Learning by doing is the only way to go.

I have a confession: I am a recovering lawyer. These days, I try not to dwell on the past and to solely define myself professionally as a writer, teacher, and, now, blogger.

But blogging has brought the lawyer in me roaring back to life. 

The Rules of the Road

Maybe it’s because I’m sleep deprived this week, or maybe it’s because my lawyer self has been dormant too long, but as I embark upon this blogging thing, I find myself obsessing: I want to know the rules. I want there to be rules. I want to know what’s best to write about, what pictures to use, how to attribute credit properly, how to entertain readers, how to attract readers, how to, how to, how to.

I have to admit that the lawyer in me also came out when I started writing fiction. I needed structure. I needed there to be a rule book, something that told me how to tell the best story I could possibly tell. Which is why I took classes and joined writers groups and went to graduate school. But what I discovered is that, as helpful as rules are, there is no substitute for doing. For trying and failing. For never seeing defeat in a failure but rather looking for what I could learn from it.

And yet.

An Addition to Writers’ Resources

In the interest of preserving my sanity, learning a little, and maybe helping others learn along with me, I’ve added a topic to my writers’ resources page called Blogging Tips (located at the bottom of the page), which contains, you guessed it, links to posts about how to be a better blogger. Several of those links belong to Amy Lynn Andrews, whose site is clean and elegant and whose tips are straightforward, easy to implement, and incredibly helpful. She gives tips not just on blogging but also on the nuts and bolts of building a site, from how to choose a host and set up WordPress to how to choose a WordPress theme and install it. She even suggests designers for people like me, who know they aren’t up to the challenge of designing a new site themselves. As I mentioned in a previous post, I highly recommend POTG Design and owner, Janice Lee, who designed my site.

Suggestions are Welcome

My Blogging Tips section is still small, but it will grow as I write my way through new posts. If you have any suggestions about links to add, or things you’d like hear about, or things I could do better, please contact me at your leisure. I’d say add a comment below, but I’m still too much of a newbie to open up comments to my posts. Baby steps.

In the meantime, I’m making my own rule book. I hope you find it helpful.

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