This is not a transcript and it’s definitely not an AI-generated summary! But I did cover this topic on my podcast as well, so if you want to listen to my thoughts instead, you can find episode 296 of the podcast here.
I’m talking about those times when writing a post for social media, an article, a blog post – whatever it is – is taking too long!
Not because you have no idea what to write about. Not because you’re staring at an empty page. But because you feel compelled to keep checking it, rewriting sentences, changing them back, adding something, removing something else – and not really adding much value because you’re either stuck in the perfectionism loop, something that can also happen when we’re using additional languages, or you’re procrastinating and putting off the point where you click “publish”.
It’s annoying – because time is precious and, if you’re honest with yourself, you don’t have as much time to give as this thing is taking up!
In my case, this tends to happen more when I’m writing in German. But it doesn’t have to be about another language – it can happen with your first language too.
So – what can you do?
If it’s a long-term piece of content, like a page in German on my site, I will get a 2nd opinion. It’s even better if you find someone with the opposite language pair because maybe they’d like a second pair of eyes as well sometimes.
But the advice in this article is for content with a short life. You want to do your best, but you don’t want to overthink it. This post and podcast episode actually came about because of a conversation I had on LinkedIn about this topic – sometimes the best places for inspiration are right in front of you!
1. Set a timer
Kirsty! You have … minutes! After that, it’s going up! So do your best in that time, fix what is obviously not ok, and get it gone!
I don’t tend to start with this technique, but if something’s getting on my nerves because I’m being indecisive, I limit my time, which makes me more focused and less open to constant rewriting.
2. Prepare in advance and check the next day
This does actually work well if I have enough time to come back the next day. I’m unlikely to see everything I don’t like when I’ve just written the text and, whichever language it is, I think all of my texts benefit from seeing the writing and checking as separate steps, ideally on separate days. This is my standard way of doing things for longer texts, such as blog posts, but it can work just as well if you have a more complicated social media post or you want to pay more attention because you’re using an additional language.
3. Remember who will actually see it
Things move quickly on social media and however big or small your following is, it’s not going to be everyone you know on the platform. It’s not going to be all eyes on you as soon as you click “post”! Of course you should do your best, but the content is no good to anyone if it’s stuck in your drafts folder – least of all you!
4. Be yourself
This is good advice anyway, but sometimes when we feel under extra pressure to be clear – whether that’s for language-related reasons, because the topic is more controversial, or maybe it’s just hard to explain – we can adopt new behaviours that don’t usually show up in how we communicate.
Some people keep it very brief or reduce it to the bare facts. I can do this when I’m under pressure to explain something in another language – I do it in Portuguese too, so it’s not just a German-speaking Kirsty thing. But this can mean that we lose some of our personality and the things that make us unique and interesting. The very things that help us to stand out from everyone else who is writing about the same topics!
Some people go the other way and end up over-explaining the point – which can actually make the text cumbersome and hard to read. The message gets lost somewhere in the sea of words.
5. Don’t feel it has to be amaaazing!
Sometimes, we can set the bar too high in terms of what we think is worth sharing or reading. And it’s usually the people who least need to worry about this who get stuck on this point!
Don’t try to decide for other people whether they will want to read it – you may be surprised what people find interesting and which posts lead people to share because they can relate to what you’re talking about. People may have talked about the subject before, but the only person who can share your perspective on it is you.
This is why, when it makes sense, stories can work so well. Nobody else can tell your story. And in a time of countless AI-generated regurgitated knowledge, it’s harder to pull off a fake story that is supposed to fit with your life and experiences. But genuine sharing can bring people together.
6. Comment on other posts till it feels more natural
Sharing on social media doesn’t have to be all about the writing. It’s also about the conversations you have – either privately, in the comments under your posts, or when you engage with other people’s content.
7. Get feedback
If you’re really not sure, it’s also ok to ask for a second opinion on posts. Maybe not all of them, but particularly if you’re starting to share ideas in an additional language, you might find someone else with the opposite language combination who will do a proofreading swap with you.
I also use AI for this, but with very specific prompts so that my text doesn’t get changed. I want a list with points and suggestions for improvements. If I see that I’ve made a grammar mistake, I’ll fix it. But if I wouldn’t say the thing in German, it doesn’t get brought into my text. If it’s a style thing and I don’t feel it fits, it gets ignored. If I can see that something wasn’t very clear, I’ll take the feedback on board and try again. Most importantly, the voice is still mine. It may still have some mistakes, but it won’t have vocabulary or constructions that I wouldn’t naturally use.
To sum up
Posting on social media is a way to share information, but it’s also your way to stay top of mind and be part of the conversation – as long as you don’t get stuck at the writing stage.
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