut 1.500 words off a text and keep it meaningful! A daring feat, I can tell you. What is essential, what is not superfluous but not too meaningful, either, what is mere padding? How to smooth over the cuts so that the shortened version also reads well?
Once you've occupied yourself with this, you learn to admire blurb writers. You want to know what an 800-page-long novel is about and get enough information on one half of the back cover to know if you want to read it or not.
From my teaching days I remember that many pupils find it hard to be concise. Producing blabber, however, comes easy to them.
21 people like this
18 responses
@LadyDuck (458862)
• Switzerland
27 Jun 20
@MALUSE I like to be concise, if I can explain something in a short phrase, I see no reason to add more words just to make it long. I noticed that my niece always understood what I explained and she was perplexed when my husband explained something. He is too technical, he add things that are only confusing. I only stopped to read a few books and every time it was because of the flowery style.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
26 Jun 20
I was also concise when we had to write compositions. Classmates who hadn't done their homework always came to me because they could copy my few pages in no time.
I don't use a flowery style in writing and I hate reading books written in a flowery style. Occasionally, I want to shout at the author and tell them to come to the point!
I don't use a flowery style in writing and I hate reading books written in a flowery style. Occasionally, I want to shout at the author and tell them to come to the point!1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
12 Jul 20
Sometimes I start writing and it turns into a long posts. I don't mind that but unfortunately some see a long post and pass it by. People seem to prefer short and meaningless posts rather than long and informative ones.
Whatever you post here on mylot do you also save in MS Word or some other word processing software? I do not do this with mylot posts. If this site were to be no more I would lose everything I posted here.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
12 Jul 20
Yes, I save everything. I've been on many other sites before which, sadly, all gave up the ghost because of mismanagement. I've still got the posts which I wrote for these sites. As the sites don't exist anymore, I can use the posts I wrote for them also here - in case they fit the myLot way.
@Tierkreisze (1609)
• Philippines
27 Jun 20
Saving my own posts has never really come into my mind before. I even actually delete drafts after I post them so they won't clutter my storage. That's because I'm just here to practice my own writing while possibly making some internet money at the side.
But maybe I'll do that now. Then I'd revise my work before posting them again.
@marguicha (215723)
• Chile
27 Jun 20
One of my writer friends, Lili, writes very short stories. They are like poems and I envy her. She is now using her lockdown time making an anthology of Spanish writers specialized in short stories. She wanted me to participate, but I declined.
@Letranknight2015 (51536)
• Philippines
26 Jun 20
I used to write better many years ago but now it's either you say something, or i forget or nothing...
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
28 Jun 20
To be honest I think it a pointless exercise and waste of time to go through your older posts to delete them. Some old posts still earn a rate and generate money even after a long time being on the site so why delete them? I just find it odd! It will always and forever be on the WWW even though it may have been deleted, it does not delete its existence in totality.
@MarshaMusselman (38663)
• Midland, Michigan
28 Jun 20
I hate to say that I tend to ramble when I write.
When saving things from now defunct sites I my made the mistake of saving the URLs rather than the wired themselves. I thought I was in the process of saving some better posts but when I got around to looking most were about the site itself. Which is unfortunate because I had a few decent evergreen type things out there.
I do still make some money from an article I wrote quite some time ago in hubpages. What I need to do is find other evergreen ideas for that site which gets organic traffic.
@LindaOHio (157012)
• United States
25 Jun 20
I have a tendency to "explain things" in my writing which turns a short article into something less concise. Many times an explanation is not necessary.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
25 Jun 20
"Insight is the first step to improvement". This is a German saying. Of course, you must steer between over-explaining and not explaining anything at all which we find especially in the posts written by young whippersnappers from Asia who are convinced that everything *they* know is also known to the rest of the world.
1 person likes this
@HannahKusKus (4025)
• Semarang, Indonesia
4 Jul 20
For me.. both short or long written text are usefull. Because i enjoy it t support my learning. Then.. thanks a lot for the idea too.. to rewrite something in making new one. Usually i only save it to my drafts.
@RasmaSandra (73678)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
26 Jun 20
I usually choose articles that I posted a long time ago and have been gathering dust. I brush them off and revamp them and look to see what sites they might be appropriate for. I have very many articles I started writing about my dad a Latvian poet and about his and my mom's happenings during WW II. When it seemed there was no one interested I saved these articles deleting them from various sites. Now I have them in files and today I took one of them and posted it on Medium where they do post longer articles. I will see how things progress. These are articles I would not like to see lost in the shuffle. Too long for myLot and not of interest to Virily that leaves me with Medium and perhaps Vocal time will tell,
@JudyEv (326094)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Jun 20
I find it hard to pad out any short stories I write. I get to about 600 words and that's it.
