ANDRE BEGIN

After almost 10 years of using WordPress and pressing “Publish” on my 500th blog post, I did the most natural thing in the world.

I went back to the very beginning to my very first blog post. The goal: to start reading everything over again.

Every post.

Every… single… word.

Wait… Doesn’t everyone do that?

It’s confession time: For the first 8 years, the blog was what I did in my spare time, after the busy career and after the essential chores around the house. While I was still committed to publishing one new blog post each week, time was often in short supply preventing me from going back and making changes to the older posts.

It didn’t matter the type of change: It could have been an afterthought of something I could have said better. It could have been a best practice in blogging that I read about and wanted to incorporate. It could have been something new I learned about how to use the WordPress platform, suggesting retrofits to previous posts were needed.

The desire to go back and fix older posts was there. The challenge was the opportunity cost: if I did go back and make repairs, I would have less time for that week’s new post.

Some motivational speakers might suggest that we should keep looking forward, following our goals, persevering and improving as we learn along the way, and to not look back. In some ways, that train of thought helped me feel justified with my choice but it still left me conflicted.

In retirement, with more time and flexibility on my hands, reviewing old posts has been on my mind for several months.

Then, add to the equation the strike of the members of the Writer’s Guild of America. Even though I wasn’t a member, in having worked on my very first screenplays, I felt a connection to the cause in seeking for a better deal for screenwriters. If some day, I stand to gain from the improvements that they are fighting for, it seemed appropriate to put the pen down on my script projects until the strike is resolved.

Maybe that was a sign that it was time to revisit the blog after all.

Plus, there seemed to be a serendipitous convergence of advice from different sources about opportunities to get more eyeballs on my blog content and to possibly monetize my content.

On the advice of a guest speaker at my writing group, I checked out a blogging platform called Medium, through which I read fascinating articles, full of tips and hints on how to elevate my creative process and in turn, my blog content.

That being the case, I started reviewing the older posts. I quickly realized that if I was going to read every single word of 500 blog posts, it was best that I set a 15-minute cut-off time for quick fixes, otherwise I’d be reviewing well into the next calendar year. Once I did that, the process went by rather quickly, correcting glaring errors on the fly, while making note of the ones needing more “surgery”.

I also noted the ones that I felt were a good fit for the Medium platform, in support of my plan for establishing a social media and a blogging presence there.

In reviewing the very first posts, I could see immediately how my writing evolved and adapted to the blogging world.

In the 2013 and 2014 posts, I could see the all too familiar style that was a carry-over from my public service career and not quite aligned with blogging (yet!) with long sentences, long paragraphs, and two spaces after each period.

The content itself I found surprisingly good for a first timer. Good ideas, good style, but I saw a lot of room for improvement in tightening things up for crisper storytelling.

Also, what a treat it was to go back and revisit what I was up to for the last ten years. I admit that certain details I shared about travel experiences or my first couple of years as a new pet owner had slipped my mind.

As I continued reading, I nodded in acknowledgement when my known Achilles heel surfaced: titles.

I don’t know what stylistic guide I was depending on through the years. I can’t remember if anyone actually recommended that less is more. Either way, some of the short enigmatic titles I created didn’t really describe what the post was about. And frankly, in retrospect, some don’t even compel ME to want to click.

Today, blogging experts seem to agree that we should not be afraid to use more words in a blog post’s title to maximize clarity about the purpose, intent and/or subject matter. That being the case, I have a long list of titles to fix.

As I cruise through each post, I notice a word missing here and there (notably, articles and pronouns) that slipped through my proofreading process.

I also notice a couple of typos that spell check missed because the words existed but they were just one letter off from the one I was aiming for.

I even notice one post that seemingly lost part of its introduction. I went back to the source file to find that the first two sentences were missed when I copied and pasted the text into the template. I must have been rushed that day.

Even if I make a point of fixing one or two of the posts on the surgical waiting list each week, that improvement will contribute to the overall quality of the blog. Plus, taking the time to develop sharper, more descriptive titles may lend itself to more page hits for the posts of the past. Definitely worthy goals to pursue when I might need a break from another project.

Even though I might be contradicting my original thought about moving forward and not looking back, why shouldn’t the earlier blogs be refreshed and up to my current standard and style?

In the same way that authors may make updates in subsequent editions of their books, why shouldn’t my blog be on a path of continuous improvement, now that time permits?

Whether you joined me on WordPress from the very beginning or somewhere along my journey, I send you my heartfelt thanks for your time, your kindness and your encouragement. I couldn’t have made it to 500 without you! Cheers!

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Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André