Screw-up factor is on high alert

There are truths to this blog business, and here is one:

Sometimes I’m not in any mood to write.

That’s problematic since the entire daily Just Wright Citrus product is a 700-word message. Without the writing, there’s clearly no blog.

---

After an up-and-down 2023, I really got myself geared up for 2024. Huge election year, plenty of news occurring daily — a treasure trove for a political junkie like me.

Something to know about my personality: I tend to get very excited about something, rush in with both feet, go at it 110% — and then crash from exhaustion. Since I’m trying to go at 110% for an entire year, I want to avoid the crash and that means picking spots to slow down.

Like today.

It’s been a weird week for me. I made a few blog mistakes. Nothing horrible, mostly typos and dropped words. Then on Wednesday, I wrote a story for Florida Politics about Democratic candidate Judith Vowels joining the House District 23 race, and I mistakenly said the district includes northern Hernando County.

Our OLD district included Hernando County, but District 23 that’s existed for two years is Citrus County and Dunnellon. After Florida Politics posted the story two friends kindly pointed the error out to me. 

I fixed it, but c’mon. I don’t know the House district? That error is a red flag. I make those boneheaded mistakes when I’m not paying close enough attention to detail. Or my mind is wandering. Or I’m tired.

Or all three.

I had something planned for today about civil discourse but decided to shelve it a week because I’m not overly confident in my ability at the moment to not screw up. I don’t know how else to say it. When my brain ain’t right the uh-oh gauge — what I call the screw-up factor — shoots up expeditiously.

Many years ago, two close friends suffered the tragic loss of their teenage daughter who had just graduated from Citrus High School. I had to write a story about it for the Chronicle and interviewed my friends in their home. We'd known each other a long time and they trusted me.

Well, let me tell you, the screw-up quotient was extremely high for that story. One word in the wrong spot, one transition maybe a little too flippant, and the results could be devastating. You never want grieving loved ones to have their pain worsened by a news story.

I did something up to that point I had never done — dropped to my knees and prayed to God to give me the right words. I wrote the story and never heard a negative whisper about it.

At Just Wright Citrus, unfortunately, I’ve had to learn as I go. While I have an “editor” who reads the blogs each night before they’re posted, I’m still out here on the gangplank alone. Not complaining, that’s the way I want it.

I’m learning to watch for these burnout signs early before they turn into apologies.

So, we’re going to go a little shorter today than usual. I have some great blog topics lined up for next week, and I’m doing a little investigative work on some other tips that may or may not pan out.

This is my life writing about the community I love. I want to make sure I’ve given it all for each blog while, at the same time, not running myself into the ground.

Looks like a beautiful Friday in sunny Citrus County. Think I’ll enjoy it. Hope you do as well.

Join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon.