There is some debate here on Steemit about what is the right size in terms of the ideal number of words a post should have. How many words are necessary to ensure quality? How many words are too less and an attempt to spam the system?
From what I have read, most people consider the 300-word mark as the standard for good quality. Well, just the number of words doesn't necessarily make a post good or bad but it's a general consensus that 300 words mean the author put in time and effort and it's not a quick work to earn some quick cash.
I have been thinking about this lately because my posts tend to be longer as I like to dig deep into my topics, bring out my thoughts by using the right words and statements. I do not like to take shortcuts while writing.
The problem with this approach is that it takes me quite some to write the post and format it. Any of my regular readers will notice how much effort I put into formatting my posts. I always use the right images, use text dividers to help readers easily move from one segment to another. I regularly take 2-3 hours to write, perform spelling and grammar checks and formatting the post before I deem it submit-worthy.
I post one article daily. So daily it's an average of 3 hours I spend on one post. Sometimes even more.
I have been thinking if I should try and reduce this effort to make my writings and postings more efficient? Do my readers really read through my posts? Can I make my posts shorter and more palatable?
Problem is that it's hard to tell if readers are reading whole posts or just skimming through them.
I had a quick analysis of my last 15 posts (posts which are not technical contributions or progress logs) and found that my average post length is upwards of 700 words which is almost 2.5 times the usually accepted post length of 300 words.
I see there are many authors who do short posts multiple times a day often times of not very high quality.
I don't want to compromise on quality but does this mean I am wasting time in writing such long posts? I don't even earn $5 on average on these posts. Is it the right usage of my Steemit time?
Should I rather write shorter articles and try to increase my frequency of posting from an average of once a day to slowly increase it to twice a day on average?
I am yet undecided and would like to know your thoughts as well. Please feel free to comment and let me know what in your opinion is an ideal strategy and what I should follow?
I know that there are some who are ready to pounce on me for making this a post just about money 😉. Before you judge me, let me tell you that it really is not. It's about improvement.
The primary reason for these thoughts and ponderings is not to increase my earnings (but I would surely love if it happens as a consequence) but to make myself a better writer, more readable and likeable. The initial spark for this post was from a discussion about people not reading long posts. One thing led to another and this post in short is a short summary on how to improve productivity, be a better writer and perhaps earn a little more as a result of it.
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