Starting from the beginning, again.

Every couple of years I find myself returning to WordPress to start yet another website. It comes at a time of restlessness and motivation, as I look out into the world and wonder how I can broaden my individual impact and influence. 2020 was an interesting year for me, as like many people, my routine, lifestyle and sense of purpose was shaken ferociosly, until it no longer looked or felt familar. Throughout the year I slowly but surely picked up the remains of my life, ‘Marie Kondo-ing’ each element of my life, assessing if each peice gives me joy and purpose. I have melded the pieces into a jumbled but beautiful sculpture, that is unique to only me, and is still very much a work in progress.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.