Whether you will admit it or not, there are some of you who question yourself when it comes to blogging. You battle with the same issues or excuses as Cristian Mihai addresses in his blog. I know, I’ve been there myself, but I took a step back and thought about what it was I wanted and I asked myself why I needed to blog to get what I wanted. That was all it took for me to “do the hokey pokey and turn myself around.” Pardon the cliché, but it’s what I did. Minus the hokey pokey, I turned myself around.

I am currently an unpublished writer because I spent twenty-eight years serving my country, but I began writing from the time I could hold a crayon, and I knew one day I would be a published author. I still believe this. However, most professionals will tell you to build a following on social media long before you publish a novel. Yes, there’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., but I believed I needed more than what these platforms could offer me, so I thought, “I’ll blog!” I jumped before thinking and started my blog, so don’t feel alone if you did as I did. I felt as if I failed and all the other feelings that Cristian talks about on his blog.

After I stepped back and considered what I wanted to blog while building a following, I said to myself, “Hey I’m an English major, and that has to count for something” so I decided to become a NetGalley Professional Book Reviewer. Becoming a book reviewer was a win-win for me. Everyone knows the better writers are the well-read writers, so I felt I had the opportunity to discover what works and what does not work as a writer. Yes, it all becomes overwhelming at times keeping up with Twitter, Facebook, reading and writing my book reviews while still finding time to work on my manuscripts. It’s perseverance that keeps me going. I picked that up during the twenty-eight years I served my country.

I am nowhere close to where I want to be, but I am progressing because I did not give up or quit. My perseverance personality would not allow me to give up, and I will continue to stick it out as I learn along the way. And oh, by the way, there’s always something new to learn. I don’t think about competition, or the number of followers I have because I know they will come in time.