How I write a Steem post

With the upcoming decrease in author rewards that are set to trigger in Hard Fork 21, I've been thinking about all the work that goes into my posts, and I am sure other authors are doing the same. There have been some people on the blockchain that have whined that authors are being paid too much as it is, and that those who merely upvote a post (which someone else has written) deserve more rewards. One of those people happens to be a developer on the blockchain — I wonder if he would feel the same if this discussion were about developer rewards, and that the profits of developers were being slashed so that more of the rewards could be given to the users of the dapps which he develops...? But, I digress... this post is about the brainpower that I put into every single post I make here.

All of my posts begin with ideas, with thoughts in my head that I want to get out, art or photos or poetry that I wish to share, etc. I do not use an app that basically writes posts for me based on my number-of-steps (like Actifit) or how well I scored in a game I played (like DrugWars). All of my posts are actually crafted by me, carefully and thoughtfully, in a front-end to the blockchain.

Even if I only have a photo to share, I write at least one paragraph about it, telling where the photo was taken, describing the subject of the photo, or divulging what it is about the shot that I like. The photo at left, for example, is a photo which I shared in a post recently. I talked about the history of the building, about its original purpose and what it is being used for today. I thought that was much more interesting that just dropping the photo and saying nothing about it. If the subject is a permanent feature of the landscape, I also like to include a link to its location on the @steemitworldmap project. It's disappointing to me when I find posts on the blockchain with nothing but a photo in them and wonder: where was this photo taken? what is that magnificent building /flower /statue...?  and discover that the photographer has left us hanging with questions that are unanswered. Even if they don't know anything about the building, they could state: "This shot was taken in Kraków, Poland" or something similar. That isn't too much to ask, is it? 😕

I recently nominated some communities for a contest, where a delegation was being awarded as a prize. The post, itself, took me an hour or so to write, typing-up a paragraph about each of the communities I was nominating and editing the wording a few times so it represented the community accurately. I double-checked the contest post to make sure I had satisfied all of the requirements. Then, instead of simply snagging the graphic for the contest and using it, I edited it to make it unique for me, by adding my name ("nominations by thekittygirl") and then applying a pretty color-change effect to it. Sure, that was a bit more work than was necessary, but I wanted my entry to stand-out and be attractive. 🙌

For a more routine post, however, I have to roll-up my "mental sleeves" and do some digging. If I am writing about a flower I photographed, then I want to know what kind of flower it is, whether it is native to this area or came from somewhere else, how it propagates, what colors one might see in other similar flowers, and so forth. I spend much time reading articles online, checking encyclopedias & dictionaries, looking at maps, and whatever is required to learn more. I then load the photo — or several photos — into my PaintShopPro™ software and process them so they will look their best.

Also, I usually take great care to ensure that "Registered" symbol ® and "Trademark" symbols ™ are in place and used appropriately, as well as diacritical marks in words that appear in, or are derived from, words or names in other languages (e.g., décor  and the aforementioned Kraków).

When all is said and done, several hours go into each of my posts, usually spread over numerous days. Of course, some posts are easier to write: my Old Barn Posts usually take from one-to-two hours each, but my post about the medical condition Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum took at least 8–10 hours of my time, perhaps more. Some of my posts about coins or flowers have taken 3–4 hours each, although I spent 5–6 hours researching the Republic of Minerva (which included information on the republic itself, the sailing vessel that discovered the reef, the coin that was minted for the republic, etc.)

^{screenshot from my PaintShopPro™ software}

So, why do I spend so much time on my posts and include so much information in them? Because I care. And because I believe in quality content. And because I enjoy having people read my posts and feel like they have actually learned something or were entertained. Because of this, I will probably continue as I have been doing, even if my rewards are diminished. But, consider: if everyone stops writing posts so they can spend the most-lucrative-and-easier time simply upvoting others' content, after seven days there will be nothing new to upvote.