Blogging can be a lot of work. Sometimes ideas for posts just fly into my head while walking the Rim Trail with the dog, driving to a meeting, or working on one of my regular writing assignments. Unfortunately sometimes they don’t, and I find myself searching in vain for something interesting or informative to share with my readers. This week I’ve been pondering over what I wanted to write about. I finally decided to tackle the topic of how producing weekly blog posts relates to other necessary writing-related tasks.When you think about it, almost everything worthwhile takes a good amount of work and time, not all of which is exciting or enjoyable.

Take, for example, my new website that just went live after three months of emails, phone conferences, and a lengthy in-person meeting at Howell, Liberatore, & Associates Elmira office. Being somewhat of a techno-phobe, I wasn’t particularly inspired to tackle my outdated online presence. However I knew it was something that, with a recent change in the focus of my writing career and a nonfiction book coming out, needed to be done in a timely way. When I first approached HLA in December, I had an inkling that revamping my seven-year old site might be somewhat challenging. What I didn’t realize was just how much had changed (mostly for the better) in website design. I soon found out, as terms like “mobile-friendly”,  “content management” and “interactive” became my new best friends.

Since I’m a writer, people that visit my site want to see what my writing looks like. Given this, I put myself in charge of the majority of the page content and left the rest to HLA’s Design and IT team. Writing about yourself and what you do is more difficult than it might seem. It can be tough to find that fine line between sounding like you’re exaggerating your skill level or bragging about your accomplishments and accurately tooting your own professional horn. But that was where I finally found my inspiration. As I wrote my website content I began to realize just how much, and in how many different forms, I have written in the past ten years. I was also reminded of how lucky I am to have been able to see all the places, meet all the amazing people, and experience all the wonderful things I have (and get paid for doing it!)

Ultimately, despite all the slogging I had to do to get a website I’m truly proud of, the work we all put into it has paid off. Not only that, but I find myself newly inspired to keep plugging away at even the most difficult writing assignments because it’s obvious that hard work and perseverance really do pay off.

Still not convinced? See for yourself!   SueHenninger.com