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What should I do when I'm polishing off a 5 paragraph answer to a question, only to have it closed and not accept new answers?

I can't see a way to move the question/conversation to chat. Putting my answer in the comments doesn't seem right as it's normally well-formatted with some code involved.

It's happened twice now and it's very frustrating to have my effort go to waste, and not be able to communicate some possibly useful information to the person asking the question.

What's the best thing to do?

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Once you get 3K reputation (which I see you are close to doing on SO) you can at least see the close votes coming in so that can help inform your decision as to whether you should submit your answer quickly or maybe not bother composing an answer at all. –  Martin Smith Dec 10 '11 at 20:12
@MartinSmith - This doesn't help if the OP decides just after posting the question to delete it (possibly realizing it is not a good question or figures out the answer). –  Oded Dec 10 '11 at 20:17
@Oded - No, agreed it doesn't but the question mentioned closure not deletion. –  Martin Smith Dec 10 '11 at 20:18
Could you post links to these (or at least the most recent) questions? It always helps to have concrete examples. –  Josh Caswell Dec 10 '11 at 20:30
If its not a dupe and there's something in the question that can be saved by editing into something useful then the closing can be reopened. So it doesn't have to be the end of the line –  Ivo Flipse Dec 10 '11 at 20:34
Scream into a Pillow? –  DaveShaw Dec 10 '11 at 20:34
There are times when man is humbled greatly by the fragile electric pulses flying about. –  Adel Dec 11 '11 at 0:22

5 Answers 5

up vote 11 down vote accepted

Is the question seriously worth asking and answering? If so, then maybe ask it yourself and subsequently answer it. If it's not a dupe to begin with, that is. But if you do, make sure you ask a good question and not one that will be closed as well.

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Thanks, I like this because it gets the answer out there. I could link to the new question & answer in the comments of the closed one so the original author gets his answer. –  Tak Dec 10 '11 at 22:14
This seems a little odd to me. If you're able to post a new question that shouldn't and won't get closed, then why not just edit the original question and try and get it reopened? –  Jefromi Dec 11 '11 at 0:40

Not answering questions that should be closed would be a good option.

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I copy and paste my proposed answer to my blog.

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This issue be one of the contributing factors to the "fastest gun" problem - where someone writes and posts a mediocre answer quickly, and then edits it several times to improve it. If the question needs clarification, I ask for it as a comment. When writing an answer, I put about as much effort into it as the asker put into the question.

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Is this really a "fastest gun" issue? I don't really follow that. Unless you mean an inappropriate "close vote" fastest gun? –  Bart Dec 10 '11 at 20:35
I agree @Bart, appears to be the opposite as Tak is taking time to answer properly –  Darren Burgess Dec 10 '11 at 20:39
@Bart: KatieK is saying that this is one of the reasons why "fastest gun" exists: to beat the close votes for closeable questions. –  Nicol Bolas Dec 10 '11 at 20:43
Ah, that makes more sense than my interpretation. Then I would agree. –  Bart Dec 10 '11 at 20:49
I can't speak for the vast majority of other people, but this contributes significantly less to my fastest-gun leanings than the rep gain does. However I'd agree that it has a greater than zero effect. –  Merlyn Morgan-Graham Dec 11 '11 at 0:10

As a practical advice, when you see a long answer coming, save a first part.

This gives you a 'foothold' and you can still edit/delete your answer on a closed question. You just can't post a new one.

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