Why I don't trash “bad” content

I write at least one post a month that doesn't quite come together the way I expected. Maybe the title doesn't fit. Maybe I took it in the wrong direction. Maybe I sound like an exhausted, babbling idiot. Maybe the whole thing sounds like a bunch of bologna. Whatever the reason, I never completely trash bad content. Here's some of the things I do instead.

I take a second look.

Let's face it. At the end of a long day, many things are not what they seem. The other day, I wrote quite a few posts. The last one was not up to my standards, or so I thought. After re-reading it, with a fresh perspective in the morning, I decided it was the best thing I had written all day.

Bad is in the eye of the beholder.

Sometimes I take a second look at a potential post and I still hate it. When this happens, I have a friend read it over before I trash it. It may be a matter of perspective. One mans trash is another mans treasure, as they say.

I file it instead of trashing it.

When I write a post I don't particularly like and I don't have time to give it a second look, I file it and come back to it later.

Salvaging the salvageable:

Sometimes I change the title to fit my thoughts or vice-verse.

Sometimes a post sounds bad simply because it doesn't match the title. So, I change the title. Or, change the post to fit the title. The first is easier. The second is for when I'm really trying to make a point. My thoughts may have wandered off in a different direction. So, I write it again, keeping the title in mind. 

Or I do a complete re-write and publish both posts.

I look for the good bits and pieces.
It can't be all bad, can it? When I do a re-write, I leave the original at the bottom of the page. As I write, I use the “good” parts my new post to save time.

Sometimes, I use the theme with a different angle.

Maybe I was going for something not expressed by the title or the body. It happens. Then, I look for something in the main theme that inspires me. I give it a new angle. I write about that. Then, I can trash the old post, or....

Publish it anyway

Just because I think the post I wrote is crappy, doesn't mean it won't sell. My best selling post of all time is something I thought was a bunch of gibberish. It could very well be. It has, however, netted me a lot of page view money over the years. So, what the heck? Sometimes I publish my “bad” content anyway, as long as it's grammatically correct and properly referenced. You never know what might come of it.