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S. A. J. Lyttek, a multiple award-winning writer, always loved writing, but didn’t arrive at the profession in the typical manner. After college and graduate school, she plunged into government consulting. In this environment, she discovered a knack for writing tests, interviews and other measurements. That soon became the focus of her career—reigniting her love for the written word. Thus captivated, she spent evenings freelancing “fun” writing including short stories, poems, articles and cards. When her eldest was a toddler, she quit full-time work to stay home and write. Eager to spend more time with her children, homeschooling intrigued her. From preschool through high school, she homeschooled both sons while continuing to freelance. While an integral part of the homeschooling community, she developed and taught writing classes to a generation of homeschoolers. Married to her childhood sweetheart, Gary, Mrs. Lyttek loves to share her commitment to learners of all ages and her fascination with the written word.
I remember the first time I tried to write a blog.
One of the homeschool organizations or publications that I was a regular contributor to or member of (honestly don’t remember which) put out an announcement. “We need contributors to our new website and blog! Come on, adventurous souls! Who knows how your contribution might benefit both you and the homeschool community? If you promise to attempt a blog, we’ll give you your own blog address on our website.”
Some descriptions followed, but no examples. Still, it didn’t sound complicated and I was a writer after all. So, I sent in my request.
A couple of days later, I received confirmation along with instructions. First, I had to log onto their website. Then I had to scroll down to find my blog address. It took me nearly an hour of tapping around to find my actual page.
This was early in the days of blogging. I was in my current home, so it was after 2003 but it had to be before 2006. The blog page looked very much like a form template you see on a medical website that hasn’t been updated in fifteen to twenty years. I wrote about 250 words (too short, but I didn’t know that) and attempted to post. That took about another hour. The instructions didn’t mention that something had to be written in every single block whether relevant or not.
But finally, I had uploaded my first blog.
Crickets. Beyond crickets. Not even the website acknowledged that I had met my end of the bargain.
I never submitted another post to that site. And frankly, I doubted the value of writing a blog. If the purpose of it is to share information, what use is it if the words disappear into the ether?
If you had asked me then, I would’ve said I would never write another blog.
But now, with this website, I’ve been writing a blog for over a decade. (It will be 13 years on November 29th.) I started because my publisher said it was a good way to keep up a steady online presence. I kept it up because I liked the routine of it and the feedback from all of you. Every week, I have a Wednesday deadline. Every week, I write (or have written) at least 500 words on a topic that is either related to writing, faith, homeschooling, personal growth, books, or host a guest blog. I try to write about or include posts that are useful to me in the hopes that they minister to others.
Some weeks, the only writing I accomplish is the blog. Other weeks, it is a small portion of the effort. And, of course, everything in between. There have only been a handful of times that I’ve reused a previous blog, like if I’m sick or suffering a migraine.
Using the 10-year mark and the minimum of 500 words, that’s over 260,000 words posted online. Wow. That’s about 1000-page book.
And that doesn’t include my guest posts on other author or writers group websites.
Seeing that statistic, knowing what a little weekly faithfulness has given as a result, encourages me to work on my other projects and deadlines. Who knows? If I can be as faithful with them as I have been on these pages, maybe my dream of over one hundred books isn’t as farfetched as I thought.
And if you feel so led, pray for that dream of mine! And if you have a dream on your heart, let me know and I’ll pray for that, too.
This week’s winner is Ann. Ann, you’ve won your choice of one of my available paperbacks and one play or monolog copy. Please email me about your choices!