I remember when I was writing my PhD dissertation some days I’d be thrilled because I’d written a new section so EASILY – and then later I’d realise I’d written almost exactly the same thing months earlier.
At first I thought it was a total waste, but I decided, after a while, that it was simply a way for my brain to tell me that this thing was really important. So I relaxed into it.
Of course, with a PhD dissertation, you usually don’t want the same thing written twice. But with blogging, I don’t think it really matters. Repetition is part of life. If I blog the same thing twice, as Kjerstin finds she often does, I guess that just means I think it’s really important.
Chuck
I’ve done this a few times, usually when I’m way too distracted by grading or working on the book. I mostly chalk it up to being tired, but quite often it’s because I find the issue pretty important.
David Brake
What’s more frustrating is knowing you wrote something like what you want to write now earlier but you can’t remember what you wrote or where the text can be found so you have to write it again. At least in that case I tell myself that what I write now, informed by what I’ve read since then, will likely be better.
Jill Walker Rettberg
I suppose ideally we’d all be organised enough not to waste time in this way – but I think I’d still find ways of tricking myself into doing it…
Kjerstin
I like your take on things. It’s certainly true that when I blog things twice, it’s normally things that I’ve been turning over and over in my mind for a long time – another sign, I suppose, that it’s something I think is important. Perhaps a frequency analysis of my blog would be helpful in times when I feel the need to sort out my priorities 🙂