Remember that question I asked last week?
Well, it turns out that in order to implement it the way that I want to, I need to move my blog.
See, my blog very happily lives at WordPress dot com, and to do what I want to do vis-a-vis poetry and prose, I need to create a self-hosted site at WordPress dot org.
In non-technical terms, it’s like I’m renting right now, and while I have some freedom, there’s not too much I can do to my apartment. Moving to the dot org will be like buying a house. Except way less expensive (WAY less — right, Andy?). I’ll be able to paint the walls and add new rooms and decorate it however I like.
Now — and I’m sure someone can correct me here — for YOU, dear reader, it shouldn’t mean any change in your experience at all. When you navigate to redpenmamapgh.com, lo and behold, my site will still be there.
I think. Maybe you’ll get redirected. We’ll see.
I have been told that it’s time for me to “move away from the kiddie table.”
Challenge accepted, bitches.
The plan is to keep the majority of my categories (Parenting Is Hard, 2015: The Year of Commitment, RPM Rants, The Critic Thing, etc.) front and center on the site. The category Poetry will be visible on its own tab, as will the category Prose. I’m doing it that way for a lot of different reasons, not the least of which I’m sure my parents don’t want to read any of my erotic poetry. (Hi, Dad!)
My blog is my personal site. It’s not what I do for a living; it’s a hobby, a place to flex my writing muscles in ways I don’t get to at work. I like WordPress dot com because it’s easy and it gives me lots of options, but doesn’t require a lot of heavy lifting.
I have a meeting Saturday with someone who knows how to do this (the aforementioned Andy), and he assures me (repeatedly) that it’s not difficult, and there are lots of advantages. I’m sure there are challenges too, and I won’t lie: I’m apprehensive about that.
Home ownership is not always everything it’s cracked up to be, as anyone who has had to pay for a new roof knows.
But I guess it’s time to put on my big girl pants and take the next step with my site. After nearly nine years, it might actually be overdue.
With any luck, I’ll be cutting the ribbon on a new Red Pen Mama on Monday.
Send good bloggy wishes my way!
Red Pen Mama 