Thinking of beginning your own blog?  Recently I’ve received requests for tips on setting up a blog.  Before launching into how I created and maintain this blog, I must clarify that I am not a techie and do not possess the mental acumen to write the code required to build one from scratch.

You may be thinking that the greatest concern is what you’ll write about.  I suggest that if you feel the need to have a blog, the contents of it are already in your mind.  But regardless of whether you are an author, setting up a blog demands many things beyond the writing of text.  Therefore, today I will focus on the mechanics of creating a blog. 

What is the first requirement for accomplishing this task?  The first and recurring requirement is having the patience to accomplish the task.  Next on my list of requirements, is my favorite pairing of ingredients in most things I do:  Art and Science. 

I place the issue of art at the fore, because without an artist’s inspiration, you are less likely to create an appealing space for your readers.  Please note that I am not suggesting that all of us are worthy of assuming the title of artist.  However, we can reach for the artist’s balance of mind and spirit in exploring options in color, shape, and configuration—regardless of the style in which we create our memorable statements. 

As to the element of science, well, whether or not you are a techie, there are sources to help you determine the building blocks required for bringing your vision to fruition.  You can begin by querying your favorite search engines.  This will provide the technical terminology with which to ask intelligent questions or cruise through the tables of contents of books you may borrow or buy.  At this point you may decide to hire someone to convert your creative ideas into a functioning blog. 

Parallel to my June 2015 blog on Media Relations, I suggest you make the most of every contact you can develop.  Inhabitants of the world of techies (like any other specialty) are not created or trained equally…and you will not relate to them equally.  In some ways, finding a techie whose opinion you will respect and whose skills match your evolving needs, is rather like finding the ideal car salesman:  If you’re not careful, you can spend far more money, time and energy than you may wish. 

But when you discover the right person, you’ll find yourself returning to them for advice on issues not directly related to your current needs.  Why?  Because they’re such an honest and knowledgeable person—and hopefully generous with that know-how—that you want their opinion on a breadth of topics.

How do you go about making friends with techies?  By the time you decide to create a blog, you should have a reliable techie or tech support company available on-line, if not in person.  If an individual does not feel threatened by the thought of losing some aspect of your business, he or she should be willing to share contact information regarding other specialists.  Unfortunately, people who work for a tech company are usually precluded from offering such information.

As to the means by which you make friends, take a page from your personal life.  Coffee, lunch, or drinks (not necessarily alcoholic) moves you into a social atmosphere, in which you should be able to explore commonalities with the person.  I hope I do not have to clarify that this social moment should never be confused with paying a specialist for their time and expertise.  But if you have established likes and dislikes you share, it should be appropriate for you to suggest a social moment of sharing outside of a working context. 

Despite this my suggestions for gaining technical advice and support, I must tell you that although I personally designed my website, I simply used a template in designing this blog.  It is provided by WordPress through the company hosting my website.  At this point in my career, I suggest that anyone who is not a true techie should consider using the products and services offered through a web hosting company.  In fact, because of the vast changes in coding during the last few years, I may have to resort to using a template for a redesign of my website. 

Regardless of the tools used, any redesign of a website is a major commitment of energy and time.  However, search engines now expect a level of optimization that meets the standards of the latest electronic devices—and those standards never stop changing.  Fortunately, an international company providing templates should ensure that the products they offer their clients are state of the art at any given time.

Before you feel I have failed to help you in your hour of need, let me tell you how I have modified the template for this blog.  Please keep in mind that each template provided by a company offers varied features and levels of adaptability.  Since I have chosen to accept the parameters of a free template, there are several limitations I have had to accept.  For example, while the current posts offer my bio at the bottom, it does not appear in posts that have been archived.  In addition, I am precluded from creating a master list of tags from which I could select those most appropriate for each post.  Without utilizing an add-on menu, I cannot customize the items shown on the list on the left, or modify their appearance.  And, although I have been able to choose a color for the text of my posts, I am unable to do so for the titles.

Many design features were drawn from my website so that both forms of communication with the public are harmonious in appearance.

~  I chose a long banner with my logo to extend across the top of the blog on a monitor, as well as when pages are printed out.

~  The favicon appearing to the left of my URL is provided by my web hosting company, since it already appears beside the URL of my website.

~  I have used the dark blue color in my banner for the font color in my posts. 

Color is a very important element in any visual project.  And while there are many blues and golds that can be used, I selected a blue that is deep enough to print as nearly black when downloaded to most grayscale printers.  Conversely, the gold I work with is light enough that it prints as a gray background, allowing the lettering to be readable in grayscale.  I should point out that the colors I tend to use are close to, but not exactly web safe colors.  This means that I am providing subtleties that most visitors to my website or blog will view, but should their platforms limit their ability to see a wide range of colors, the default settings will be close in appearance.

Much of the operation and maintenance for any website or blog rests on trial and error.  When initially uploading posts, I was not aware of choices I could make in visibility.  There were also instances where I failed to notice a typo or changed my mind about the wording of a section of text.  Eventually I recognized the value of choosing the preview option after inputting the text of a page or post.  This allows you to make sure that both the content and its appearance are pleasing; and, as a final test, I try to read the text out loud prior to hitting the publish button.

Determining the topics I explore in posts is purely personal and often a spur of the moment decision.  Sometimes a subject arose in my weekly authors’ salon.  As we share materials we are reading and writing, areas of concern or new discoveries may arise to motivate my commentary.  Other times, I have edited text that begs resolution of a recurring flaw in my work.  This particular post is in response to repeated questions from readers of this blog and visitors to my website.

With several of you asking about the setup of my blog, I am sorry to have been slow in writing this post.  While launching this blog, I have been reviewing the first three books in a trilogy of murder mysteries set in Honolulu, where I lived for over two decades.  As I move forward with this series, I know that my personal issues with writing and editing will encourage me to examine questions of authorship that may be occurring in your own work.  In addition to periodically responding to your questions within this blog, I will soon be responding to some of you from a computer at my public library.

I mention this because computer security has become such an issue that I have joined a growing number of people who are limiting access to the computer on which I generally work.  In fact, communication with potential literary agents and publishers has heightened my awareness of this concern.  I cannot say whether they are utilizing computers that are specifically designated for external communication, but I can say that almost no professionals accept forwarded materials, and few accept attachments from people with whom they do not have a relationship.

Finally, I want to thank a couple of readers who have sent suggestions for improving the coding used within this blog, and for heightening its search engine optimization.  I’m just beginning to act upon your welcome response by changing the formatting of images from JPEGs or GIFS to PNGs which are more compact…and I am in the midst of redesigning my website with a template whose coding is up to date with electronic norms.

Wishing you the best in your writing endeavors, 
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, wordsmith and design consultant

Further discussion of the topic of color is offered at:
http://www.imaginingswordpower.com/color/plays_on_color.html
For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, visit:
http://www.ImaginingsWordpower.com