However, as I wrote it, I realized that this introduced a lot of information that wasn’t obvious to the average reader, or relevant to the main subject. So, I’d need to explain and explain and explain to get to my point (I even had YouTube videos picked out to show my points).

In the end, I realized that I was over complicating it – using an interesting illustration (to me) that would end up hijacking what was a simple post.

So, aside from an example of what NOT to do, I decided not to discuss it in the post after all (although if you want to know more, Wikipedia has a good article on the topic).

And I caught it because I read and reread – which is a good skill to practice.

My first clue of a problem: I was explaining more and more details in what was really only an example, a side point.

After all, illustrations and examples should make things easier – if I need to explain them, then they aren’t helping, are they?

So when you write, get a feel for sections that are dragging on too long. If you end up focusing on one part of the topic too much, ask yourself if this should be a separate post. And if it’s not important to the article, ask yourself if it really adds, or if removing it wouldn’t actually help the article.

And don’t be afraid to trim – removing a bad section from a post can only improve it!

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