Sometimes, you can't edit.

I publish my newsletter via email. I post archives on my website, and I select a few from the archives to post on Reddit, Medium, and Vocal. No matter how often I look at an article, check the links, re-read it, etc. I always find something that needs a slight adjustment. Whether it's unclear wording, a broken link, a //todo I've missed somewhere—there's always something. I try to keep everything updated and make sure these things don't happen, but there's only so much one can do when writing research-based articles once a week.

I'm finding that I catch things faster and earlier in the process for each one that I write. And, it's helpful to have Tae take a look at each, though she reads through the articles when they're done and doesn't read every single instance I've published across all platforms, like Reddit. There's a problem right there. Reddit users tend to dig up or simply have information that I didn't when I wrote. I can go through and update the Reddit post, Medium, and Vocal—but I can't edit a newsletter already sent.

I've spoken to several authors over the years who have had this problem with published books. They always spot things they'd change, reword, restructure, or whatever. It's always something. It can be tough to let things go and move on to other work. But that's just part of life, part of locking something in. For some things, once you pull that trigger, you can't stop the bullet and stuff it back into the gun.

What's New?

• The next section of Behind the Scenes for Absolution is live: One Amazing Editor.​ Learn all about the horrors of writing, and then...(gasp!) reading what you just wrote.
• In case you missed it, I played around with green screen special effects for the very first time in my life. It was a fun experience, and I learned a lot. The result: The Donation.
• Next Week: Movies full of gore and violence used to be just fine for kids of all ages! What happened?