A couple of years ago, I wrote a post suggesting you should write ideas when you think of them. An idea is just an idea – you should get it into a published post as soon as you can.
However, I’ve recently had a few ideas that I haven’t written up immediately, and the resulting posts have come out really well. Why is this?
Losing interest in ideas: good or bad?
I have several lists of topic ideas for my blog. When I think of an idea, I add it to a list. It can take a while before it becomes a post – if it ever does.
Taking too long to act on a post idea can mean you lose interest in it, and it gets shelved. But if you lose interest, maybe it wasn’t that great to begin with.
Why let an idea stew?
Writing down a post idea and coming back to it later gives a sort of sanity check. It allows you to get over the excitement of the idea and review it with a clear head.
The luxury of time also gives you a chance to form a more complete opinion of a topic. Posting an idea straight away can result in a relatively raw post, which might be what you’re aiming for. If you’re looking for something fully-formed, let the idea stew for a bit longer.
Of course, this logic doesn’t apply if you’re publishing breaking news or other time-sensitive content.