The sound of thunder vibrated through my mind. The lightning casted scary shadows that danced across the walls and ceiling. Stumbling out of bed I tiptoed downstairs to find the house empty. The storm has knocked the electricity out. Blindly I shuffled through a kitchen drawer for my dad’s flashlight. I used it to check the locks on the doors. I heard my dad’s heavy footsteps on the porch. He stumbled in drunk and passed out on the living room floor. It would be impossible to get him to the couch so I just left him there. Back upstairs in my room I locked the door and climbed into bed. I only have three hours to sleep before school. I fell asleep hoping that everything will be ok tomorrow. Surprisingly dad is already gone. I never see much of him except for the times he finally gets tired of drinking and stumbles home. I found an egg sandwich wrapped foil on the counter. I knew that was Dad’s apology for last night. ” Apology accepted Dad ” I heard myself say out loud. I ate my breakfast while walking to my bus stop. No one ever speaks to me while waiting for the bus. At school no one talks to me either except for the occasional group of kids that make fun of me. “Am I invisible?” I have asked myself that question many times, but for some reason I still push forward even if it’s by myself. I have no one to encourage me or congratulate me for making good grades or even tell me when to brush my teeth. I have learned over time to do all of those things by myself.

I got through the school day without anyone bullying me and we have a new English teacher. She is really nice and she gave us notebooks to use as journals. We are to write in them through out the year and turn them in on Fridays. In history I made an A on my test but I knew no one would be excited for me. The bus ride home is long and that’s when I usually start thinking about my mother. She left us when I was right years old. She is the reason why my dad started drinking. He still can’t handle the pain of her leaving. I have gotten used to it but there are still days that I miss her. In my room I dropped my backpack on the floor and tossed my shoes over next to the closet. I pulled my journal out of my backpack and started writing. Our teacher said to tell her a little bit about ourselves in our own words and to write whatever we feel like.

Hannah Grace Stevens

8/7/19

I am a nobody….. My name and how I feel shouldn’t be important to you because it isn’t to any one else.

Hi my name is Jamie and I’m new. I love to write so I am starting this blog to assist me in doing what I love the most. I will be using this blog to write short stories and hopefully who ever reads them will enjoy them. Please have patience for me as I learn how to navigate through my blog. I do hope you will enjoy my stories.

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.