Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision,
but making mistakes is just part of life. What does the world want of me? Does
it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn't
have the courage to say "yes" to life?
~
Paulo Coelho
November 1 marked the beginning
of that madcap dash into the world of words and word counts: National Novel
Writing Month – affectionately known as NaNo.
I didn’t sign up this year, but throughout the month of November, I’ll
be highlighting authors, their books, and the writing process.
M
|
ay be a
day (or more) and a dollar short, but I’ve joined Jeff Goins’ Intentional
Blogging Challenge.
Being the
daydreaming writer that I am *cough* procrastinating
*cough*, I find that I need to sign up for at least two to four writing
challenges a year. Deadlines combined
with being part of a group of writers forces me to write a substantial word
count every day.
At least
every day of the challenge.
A couple
of weeks ago I got together with a fellow writer and blogger to talk a bit
about the challenge and do some free-writing on the dreaded Day One topic (cue
Darth Vader theme):
Writing the About Me Page.
Relationship
not Narcissism
Contrary
to most people’s first impressions (usually garnered at a social event where
I’m being, well, social!), I am a
very private person. I guard my
boundaries like Cerebus guards Hades’ lair.
Minus the
hellacious breath and acid drool.
 |
| Cerebus and Hades, 6th century |
Yes, I
have a blog. Yes, I write about some
personal things sometimes. I also write
under a nom de plume. This is mainly to
protect my Styx-like privacy.
It is also
so some well-meaning (or smug and purposefully hateful) friend of the family
(aka pot-stirrer) happens upon my blog and informs my mother, “I didn’t know
you were certifiably nuts! This explains
so much!”
Ahh, the
perils of memoirists.
In
addition, some people might associate my ability to talk the leg off a brass
chamber pot (I’m so getting one of
those after Kodiak), to a narcissistic addiction to talking about myself.
When they spend one on one time with me, they
find that I actually don’t like to
talk about myself. This goes hand in
hand with my Cerebus-guarded Styx-like privacy. And it becomes painfully obvious when you see my About page ~ it's sad.
Like, puppy-hit-by-a car sad.
A great About Me Page should invite you in, give you a better idea of who I am both as a writer and as a person ~ because who wants to read the scribblings of a faceless person with the personality of a blank canvas stuck in your grandparents attic?
Okay, maybe that's going too far, but you get the picture.
What and Why I Write
Another thing the About Me
page should do, is tell you about the blog itself, what I write about, and why.
I don’t know about you, but
I’ve been pounding the keys, ripping out my heart, and sharing it with y’all
for almost ten years (La Belle’s ninth birthday was on Halloween in fact) and
throughout this wild , crazy, colourful, and literary ride, I’ve been asked: “So
what is your blog about?” My usual response?
Cue zombie
impression. Uh – art? Um - food? I really like people
and…I dunno. I just write.
So I looked though old posts,
made a list, and realized that if I flesh out those answers, I get that
I like to talk and write about is art and hospitality and writing and
mental health.
Wait just a minute….that
sounds like it might be what
this blog is actually about!
Aha! So those four
things I mentioned above? Those are what bloggers call categories and they serve as the bones of the
blog. The blog posts make up the skin and blood and organs and
brain. The heart is made up of you, my readers. What about
the soul?
Most writers ~ especially
fiction writers ~ will tell you that once they begin writing, the book takes on
a life of its own. Sometimes the characters won’t grow or act like you
want them to ~ they become almost sentient.
A blog is no different.
Mine most definitely has a soul, a personality. And it just so happens to
mirror mine. As E(I)NFPs place a high priority and value on relationships, so
does my blog. Whether the topic has to do with art, writing, hospitality,
or mental health, the theme of relationships is interwoven throughout.
Sometimes it’s more subtle than others, but it’s always there.
And in that case, I’m not
quite sure where this particular relationship is going. But I know where
I’d like it to head. But more about that in my About Page.
Which you can read as soon as
I write it.
Oremus pro invicem,
~
Mikaela
