Creating a Website
Why is it important to create your own website as a writer?
For a long time building a website was a daunting task that I didnât want to take on. It wasnât until I got involved in the process that I found it was easier than I thought. There are many website builders that guide you through every step, and let you be creative so you can put your  own personality and style into the project.
But why do you need it?
As a writer you will accumulate many people who not only want to read your work, but to know a little more about you. Nothing is more frustrating than finding out that a writer you have been fawning over has no website, no place to find their other works, and no way to let the reader know that they are still a person.
Itâs important to have a website because writing has become more than writing in this century. In the age of social media people want more. They want to know about the dog that sits at your feet while writing. They want to see picture of what your writing space looks like. Itâs not only about what you have written for them, but what you represent as a person, and what you like about life.
A website is not only there to show people what you have done,but how you have gotten there. People want a back story, and a recent story. A website is there to show them that you havenât fallen off the side of the planet, and to give the reader reassurance that there will be more.
You will be able to promote what you have already written, and whats going to be coming out. Every writer should have a website for this reason. It gives you the opportunity to gloat about what you have done, which in turn brings more people to all you works.
Where do I go for a website?
At first I wanted something I wasnât going to pay much for. I looked up on google what website writers use. The biggest ones I found were Wix and Squarspace. I explored both websites, trying to find something that really stood out to me . In the end I went with Squarespace because I had more creative freedom, and I loved their templates more. Sadly this website can be a little pricey, so make sure you choose something that not only fits your personality, but your wallet as well.
Lets Get Started!
1.      Account
Like any website I started with creating my own account. I was able to connect my Google account with Squarespace, which makes it easy to move my Google Dropbox documents onto the website. At this point you arenât able to make your website URL yet, it gives you a name that is calculated by a computer system. For example, I would like the URL to have my name in it. This is important because when someone looks my name up, this website will be one of the first searches that they see. Instead I was given the URL dolphin-goldfish-l5ff.squarespace.com. This has nothing to do with who I am or what Iâm making this website for, but it is important to notice this little detail so you can change it when the opportunity comes up.
You are first presented with a collection of Templates; subjects are seen on the left side. I scrolled through all my options, having a design in mind, and trying to remind myself that this is for a writer and not something that is picture based. It is easy to get excited when looking at all these templates, but you must remember that you need to find something that will fit you writing style, and what is easy for a viewer to navigate.
I went with what happened to be the first template available, Bedford.
2.      Explore
It is important to take a look at what you have. Choose every tab on your left side. I spent a lot of time of time in the Pages tab and Design tab. These two are set up to do the balk of the work when creating your website.
My first step was to go onto the first page and look at how they set it up. I am presented with a banner, and then a space beyond that to create a few block spaces to lead people to certain areas on mt site faster.
At this point I decided what I wanted to put into these square spaces. My About Me, and my Writings, was something I found to be important for anyone that would come to my website. I added these two to the squares where you can just click editing at the top, and got started.
3.      Start Building
At this point it should be a little self-explanatory on how to get everything done. It is all based on clicking edit and figuring out what you are going to put in certain spaces.
An example of what to add on your website can be, an About me, a Creative Writing tab, a Professional Writing tab, a tab for you blog if you have one, and maybe some additional tabs where you can share other passions that you feel people should know about. I created a tab for authors of the month. Each month I will be sharing an author that has inspired me to write, and have helped me through my writing process. I also have a tab to lead people to all my social medias so they can stay connected with me.
I think it is important to make sure you are keeping everything consistent. If your home page is going to be set in the colors of gray and white, make sure you are doing that for the entire website. It can become disorienting or distracting when there is a background that is too bright, or too busy.
For example, you donât want to make you background a picture, like tiles of cactus or a backdrop of you children. It will distract from what you are trying to achieve from the website.
4.      Lets Finish
Once you have found all the pictures and pages that you need, it time to finish. As I said before Squarespace can be a little pricey, but to me it will be worth it because I will have something that people can visit. This website was created in my style with the things that are important to me. Since Iâm not business I went with personal, where you then put your payment information in. By this point its just a few clicks and you have the website you are looking for. For now I am keeping my URL, but there is an option for you change the URL at the end. For me I havenât yet perfected my website so Iâm going to keep the dolphin handle until Iâm done.
 Always remember to be confident with yourself when creating something this important. As a writer you want people to take you seriously, but you also want to show case who you are as a person. Make sure you find a happy medium between the two, and have fun creating!















