Do I need a website?

Right now I'm not getting a lot of views, but I think if I had a website I might get a few more. I don't really know how to build a website, but I'm sure if I found the right book I could. I read that having a website makes it easier for search engines to notice you. I'm not sure if the search engines are picking me up now, but I think it would be nice to have a bigger audience. I just don't know if having a website is better than having social media.

My writing corner

It's finally finished! Now my desk looks looks the way I want it to. I still find it pretty funny that this is the desk that I write about werewolves and zombies from.

Blogging is a great tool that I don't know how to use.

I'm sure this translates through the current state of my blog, but I don't know how to blog. I don't know anything about layouts or what content I should include. I have no idea how much I should share. It's hard for me to share information with people I know offline, which makes it even harder to share with people I've never met. Not that anyone is reading this blog. I'd be surprised if anyone looked past the boring layout at all. Most of the traffic I get is probably from people browsing through blogs. This is all my fault. I could devote more time to researching layouts and what content I should include. Blogging is a great tool and can help me reach lots of readers, if I include the right content.

Early writing mistakes

I've always wanted to be a writer, it seemed like my calling since I wrote my first non school story in second grade. I stopped writing for awhile when I was a teenager. I wish I had kept writing, it would have only helped me improve. I picked writing up again when I was about twenty three or twenty two. I'm not sure why I picked it back up, my only guess is the stories that were in my head begging to be written wouldn't go away. It's been a rough journey for me. I have trouble finishing projects, although the one I'm working on now just needs another glance over. I was often broke when I was writing these stories, and I actually tried to sell books after just writing the first draft of whatever I was working on. That turned out as well as you can expect, and I know it wasn't good for my writing career. The only reason I rushed through the first chapter and sent it off was because I was poor, I was struggling to pay for gas to get back and forth to work. My situation improved a little when I got a job that was closer to home, and so did my outlook on writing. I decided that I didn't want to sell my book to a publishing company, I wanted to self publish. I wanted to live all the ups and downs of my journey. I know it's going to be hard, probably harder than I could ever dream, but I decided this is the path for me. I haven't sent off what I'm working on to a literary agent, at this point I don't want one. Maybe one day that will change, but for now I want to see what this is like. In fact, I hope to soon, maybe late this month or early next month. Another mistake I've made is letting other things get in the way. When I get home from work, it seems like I'm too tired to think. Maybe I should take naps and write when I wake up. I've also allowed other things to get in my way, like getting a new video game or book. Things that I shouldn't put before my writing. I know I need a break sometimes, but a break shouldn't turn into me catching all 150, or however many pokemon they have now. I've made a lot of mistakes, and I know I'm going to make more, but that's my journey to take.

The job I want vs. the job I need

I can't recall a time where I applied for a job because I wanted it, and not because I was in need of a job or a bigger paycheck. As a result, I have grown unhappy with every job I've had in a matter of months. I always feel like I'm stuck and I need to get out there and find something better. I don't know how to explain it, just a feeling like I should be doing better. I know I could do better, but I've never been sure how to approach getting a job I actually want. To be honest, I'm not even sure I know what job I actually want. I had to pick a major when I attended college, but the major I picked isn't something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. The only thing I can see myself doing for the rest of my life is writing, and I'm frustrated with myself for putting my writing off. I have a ebook that's already written, I just have to edit it, but I keep letting things get in the way. From work to my own laziness. I managed to beat the new pokemon game this month, but haven't put in any real time writing. I guess I feel like if I had a job that I actually enjoyed everything else would fall into place.

Could have happened to me, glad it didn't

I've wondered if I should write this post for awhile now. It's been a few days since I've stumbled upon an article in the rolling stone (online) about a girl who almost had her life ruined by the internet. Now I know I made this blog to promote my writing, but no one's going to care about my writing if they don't know me as a person. The reason I cared so much about this article is because I could have gone down the same road if I hadn't had good parents who loved me. The girl in the article turned to myspace for companionship because she was home schooled and didn't have many friends. I can relate. I've been a nerd my whole life, and didn't really fit in with anyone in high school. I had friends, but they were the ones who called themselves goth/emo/punk/whatever other alt label there was. Although I listened to the same music, I have never considered myself any of those things. Some of my friends had a falling out with me, so I turned to myspace. I didn't know much about computers, so I suppose that's why I got so addicted to the little social networking site. I remember going to the library during my lunch breaks to check what was going on. I got excited when cute guys added me. I would spend hours and hours online not doing anything productive. My friend list grew to over 500, and with all those friends came a lot of drama. People started picking fights with me, guys started flirting and demanding that I meet them. The idea of meeting someone from online scares me, even now that I'm an adult. I told myself that it was worth it, but it never is. I got death threats, sent disgusting pictures, and had some idiot edit a picture of me into a clown. It bothered me, but I thought it was worth it for the friends I'd made. I felt like myspace was my connection to the world. My parents found out about everything that was going on and made me delete everything. They were scared for me to go anywhere in public because they thought someone would recognize me from online and hurt me. At first I was upset. I even gave up writing because of what happened, but now I'm glad. Things could have gotten so much worse for me. I don't know why that girl's parents didn't pull the plug, but they should have. Now I only add people that I know on facebook, and I only made a twitter to promote my upcoming ebook.