I was browsing through my rss feeds when I saw the headline “Why was witchcraft used on cows in the Scottish Highlands?” it made me laugh and I tweeted it. When I went to the bbc page I saw that they had changed the headline to “”Kirk papers reveal charmed cows”, by the time you go to that page it may be titled something different altogether. I found the first headline amusing and interesting, I clicked on the page tweeted it and even wrote about it. I wonder if I would have done any of those things had the headline been “Kirk papers reveal charmed cows” from the beginning? My gut tells me probably not.
I try not to re-write my posts too much, and sure sometimes this means that I have the occasional spelling or grammar issue, but it also means that I’m speaking from the top of my head and not over analysing stuff. Sometimes its crap and sometimes its interesting and engaging, but I’m not sure if editing really has any positive effects, other then preventing the occasional email, fbook message or comment from the Bee or others on my errors.
Its funny how after thinking about things, you can almost think about them too much. It kind of reminds me of Gladwell’s Blink – and how our first instincts can be best for decision making. Sometimes we edit too much, we think too much and don’t trust our instincts enough. The secret, I believe, is knowing when to edit, and when to go with the gut. I’m still working on figuring that one out.
