I thought writing the book and revising it again and again was going to be the hard part. Yeah, I was wrong. Turns out it was nothing compared to picking a theme, deleting the random mystery shop pages that kept showing up, and trying to make a button actually do what it’s supposed to do.
Did I do research before diving into the web building? You bet, I watched an hour’s worth of YouTube videos on how to do it. Seemed simple enough to me. Was I fully paying attention? Clearly not.
When the mystery shop page appeared, I went into a mild panic. Suddenly I envisioned me and the grand baby trying to design, pack and ship T-Shirts. This was going south fast.
I am trying to become a writer. Not take over the World Wide Web with aesthetically pleasing web pages. I just want people to read my book.
Here is the thing no one tells you about hitting “publish.” It is scary.
I had to give myself several stern pep talks before I finally clicked the button. (Yes, I talk to myself frequently. I enjoy those conversations usually.)
Doubt was running wild. I would think do I really want to put this out here? What if it looks stupid or a button that leads to nothing.
Like everyone else I don’t want to fail or look clueless. So, I would go back and forth about what to put on the page. What should I add, could I remove it later.
What kind of picture should I put on the blogs. Do I need a contact page, about the author page, a newsletter? How do I even do a newsletter. And why would anyone sign up for that?
All the while I am still working on the book, watching the grand baby, and running two households. It can be a lot at times.
So why add something else to my plate? I like writing and I want to get better. Learning a new skill along the way helps my creativity. I get frustrated with the book, but I still want to write. So the blog is another way.
It has been a humbling experience. But for me being humbled isn’t a bad thing.
And it would be so easy and comfortable to not do something like the blog. But comfort won’t help me write this book or improve my writing. Also, something tells me someone out there needs to hear this. So they know they aren’t struggling alone.
It is going to take some time for me to improve the site. So don’t judge too harshly for now. I will say I like clean and classic, so it won’t be something very flashy. Not because I can’t make it that way. But because I want the blog’s to be the focus.
I’m not downplaying how hard it is to write a book. It is hard and at times maddening. However, to me making a blog is harder and not something I have any skill or practice with. But here we are, trudging along learning as I go.
And yes I have helped my neighbor herd his cats in during a terrible thunderstorm. So I can confirm that it was easier but not by much. (Yes we got all the cats in the barn eventually.)
Maybe a blog for another time. For now, I’ll keep herding my thoughts into words and hoping they land where they’re meant too.
