When should you walk away from a blog post or an idea?

Never?

Struggling

My biggest struggle is pushing through the to the end of a piece of content. There are dozens of books and creators who have made their living from inspiring the public. Thomas Frank has a great video on how to push through to the end. Gary Vee has stuffed his social channels with videos urging his audience to commit to the process.

Experienced writers know that perseverance is as much a part of writing as the actual writing. But occasionally there is a piece of content that irks you. A vlog you can’t finish or a piece of research that pulls you into some procrastination.

There is a theory in psychology called the sunken cost fallacy. The sunken cost fallacy is when you have invested so much in a situation that you are hesitant to walk away.

You spend £2000 trying to fix a £500 car. You refuse to see that you could have already purchased another newer car for less. It is obvious to everyone around you but not to you. 

Why?

It is a refusal to admit that what you have done is wrong. It is a fear of being judged. It is an unwillingness to have your identity as a competent and capable creator challenged.

As a copywriter I spend most of my day redrafting - a way of avoiding saying re-doing - what I have already written. This is a necessary part of crafting any piece of content or prose. But what if you can’t bear to redraft a piece of work again? Or worse, you can’t finish your first draft?

At what point should you walk away from a piece of work?

There is wisdom in pushing through to the end. Pushing through to the finish line teaches you the value of dedication. It creates the identity of  somebody who gets the work done, no excuses. failing to finish projects is not a habit that you want to get into (check out this video on decisions as compound interest.) It is a rut you don’t want to explore.

In a recent blog I pointed out the need to limit initial research into a project. Firm deadlines help you to complete content. If you do not reach deadlines consistently then you have to address your workflow, environment or mindset. However, if you are doing this with one piece of specific content it may be the idea behind the piece of work.

Luckily in content creation words are not set in stone. It is not like a broken down car that you need scrap if you leave it unrepaired for too long. You can come back to it later, delete it, cannibalise it, redraft it, start the article from another angle.

If this is the second time you have tried to complete a piece of content you have two options. You can either go back to the drawing board or let it breath in your hard drive for a while. It will be like sour grapes becoming sweet wine. You should still put a firm deadline on the process before it becomes permanent avoidance.

The Alternative

I started a blog about working from home. I got the idea at the beginning of Covid-19. About 300 journalists had blogged their tips for adapting to the ‘new normal’. I thought it would be a great way of building backlinks and linking to other authoritative pages for the purposes of SEO. I started the blog several times. I put this down to laziness or lockdown procrastination. I let it mature on my Google Drive while I pursued other projects.

Yet, I was working on content for other clients at the time so it could not have been effort. I realised that I did not have the knowledge or experience to write a convincing guide.  Other writers had done it with more pzazz and earnestness than I could. It was a saturated market. I only had a few weeks experience working from home.

Now I had 2 options:

• Try and write a wittier and more comprehensive guide than a Guardian columnist or a Wired researcher

• Or  give up

So I gave up. I killed the idea.

I acknowledged that the seven hours I had put into a mediocre effort to fulfil a hacky idea was a waste of time. This was a difficult decision. It means admitting that I lacked the motivation, knowledge or skills to complete a task. This was a challenge to my perception of myself as a creator. It was not an easy pill to swallow.

What was the alternative?

Keep hammering more time into a guide that was going nowhere? Produce a piece of work that offered little value that I was not proud of? It would have been a waste of more time and resources.

Carlo had a similar issue.

Wehi Web was approached to create an MLM (multi-level marketing) platform for a local business. Carlo did not have the knowledge to complete this brief. 

We talked to the client several times about the specification and their expectations. It quickly became a time consuming process that filled us both with dread.

Carlo could very easily have obtained the skills to create the platform. But he lacked the motivation due to apathy around questionable MLM practices. He could have completed the brief but it would have been a long process that gave us no satisfaction or respect.

Saying no saved the client time, it saved Carlo stress and it preserved the reputation of the business. It saved us from becoming stuck in the sunken cost fallacy procrastinating away our time and resources.

Conclusion

Admitting you're wrong and that you have room to grow hurts. But it does not hurt as much as putting out a piece of work you are not proud of. Time is precious but your reputation and self-worth are priceless.

I wish I had learnt this earlier.

I hope that this blog helps. If you are struggling to complete your copy or need a fresh perspective on your web presence contact us here.

Comment below with any  example you have had to walk away from a piece of content.

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