Hello from rewriting land! Not for a book but for my website. Is it just me, or do you ever agonize over writing ABOUT yourself? (That sounds odd, perhaps, coming from a gal who just published nearly 400 pages of a partial memoir. LOL.) But I’ve been foot-dragging on updating my website’s “short” and “long” bios for years, which you’d think I’d have handled before my recent book pub day.
For context, the reason to have a current bio (and headshots) on your website–often under the heading “media page”–is that it makes it easier for anyone interviewing you or writing about you to find what they need. You help them help you! Hosts of podcasts, blogs, and TV shows will almost always ask you or your people for a bio and headshot. Rather than scramble to keep up with the requests or ensure you get the right look and words for each outlet, it’s more streamlined for all involved to send them a simple page link with options.
That way, you’re free to focus on being a great guest, and your readers/viewers see more variations of you in the world. Ahhh.
So, what was my block? Who the hell knows? Honestly, I cannot say. Resistance? Fear? Boredom? Too many ideas? All I know is that when I went to my site to try and wrap my mind around the rewrite, I got tired. As in, lay-down-on-the-carpet-in-my-
“It’s good enough for now,” I’d hear myself think before closing the tab and my eyes. I mean, the hyperlinks to previous books still worked. My name was spelled right. I had other more “urgent” deadlines, and anyway, I was determining if I still wanted a short and long bio.
In essence, I was waiting for certainty, a creative ah-ha. I’d forgotten about the magic that transpires when we sit thine ass down. When focused, we tend to figure shit out. I know better. You know better. And yet, it took an interviewer repeating an outdated stat about my work to force my hand. Where did she get her misinformation? From my website! I had to laugh.
As I was treading water, staring at the page, I opened my email and read what Jenn Sutkowski just scripted for our weekly Beautiful Writers Group newsletter about becoming unmoored while on a cruise ship, missing her writing practice. I felt the instant camaraderie of sisterhood, the gratitude that we’re never really adrift alone unless we choose to be. I love my BWGers!
To borrow a line from a different topic of my Beautiful Writers book (rejection, but one that works here nonetheless), “The weight of swimming with my stories in a darkened sea while securing the pages from getting wet threatened to drown me.” No more. Holy life raft. I did it! It took a few hours, and I updated those bios and pics on my media page. It’s the first pass. I’ll no doubt edit the text later as I rework other pages on the site. Life and bios keep evolving. But, sheesh. PROGRESS, people!
I know I am not alone, feeling like I was drowning while avoiding writing about myself. Carry on, writer. Know that your writing blocks, whatever they are, are shared by many. This creativity and PR game is challenging for everyone. We do what we can when we can, and then we rest, knowing it doesn’t all have to be done today or even tomorrow.
Linda xoxozzzz
PS. Want to share your editing frustrations or revelations? What works, or doesn’t, for you? Let’s chat on today’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter threads.
