With the Trinity Tower’s bell tolling in the distance, as though it celebrated the completion of another day’s classes, I walked off campus into the surrounding San Antonio suburbs. Despite my pounding headache, an unfortunate result caused by insomnia, I had decided to take myself on an artist’s date. Walking through these quiet neighborhoods, I began to think about the small creative project that I had brainstormed the previous week. It started rather simply, as one afternoon I noticed the sunset was especially colorful, with the underbellies of clouds coated by a wonderfully deep shade of red. The photo I took immediately made me imagine it was taken in some jungle woven country. After looking at the picture for a bit, I managed to come up with the title, Finding Exotica in All the Common Places, thinking I might post it to Instagram, among other social media (I want you to know that my Instagram has all of three posts, two from 2017 and one from 2018, so this was a bit different for me).

So, as I walked through the neighborhoods of San Antonio’s historical district, I looked for more possible additions to fill out my picture set. I was fortunately let out of class right before the sun had set, so I got to play with some great lighting, which is how I managed to get the picture of the flowers above. I found myself looking at my surroundings in a different way as I found potential material in more things than I expected. The two concrete lions guarding the walkway of a walkway, the black metal stallion door knockers, and even a row of sprinklers that created a series of arches reflecting colorful rainbows in their mist. I see these things and more on my walks throughout these neighborhoods, but as I took the time to see the potential of my surroundings, each street and neighborhood became a kind of creative scavenger hunter. By the end of my walk I must have explored at least five or six blocks worth of front yard gardens, back alleys, and everything in between. One potential addition I found was a side walk corner that was shaped like a roundabout with a lush circle of greenery in the center. I thought that if I could get an overhead shot using something like a drone, it would take on an Aztec-esk look, as the sidewalk is reddish orange concrete. As the sun set, I ended my artist’s date, filled with more inspiration for the future of my collection for Finding Exotica in All the Common Places.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.