Deleting/Rewriting your own posts

I feel like this may not be the best board for this. Maybe have it moved to the Roundtable?

Tazlima said:

So I decided to start a thread about over-analyzing your own forum posts. How neurotic are you? How many times do you edit your posted work before you're satisfied with the results? How do the writing habits you've developed as an author transfer to an online discussion?

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I usually just post the first draft of my post, but I'll go back and edit my posts—no matter how old—if I see something I don't like in them. Oftentimes, I'll make a bunch of edits right after posting, probably to the ire of people who reply to me.

I usually only delete a post if I decide it might have been offensive or could be taken as an insult.

ETA: I've edited this one four times since posting it.

kuwisdelu said:

I usually just post the first draft of my post, but I'll go back and edit my posts—no matter how old—if I see something I don't like in them. Oftentimes, I'll make a bunch of edits right after posting, probably to the ire of people who reply to me.

I usually only delete a post if I decide it might have been offensive or could be taken as an insult.

ETA: I've edited this one four times since posting it.

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QFT.

It's only a problem if you post it, and then delete it. If you write it before, and then decide to not post what you've written, that's fine. I've done that many times myself.

But, if you do post it, don't delete the thread. That's annoying.

kuwisdelu said:

I usually just post the first draft of my post, but I'll go back and edit my posts—no matter how old—if I see something I don't like in them. Oftentimes, I'll make a bunch of edits right after posting, probably to the ire of people who reply to me.

I usually only delete a post if I decide it might have been offensive or could be taken as an insult.

ETA: I've edited this one four times since posting it.

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I totally do this. I start reading over and go, well that's not what I meant! What! Where did that expletive come from? Was I asleep when I wrote this? No wonder I have to revise my books so freaking many times.

kuwisdelu said:

I usually just post the first draft of my post, but I'll go back and edit my posts—no matter how old—if I see something I don't like in them. Oftentimes, I'll make a bunch of edits right after posting, probably to the ire of people who reply to me.

I usually only delete a post if I decide it might have been offensive or could be taken as an insult.

ETA: I've edited this one four times since posting it.

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Yep. That's what I do, too. I hate the little "edited" message at the bottom of my posts, though (I think it makes the posts look messy; I'm aware that I'm odd), so I try to make all my changes within the five minute editing window.

Subject seems broader than the genre room. Let's send it to the roundtable, eh.

Many of my forum posts are among my best creative work, sadly.

[edit: deleted the longer part of my reply.]

Occasionally, when my blood pressure is rising due to someone being wrong on the internet, I will realize that fact in time to stop myself from posting.

I'm rather proud of this newly-developed skill. Arguably, I need to get even better at it, but baby steps, right?

I also am guilty of posting, only to massage and tweak my wording repeatedly over the course of the next few minutes.

I don't tend to rewrite entire posts, but if I notice errors in my posts I will edit them. There is no time restriction on this. I could happen upon a post years after posting it, and I would still probably fix the mistake.

I try to correct for typos. And I try to say what I mean. Other than that, I don't worry too much. I'm not trying for gold with every one of my posts. I'm just trying to participate in dialogues I consider interesting. Sometimes I try to help and sometimes I try to learn.

Good times.

Eh, you're not being judged by the verbiage but rather the content.

I have probably deleted-without-posting fully a quarter to a half of all the posts I've written on AW. Sometimes I'll leave one sitting open in a tab for a while so I can go back to it and see if I really do still want to post it. Usually I err on the side of not, but I still leave it there, waffling, until my browser crashes and the post is lost.

I'm also neurotic about editing my posts, though that editing is very heavily weighted on the pre-posting side -- I'll read them through a million times before hitting "submit," making changes. Sometimes I've been ninja'ed when writing very, very short posts and I feel rather foolish, because I find myself wondering if people look at the time stamp and think I'm a liar for really revising a three-line post for that long. (I try to check for new posts in the preview pane, but sometimes I forget.)

One thing I very much dislike doing, personally, is editing a post after the fact without noting it (barring minor typos and clarifications) -- I always like to tell people exactly what edits have been made. I've also never deleted a post (or major parts of one) after putting it up, as I'm a big believer in owning my words, and I'd rather use strikethroughs or ETAs if my opinion changes. Deletions also make the conversation harder to follow for others . . . and plus I'm an obsessive archivist in general.

tl;dr: I really spend far too much time on AW and I should channel some of that into more writing instead . . .

I'll sometimes draft an answer and not post it. The most common reason is I don't feel I have time to edit it, as I edit all posts several times. My writing degrades very quickly if I don't focus on getting it right, so just throwing things out there isn't a good idea.

After I've posted it, I mainly only delete if I've decided to leave the sub-forum or only take part in certain narrow topics in that sub-forum (there's one each of those... one sub-forum, I just didn't fit in, and another, I felt uncomfortable with the way the discussions always went, but I will reply on a few topics). I consider that a safety issue, as if I'm walking away because I'm uncomfortable, I don't want people to keep trying to drag me back.

I never edit mi post because, their always write furst time.

Yeah, sometimes I write out a post but don't post it. Either I decide I don't really have anything to add, after all, or I'm asking a question and realize, while writing, that I already know the answer.

I don't edit my posts much. Just when I'm an idiot and try to post from my phone. When I do that, there's almost always a typo that I don't see at first.

I do it a lot, especially on the 'stickier' sort of threads.

jjdebenedictis said:

Occasionally, when my blood pressure is rising due to someone being wrong on the internet, I will realize that fact in time to stop myself from posting.

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guilty as charged.

jjdebenedictis said:

I also am guilty of posting, only to massage and tweak my wording repeatedly over the course of the next few minutes.

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Me, too.

And like the OP, there have been times when I've written out something new to start the conversation off like with a question and then realize when I'm done:

• it's really not that big of a problem
• it seems rather insignificant in light of other problems folks are trying to get help on
• I managed to work out/answer my problem in the writing of it

While I do edit my posts when I spot a typo or when I think of something to clarify my thoughts, I have a suggestion: AW pages don't time out like a lot of other forums. What I will do on long or emotionally charged posts is write the post and then . . . just leave it sit there for a bit, un-posted. I'll open a new tab or window and go on about my browing of the site. I've been known to have a full six tabs of only AW open, while I ponder my postings.

So, if you haven't tried that, give it a go. It might make you feel slightly less worried about your words.

I don't dedicate a major amount of my time to reading/posting at AW (and I don't visit other writing sites), so I frequently have to post-and-run, to return later. That means I do have editing mistakes and typos in some posts, which I correct later. But the timing of responding is usually important, so I let it fly. This is informal communication, so I trust others to see the message and give the typos a pass. Yes, this is a writing site, but we have to develop the confidence that the majority of our posts are solidly constructed and either forgive ourselves for, or even laugh at our occasional blunders.

Sometimes I write really snarky, nasty, blood-drawing posts, but I know at the start I'm going to erase them unsent. Just venting steam without scalding any innocent bystanders.

Helpful hint: When I do this with emails, I make sure not to put an address in the recipient's line. That way I can't send the thing by mistake.

i.e.e. meaning, I edit everything. I suck at spelling. But I'm impatient so I write something and hit 'send' then reread it and cringe, then I'm compelled to go back in there and fix my mistakes.

Or, I write something in the heat of the moment, hit 'send' and instantly regret it. Then I go back to edit the thing, hopefully before anybody reads it.

Or I get in a funk. That's the worst. I feel bad and start thinking everything I've written SUCKS so I start pulling up posts, deleting right and bloody left which is something I should not do. Owning my words and all that, right? Except I hate my words, my words SUCK. . .

I am impatient and prone to acting/reacting before thinking things through. Yep, I tend to do weird shit, spur of the moment. If only--

Aw, heck with it.