How do you accidentally launch a blog? Glad you asked.
I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog and was deep in my over-researching process when I decided to run a test and publish a fake blog post.
I added an image from my camera roll to the test post and randomly chose a weird picture of a puppet that I made in college with some outdated book launch information on it.
I pressed the 'publish' button so I could see how it all worked.
Then, the texts and email responses started coming in.
"What is this?" -- accompanied by a screenshot of my weird college puppet picture in the body of an email.
This is the moment I remembered that I had set up email notifications on new blog posts when they are published!
I may have found the secret to stop procrastinating starting a blog. Just send out a weird puppet picture to everyone and then you have to just start it.
Forget the planning or any attempt to build momentum.
Just go for it.
I'm not actually recommending this.
It did occur to me that I don't think I have ever read someone's first blog post. I seem to find a blog when it's been out for a while and looks fancy and polished, but the beginning of something doesn't usually look that way.
Maybe it looks like a weird college puppet picture in your inbox.
I decided to turn my mistake into my first blog post because it is helping me to remember that sometimes it's better to just start something than to have paralysis by analysis or to be waiting for everything to be perfect.
My purpose in starting the blog is to keep writing ...because I want an excuse to write the chapters for my next devotional book. I plan to release some new 'Dorie stories' on my blog and also post some from my first book, Hope Looks Good on You!: A Comedian's Joy-inducing Daily Devotional for Women.
I don't even have the name for my next book yet, but I have a list of stories that need some type of deadline for my ADHD brain to write them -- and I want my blog subscribers to read them first!
I'm planning to post weekly and hope you will join me (and invite friends!)
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Are you procrastinating something you have wanted to start? Maybe don't send out a picture of a puppet you made in college, but do take action and don't be afraid to do something. Remember: "momentum is messy!"*
With hope & joy,
Dorie Mclemore
P.s. I'm thinking next week I will share the puppet devotional story excerpt from my 1st devotional book since some of you might be wondering why I made puppets in college.
(*quote from Jon Acuff's book, Soundtracks, my husband and I just finished reading -- powerful! You should totally read that after you finish reading my devotional:)