There’s a difference between e-zines, blogsites, and sites that cross the two realms. It’s funny how many people use weblog hosts or scripted packages when doing creative writing, as well as ezine sites using content management systems to deliver…whose content writers keep saying they’re blogs.

Maybe someone’ll get a definition in time for Web 2.1. :) Whatever, at least they both have RSS feeds.

While I can’t speak for anyone else, I have a general routine to separate the tasks, and it’s based on a cup of coffee. I will get a fresh cup of coffee, and start writing posts. I use ecto for publishing, and I’m able to save drafts locally on my machine. So I just bang out a couple of posts.

Then, once the cup is empty, I stop, go refill it, and come back to what I’ve just written. Now is the editing part. This is important. You must take some kind of break, no matter how short, completely away from your monitor to get a fresh perspective on the writing.

Of course, the length of the break is directly proportional to the complexity of the writing. For a standard blog post, this short coffee refill is long enough. For an academic research paper, I may take a week (or more) off the writing before starting the editing.

If you attempt to edit at the same time as write, all you will do is obsess over minute details, and it will be difficult to capture the real thoughts as they flow onto the screen (or paper if you’re nostalgic).

Also, feel free to replace coffee with your morning drink of choice (remember, no alcohol before noon!).

We live in a world that is rush, rush, rush, be first, race race, which makes it easy to overlook the smallest detail. When your blog is your most important voice, it helps to let it speak well for you by taking the time to make it right.

Don’t I just have that urge to give it a “promise”? And don’t I embarrass myself every time I do? Walking slowly doesn’t come easily, but it sure has its value.

Liz