“I feel a presence . . . and it’s mine.”

Being a writer these days entails much more than simply (yes, some of my fellow writers will rightfully scoff at the word “simply”) sitting at one’s computer keyboard at 2 a.m., wearing fuzzy Snoopy pants and an old “I Survived the Mayan Apocalypse of 2012” t-shirt, stuffing Sour Patch Kids in your face and just letting your Muse have her way with you.  Although, that is unquestionably part and parcel of honing your craft.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time researching what’s required to get attention in an industry that’s bursting at the seams with hopeful literary artists such as myself, and I’ve come away with a #2 priority (#1, of course, is actually being able to clutch that finished manuscript in your hand):

Today’s author must have an online “presence.”  You must promote your “brand” as a writer.  Don’t get me wrong:  The writing is always the heart of who you are.  But if Google shrugs its shoulders when someone types your name into the search bar, then you’ve got a problem.

Now please don’t take this as if I believe I’m some wise old sage bestowing upon you a nugget of vast personal experience.  I’m coming into this online world in a way I’m not used to.  Sure, in a personal sense, I’ve been on Facebook and Twitter and so on, and etc., and what have you.  But now I’m doing it from a more professional standpoint, to get myself out there as all writers endeavor to, and I’m doing it in a much bolder fashion than I’d anticipated (hell, I’ve got my name as the entire URL, for cryin’ out loud).  I’m designing my own author “platform,” funneling some spare creativity into a collection of HTML shortcode, whereas I was previously devoting my energies solely to happily cranking out that next story chapter.  And you know what?  I’m loving it.

This website has bumped up my enthusiasm to a level of enjoyment that makes me glad I invested the time.  I took a basic web page template and then I geeked-out all over it:  Cobbling together pictures that would communicate exactly the right tone (thank you, GIMP and MS Office!); determining what pages were necessary or, at the least, amusing; changing font and background colors on every aspect of the layout, sometimes several times a week with a coffee-induced mania; and brainstorming blog topics.  Which brings me to my final thoughts, on the matter of thrusting myself into cyberspace and waving my arms around, shouting, “Hey!  Over here!”:

Blogging.  Do I have to be a “blogger”?  The consensus is that it’s optional, but recommended.  In my mind, rightly or wrongly, I envisioned the typical blog as being nothing but a page-long tweet of sorts, riddled with misspellings, un-capitalized letters, and texting-shorthand (OMG, how i h8 thoz).  But it turns out you can be as articulate as your little grammar-prone heart desires and be at liberty to deftly turn a phrase that may possibly stick in your would-be reader’s mind (that obviously wasn’t an example of one, by the way).  And the more blogs I’ve read, the more I’ve come to respect and admire those who do it.  And now I wanna play, too.

So in the weeks that follow (not setting a promised deadline here, because I work a full-time job, and I don’t need that kind of pressure), you will see new blog posts crop up.  Sometimes the topic will be inane, sometimes semi-informative, but—here’s hoping—intentionally entertaining.  This’ll be where my brain goes to romp through a reservoir of rumination (get used to the alliteration, folks), and I’ll probably be as surprised as you, to see what comes spilling out onto the virtual page.

And so ends Blog #1.  (Yeah, I know.  I gotta work on my endings.  Hmm.  A good topic for Blog #2?)  Yakey out.

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