Life used to be so simple. I just wrote my blog content in a word document, copied the word document, came here, logged on, clicked on “new post,” pasted it, and added some “tags” to help draw attention to it. Then the Word Press system began to offer more and fancier options, very helpful new things, I’m sure. The first thing I noticed was that one was to enter stuff in “blocks.” But I didn’t take time to play with it — just continued in my old fashioned ways by choosing “classic editor.” And people sometimes responded (not as many as I would have liked, of course), and I would hit “reply” and we’d have the start of a conversation.
But then things changed. In order to respond to your comments I had to give my name and email every time. Obviously that’s not conducive to easy conversation. And I responded to the idea of “blocks” as if encountering a rattlesnake in my living room.
In the meantime I’m trying to carve out time to work on my next (I hope) book — tentative title On My Way Out, so I kept postponing getting smart about how to use my blog. The result — panic — as the new blog methods felt like monsters casting a shadow over my computer and I began to feel more and more like a fat little kid with buck teeth, glasses, and old fashioned Scandinavian braids.
So now I’m asking you to help — or at least to cheer me on — as I try to get more productive with communicating with you this way. Basically all I want you to do right now is to let me know you’re here with me.
monagustafsonaffinito 