Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

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 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.

Ten.One Thousand & Forty-Six

1. This is not the kind of text you want to wake up to.

2. I slip into his shoes, almost too easy.

3. I pour the hot water onto the grounds and watch it bloom. I’m glad this is a new part of the morning.

4. She can’t sit in the lobby, so she’s on her way home.

5. I wonder if I will be able to focus and be present during our writing circle. I contemplate skipping it. But no, I need it.

6. More wisdom cards. Quiet dust. When the wind works against us. Take root. What’s your wingspan? Reach beyond the vulture. Fish in the sky. Rebirth as contentment. Edge walker. Edge worker. Just have to keep swimming. Use the bridge. Comfortable everywhere. Mask.

7. I take the leftover smoked chicken breast and grab the wilting salad greens. Champagne vinegar and olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. It needs something else. Pennyroyal Lychee cheese.

8. I show him the proper way to do a left-handed layup. Then he makes ten in a row.

9. Affirmation.

10. This conversation between Julia and Andre. A screen full of mostly black and brown bodies drinking wine and sharing stories. One of the silver linings.

11. 2019 Lumen Escence Pinot Gris.

Ten.One Thousand & Twelve

1. What time is it?

2. I open his door and hear him snoring. Good. How many times did he wake me up? Maybe I can get a nap today.

3. I smell the coffee as soon as I step into the kitchen. I tell him it smells like coffee shop coffee. Simple pleasures.

4. The way the bird of paradise looks electric in the glow of the morning sun.

5. I start to clean out the corner by the desk. It is full of things from Fever Dreams and baskets and frames, loose cords and papers. I find pictures of them getting their first library cards and old school pictures.

6. We both have Leo sons. We both feel like this time is for us to lean into what’s calling. I don’t feel particularly helpful, but I am grateful for the connection.

7. I say that for eyeballing it, two degrees isn’t that bad. He doesn’t seem to think so. It’s even now, though. I hang a garland of her rosebuds, the Turkish towel, my gray scarf. Beside it, I hang a white ceramic saguaro. This little vignette makes me happy. Now, for a bench. Or maybe I reclaim the settee from the girl.

8. Hammock. Sun so hot I begin to sweat. I put on shorts and take off my sweater. I hold the magazine above me to block out the sun. The heat feels good on my legs. Oh yes, now it’s coming back to me. I remember the slow burn of summer.

9. I keep looking at imagery, trying to find what fits the words, the feeling.

10. I realize that I have eggs, but no baskets. It’s probably okay. We can figure it out.

Ten.One Thousand & Five

1. The problem is that as soon as he turns off the waves I wake up. Which means that if he doesn’t sleep, neither do I.

2. Lucky Charms.

3. I watch the video of the chef breaking down the duck. I can do this; it’s not that much different from breaking down a chicken.

4. My battery is running out. I sit on the floor, close to the outlet so that we can finish our conversation. We laugh. We talk about serious things. Maybe there is some hope. We feel okay about nothing ever being the same, though there is still some grief surrounding this feeling.

5. Hot ginger-lemon tea infused with cinnamon. I stay on the floor and talk to my brother next.

6. I just wish I was there. I really wish I was there.

7. I want the words but it feels like the words don’t want me. This has been the story for too long.

8. But the potatoes.

9. Raft Sangiovese. I might have a hard time blinding this as a wine from the new world. Earthy, great acidity, bright fruit that is present but doesn’t dominate. It’s clear to me that her wines are meant to go with food, not overpower it.

10. They want the Pinot Noir Juice as their dessert. He shows him how to use the wine key to remove the cork. I can’t decide if this is a good idea.

11. Where are the words?

Ten.Nine Hundred & Eighty

1. What day is it?

2. Check the traffic. Not that bad. I still have time.

3. Stillness. The click of the lamp. I spill my water on the book, dry it off with my scarf and settle into the green chair to write.

4. Set ego aside.

5. I make my way down the street. The moon is high and bright. Dark blue sky.

6. She’s so pleasant. What a great start. Second person. Big smile. Kind words. Person three and four and five. And this is good service. This is worth it. Though they should probably forego the platter of pastries.

7. He tells me that he’s just waiting for love. I tell him it takes a lot of courage to end an engagement because you realize that it’s not going to work.

8. Why do people tell me so many things?

9. Thirsty.

10. He tells me it’s been a slow day, that he could count the number of people at the Oakland Airport on his hands. I remember that this…experience affects so many. That if no one is traveling, not only are the airlines losing money but so are the Lyft and Uber drivers who depend on the gig economy to bridge the gap.

11. What is happening?

12. Overcompensating.