How many times have you started (or even finished) an epic OP, and then thought better of it (for whatever reason: seems boring, not ready for the pile-on, not ready to reveal that much about yourself, etc) and did not submit?
I’ve done it, but can’t remember any of the topics.
I do it maybe once a week. I’ll write out a big OP (usually GQ) then as I proofread it, I’ll look at it as if I wasn’t the person writing it (so I can gauge how readable it is) and I end up coming up with the answer. I’m amazed at how often I answer my own questions (even IRL, long before they make it to the dope) when I think to myself, “What would I say if someone asked me this question?”
Now, when it comes to replying to someone else’s OP. At least once a day. If I never threw away anything I wrote, my post count would be at least triple.
When it comes to just posting I tend not to review what I’ve written (you might notice that a significant number of my posts are edited after their creation) and just type whatever comes to mind without much thought (and it shows!).
When it comes to posting new threads, however, I tend to sweat whether it’s too stupid for the Dope. I mean, then I see a thread about “how many posts can we make?” and it makes me feel a little better, but still. I’d say about half of the OPs I’ve written have never seen the light of day. Nearly all of them are unimportant questions that I decide aren’t worth threads of their own.
All the time. But I always forget about it by the time I’m in front of the computer.
Joe
My big deal is musical theatre, but I learned the hard way that most threads on the subject die a quick death. One notable exception: Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark
:smack: Yes! My first poll and I fucked up the topic title- awesome! :smack:
One. Back in 2004.
I was gearing up to break up with this woman. It was partly advice on how best to raise the subject under the (rather unusual) circumstances, partly a rant about how I always have to be the dumper and how much I hate dumping people. Not to be immodest at all… but when it comes to that point I wish I could be feeling sorry for myself instead of realizing I am about to be “that dick.”
Then I decided that, since I was doing the dumping, I owed it to her to at least suck it up and take it on my own.
Ack, I totally hit the wrong button. Anyway, what I meant to click was “all the time”. But I often find that just writing out the situation I’m asking for advice with helps me resolve it. As I write, I think about how people will respond, and it helps me to I realize that I am being stupid/foolish/irrational/lazy in not googling/etc.
A few - many more responses that I reread and think - meh.
I’ve been wanting to write about my depression here, and I’ve written and thrown away many OPs about it. To be honest I don’t have a lot of friends or other outlets for discussion (and I don’t want to burden my wife any more than she already is), and my doctor has encouraged me to talk more, so it would be helpful if I could write here. But every time I do, I end up deleting the OP because:
- I’ve seen a lot of depression-related threads go south in a hurry here.
- Some of the subjects I’d need to discuss have, shall we say, not been received well here, and I simply don’t have the energy to defend what I’ve done in the past or present. Not that I think I should be defending myself, but the trainwreck potential would be fairly high, and I just do not want that to happen.
- A lot of things I just haven’t been able to put into words, and it never sounds good when I try.
- But most of all, the plain truth is that I am just not as anonymous as most people here are. I don’t want to put my employers, family, especially my wife through all of this.
[Mod mod]Per request of OP, have un-fucked up the title. Changed “The threads that never were-how many have topic OPs have you written but never submitted?” to “The threads that never were- how many OPs have you written but never submitted?”[/Mod mod]
I registered in February 2001. I have about 1100 posts. I could have 3x that just on deleted OPs, not counting deleted regular posts.
The reason I created this poll is that there is ONE OP I have started about 10 times (an EPIC rant about my effed up roommate situation- not asking for advice just venting about the fuckupedness of it) and I, like what I bet is a fair number of the rest of you, enjoy the occasional schadenfreude of reading other people’s drama, especially when I’m bored, but I’ve deleted the OP every time because I know I’ll get (at least) one reply that tells me to move if I don’t like it, and I just cant bear the pile-on!
And said OP always has about 10 run-on sentences like the one I just wrote!
Trust me, I’m sparing you all. At least I’m not alone!
xanthous, that’s kind of how I feel - that I’ll let it all out and run into a wall of “get over it/ plenty of people have it worse/ quit whining”
For the same reason I’ll compose a big rambling reply to something and then blip it because I think, no one’s gonna care about that.
I typed up a thread yesterday asking for help with my new ipod because the screen wouldn’t change and there was sometimes blurry stuff visible underneath it. Then I realized the screen display was a sticker that I needed to peel off to see the real screen. Luckily I figured this out just before hitting the submit button.
Don’t tell.
All the time. I also delete about 75% of the posts I start to write.
Once in a while I write an OP which I delete before submitting. But not too often.
But responses, boy, I delete them before submitting all the time. Mostly when what I have to say is a little bit counter-intuitive, so I know someone is going to demand a cite. I know that what I have to say is correct, but I don’t want to get into an argument, and have no time to find a citation, so I figure, oh what the hell, let the board live in sublime ignorance on this one issue. It’s not going to kill them.
Quite a few. Sometimes something seems fascinating until I write the thread and then I think it’s not as interesting as it seems. Or the occasional whiny woe-is-me thread and then I realize what I would reply if someone else posted that OP.
Last week was a particularly rough one for me in regards to a fellow volunteer at an organization I’m heavily involved with. She’s convinced that I hate her when really I don’t- I’ve talked to her a few times about it but nothing helps.
I was going to post a thread asking for advice on how to deal with her, but I when I looked at the original post I just shrugged and said “Already know what the responses will be.”" ::shrug:: I deleted it.