Do you think twice and re-refine your post, and/or think for long before hitting reply?

I guess that depends on the topic at hand and its seriousness, but it dawned on me that a lot of times I spend way too long thinking about how my posts look or will be perceived (besides the usual going through for any mistyping and errors).

Sometimes I will start a reply to a brand new post, and before I know it, 10-30 minutes if not more have flown by, and meanwhile there are several new posts by other members and some who have approached my same ideas.
I find myself fighting the urge to edit a post later because I think its missing something or to make it clearer. Lol

Just curious to know to how many does this happen.
Am I slightly obsessive compulsive?

a reply to: athousandlives

I often spend a fair amount of time on a post, editing all the way through, and occasionally having to revisit the post with an edit tag.

The thing is, that normally speaking my posts are fifty percent written before I even call up an empty post window to write them in. When I read an OP, or a responding post, I am not only reading the post carefully, but absorbing its contents and connecting points made within it, to points I will respond with, other data I have accumulated, and so on and so forth. By the time I actually come to creating a post, the chain of thought which issues it, has already gone through significant maturation.

During the actual typing of the post, refinements are made to the general flow of thought expressed, spelling and grammar, and conclusion are assessed for their quality before the post button is pressed. That does not ALWAYS happen however!

a reply to: athousandlives
My posts are riffled with edits usually for spelling, because I am underedumacated, in a hurry, or both.

If you want to reserve a posting spot high up on page one, make a statement and edit later to add the context. You have two hours to make your point then.

Is it cheap manipulation? Who isn't manipulating to get their viewpoint across, really?

a reply to: athousandlives

a lot of times I spend way too long thinking about how my posts look or will be perceived (besides the usual going through for any mistyping and errors).

I wouldn't worry TOO much. If you respond to someone and they don't really "get" what you are trying to say you can always follow up and clarify down the line.
I completely understand your thoughts of

and meanwhile there are several new posts by other members and some who have approached my same ideas.

I, too have deleted posts as it would have been redundant to respond when another poster has said pretty much the exact same thing I would have! (Get out of my head!) * Some manage to say it much more eloquently than I EVER could anyway.
Anyway, all in all it doesn't matter how we are perceived as people will judge and think what they will. And as you have probably noticed, once one's mind is made up, it is very difficult to change it.
I'd say stick to it, post what you want to say and the gist of it will come through in the end...

I edited because I forgot a thought while typing!

a reply to: TrueBrit

Thanks,
I can relate to that, but sometimes I will unconsciously read and re-read a post and my own reply just to make sure we are definitely talking about the same subject, and I won't be seen as crazy.
lol
paranoid?

a reply to: athousandlives

The subconscious "me" is way smarter than the conscious me. Sometimes i have to read my post just to know what i am saying.

But intuitively i have more insight than consciously.

ETA in response to your last post: sometimes "crazy" is just part of the territory. Folks who know me in real life won't say im crazy. But words like "unusual", "unique", "a bit out there" are not infrequently ascribed to me. Whats on my mind flies out of my mouth before i have a chance to catch it. As i've gotten older its not as bad, mostly because whats on my mind is more acceptable to the world around me.

a reply to: athousandlives

I have never been worried about being seen as crazy. The truth regarding my mental health is pretty much a known value around these parts after all!

In all seriousness though, what a post makes you out to be, is not nearly as important as your making sure to say what you mean. If I was worried what people might think of my views, or my interpretation of the information which flows through this site, and into my brain, and for that matter my interpretation of the data which comes to me from any source in life, then I would not post at all.

My philosophy is that this is a place to share ideas, concepts, information and views in an honest, forthright, and uncompromising environment. There are terms and conditions related issues to think about when creating a post, but in the main, the only things effecting the way I post are standards I apply to myself, and for myself, and for my own reasons. They have little, to nothing to do with anyone else, except in the following manner:

Quality of contribution. If I make a post with which many people disagree, that does not matter to me. But if I make a post which is just poor in terms of its quality of construction, the chain of thought which lead to its creation, then that is a waste of everyone's time, and a significant amount of board/page space and therefore, bandwidth. I respect this site, and the membership enough, that I want to make sure that I do my level best, as often as possible, to utilise my time here as effectively as possible.

If I have a view, I will share it, but only if it contributes something to the discussion. Or rather, that is what I attempt to do, as much of the time as possible. Sometimes my eccentricity may get the better of me, and lead me to post something truly absurd, but I really try where I can to keep that sort of thing to a minimum.

usually i re-edit mine with 10 minutes, normally I have an after thought that didn't come to mind before I hit the submit button.

a reply to: athousandlives

Sometimes...Let me ask you this about the word "REPLY". If you passed a friend on the street and... both waving, said "How's it goin' "? When you replied in passing....how long would it take you to "reply"?

Same with ATS. SOMETIMES...things take a bit of refinement...otherwise...even a "Hey there!"..short...to the point...is a "reply".

Say it...make your point, move on (except for the odd correction of errors).*

*PS: Compose in a word program off-ATS, then cut and paste it into ATS...in case it crashes, you accidently hit a button etc...to not lose any of your work/reply/edits.

a reply to: athousandlives

Well just this post itself took me 1hr to refine!

a reply to: athousandlives

I like to think future archeologists will one day be analyzing our words. It's probably best to leave them something worth reading.

Take your time with what you write.

Thanks for the replies guys, I guess there's nothing wrong about being a little 'perfectionist' when writing then.
Cheers