Mental Meanderings

Why Modesty Is Unfavorable For Writers.

Have you ever tried to write a page about yourself for the consumption of readers? No, I don't mean filling in those little quizes about your age, star sign, likes, turn ons and hobbies but an actual biography page that is clear, informative, interesting and doesn't jabber on about how lame you are but actually makes you sound like you know what you're talking about (even when you don't).

Today I set myself the task of FINALLY writing up my biography block for http://www.rebeccalaffarsmith.com. The bio page has been a big black hole for a couple of months now and as a web designer I know what a big bad no, no it is to have a link that leads into an abyss.

But I keep slamming against an invisible wall. I don't know what to say about myself, how much to tell, how much to admit. I don't know what I can say to make others believe I'm an expert on writing. Sure, I do this full time but I don't make enough to live on (yet!). I didn't even graduate high school let alone go to college or get a degree of some sort. I've no published a book (yet!) although I do have a couple of random credits around the web for non-fiction articles and poetry.

Everything I think of about myself just isn't interesting. It's not captivating and if I were reading it about someone else I'd lose interest very quickly. So how do you do it? How do you find a way to talk about yourself (often in third person) and wax lyrical about how great you are when a lot of the time you just don't believe it?

*sighs* I should dig into my archives here because I know I wrote an entry about "primping without lying" at one point and maybe it's wisdom will help me now.

Still, I don't know what to say, how much to reveal, what readers might want to know. Do they care that I live in Western Australia and have lived here all my life?Do they care that I'm a single mother of a seven year old daughter and three year old son? Are they interested in the fact that I used to run two roleplaying web sites and a virtual nightclub?

What sort of information do readers and potential clients want to know about me? What could I tell them about my experience as a writer that would make them want to hire my services?

*pulls hair out* This thing is driving me nuts! Thus why it's been sitting there blank for months. *sighs* It'll sit there blank for at least another two hours now as well because I've run out of time and have to go get the earlier mentioned daughter from school.