My Little Secret

Can I let you in on a little secret?

I'd love to be a writer. A real writer.

Don't get me wrong, I recognize that I'm already a writer in that I've been blogging for nearly six years. But does blogging make me real writer? After all I'm self-published. Nobody critiques, edits, changes my content or tells me what to (or not to) write. I'm one of millions of mommy bloggers.

I like being a mommy blogger, but sometimes I dream of being a successful mommy blogger. What defines success though--isn't that the age-old question?

During this last year Rob has been encouraging more and more to create some goals for my blog and/or writing. He asked me a critical question. "What would make you feel successful as a writer?"

I thought about this for a while, and this was the best I could come up with:

1.) To have a following outside of people who actually know me.
2.) To have a post that goes viral.
3.) To be published (in print) in something that has a readership beyond my local area.
4.) To be recognized and linked up by a big name blogger or other (virtual) publication.
5.) To get paid for my writing.
6.) To have a growing number of followers here at Real Life Pastor's Wife.

Sometimes I hesitate to verbalize my goals because there's a part of me that would rather fail to try than try and fail.

However, I am coming upon a time in my life where both of my kiddos will soon be in school for several hours a day. I recently quit my job. And I absolutely love to write. I love to write so much that I've been blogging without getting paid for since 2005. I've continued blogging even though I likely had all of 15 followers for the first couple of years. And I'd continue blogging even if I were the only one that read my posts.

So, it seems to be high time that I actually try to accomplish some of my goals... right?

Today Rob has given me some much needed time to myself and I have decided to create and officially link this blog to a facebook account and a twitter account. I even figured out how to link my blog up to these cute little widgets you see to your right. And because I'm only partially tech-savvy, only three of them currently work. I'll try to get the other ones working as soon as I figure out what I did wrong!

So, if you have been enjoying Real Life Pastor's Wife, let me encourage you to "like" me on facebook, "follow" me on twitter and/or blogger, sign up for my site feeds or sign up to get email alerts when I post new content (when I get that button working that is!).

Also, if you have a blog, feel free to link mine up to yours and/or to send people toward my blog through your preferred social media outlet if I ever write something that you especially enjoy or that is particularly relevant to you.

It feels a little weird giving my own shameless plugs, but it's one small step I can take to reach my personal goals.

And this might sound weird, but I'll come right out and admit it. I love comments. There's something about comments that motivate me to keep writing. It's always nice to know what I've encouraged someone, inspired someone or just made them laugh. Not to mention, it's always nice to know that there are people reading my wild and crazy shenanigans!

Here's to figuring out what it takes to accomplish my goals... and to letting go of my little secret!