Experience #27 Hello Web

It’s amazing how productive I can be when I tell myself I have to complete my list of 33 by the end of the month. In January I was worried that I wouldn’t get this far, and now the year is nearly over. I will admit that I’m worried that I won’t finish, but I haven’t entered into panic mode yet, so for right now, nothing crazy happening. (Notice the use of yet. I should probably not be left unsupervised if December 31 comes around and I haven’t accomplished 33. I am a perfectionist after all, and not completing a list will ruin perfection. You can’t mess with perfection.)

Back to being productive though. For the last few years I’ve said I wanted to have my own website. It’s what writers are supposed to do. At least that’s what I read in writer’s magazines and writers have told me at writer’s conferences. It’s one of the things that I didn’t place high on my list of priorities though, mostly because I know nothing about website creation. This goes along with one of my perfectionist strategies that has worked well for me: avoid what you don’t know to prevent a meltdown when you fail. Obviously, this strategy does not fit in well with the adventures of 2011. Along with this year’s adventurous spirit, I’ve also decided that I need to get serious with writing.

Hence, my very own website is born at jessicatastet.com.

I’d like to say it was easy or fun, but it was neither. I only confirmed that I know nothing about website creation, and lack of knowledge is not something I admit to easily. Not being website savvy meant spending hours reading about how to do the slightest adjustment, and many moments of frustration when it just wouldn’t do what I wanted. (I must add that I’ve come to the conclusion that this perfectionist personality trait may need to be left behind along with some other traits that just don’t work anymore.)

It’s all been worth it though. My site is up and running, and I’m quite proud of how it turned out. I’ve even posted a sample from my upcoming book, Muddy Bayou. To find out more about the book, keep checking my blog and website in the next coming week.