Well, it’s December 19, 2019 and I am writing my first blog. I think I wrote one before actually on some website a few years back, probably something to make people think, I like to make people think for some reason. This blog is about new beginnings and the new year ahead and years to come. I recently self-published my first novel, A Killer’s Heart on Amazon. I had no idea how much went into marketing and promoting a book, I really don’t know if I have time for all that, I would just rather write. I guess that’s why it only took me 3 weeks to finish my second novel, A Killer’s Heart 2. I think my second one is much better than the first, the first book is a great story written by an amateur writer, the second book is a great story written by an amateur writer with one under his belt, so it should be better. I have a tendency to get really excited about something and do it, and then once I’ve done it I stop and move on to something else that peaks my interest. I hope that isn’t the case with writing, I think I’m okay at it, I am my own sharpest critic that’s for sure. Maybe someday I will look back at this blog and say, yea you were right, you just dropped that shit like a bad habit, or maybe I will look back and remember a time when I wasn’t sure, and have 10 or 20 or 50 novels written. Who knows. I think there should be some lesson in this. Isn’t that the point of a blog? I really don’t know to be honest. The lesson here should be, never underestimate what you are capable of, and never think you are too old to get something done. I was a college dropout, but I still had success in my career, even after that I still went back and finished my degree at age 42. That isn’t so unusual anymore, and I really didn’t need it, but it was a personal goal I had set years ago and left behind, and by completing it, that somehow inspired me to start thinking about other things I wanted to accomplish, and here I am with two novels under my belt and still having great success in my every day career. It seems like it would be cool to be able to just write books and make a good living, I feel like I am a thousand miles away from that and crawling. It’s not even a goal of mine, although it should be, if that’s what I want to do, but I haven’t decided, I kind of think I do. Who knows?

Welcome to my blog, when I have something I will write something.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

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 you 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.