The Multifaceted Writer: Whether ‘Tis Bolder in the Mind of the Web

Over the past week, I have spent at least an hour a day pouring through page mockups, selecting images, and writing text for a website to represent my new company. Putting together this business website has become a strangely intimidating process. I say “strangely” because web content development and communication strategy are two major components of what I do for a living.

Yet, as a writer, it has been a difficult mental shift to translate my perception of my own writing from the more casual land of my blog into the formal realm of a business website.
After the decision of “to write or not to write,” the decision of “to blog or to website” is one that almost all writers face as they seek to keep themselves relevant in the ever-widening writers’ market.

For my part, even though I’ve now answered this question, I have been battling it non-stop since leaving my full-time job as an education researcher in April to start my own company and become a freelance writer. Over the months, I glared at the question directly in the eyes a few times, but always fell back out of shyness or out of sheer lack of time, relying upon a makeshift blog/site, which doesn’t quite do what I want it to do as a blog and only partially functions to represent my company.

In concept, the blog seems highly appealing due both to the ease of figuring out a free online template and to the opportunity to showcase one’s written abilities in an immediately accessible way. However, the blog brings with it the pressure to create a concept, maintain it regularly, and find new and innovative incentives to draw in readers. Also, while sites like Blogger and WordPress offer the opportunity to create sub-pages within your main blog site, templates can constrict design and the overall product focus is inescapably the blog itself.

A website offers safety in branding and professionalism, as well as the versatility of displaying your fuller portfolio, links to previously published works, and your complete resume. However, it can be a lot more work than a blog in terms of cost, design, and maintenance, particularly if your end goal is to do the legwork to set up a site to represent yourself and all you have to offer as a writer.   

So, how do you judge whether a blog or a website is most appropriate for your needs as a writer? Or, to put it differently, would all writers benefit from a good website, or is a simple, well-presented blog enough?

Obviously, individual choice comes to play a major part in this decision-making process. There are highly successful writers who have minimal presence on the web. But then there are many websites and blogs, writing related or otherwise, that are old, rarely updated, or, worse, lapse into solipsism, blissfully or willfully ignorant of the public nature of the Internet.

This requisite attentiveness to readership and presentation as well as the time it takes to assemble and maintain either a blog or website are sources of potential downfall and thus concern for many writers as they contemplate establishing a web presence. Yet, as many writers recognize, the multiplicity of audiences on the web, its stylistic flexibility, and its revenue-generating potential are key advantages for anyone who can write well and organize his or her ideas clearly.
So, the question of “to blog or to website” comes down to those basic literary concepts of author’s purpose and intended audience. In other words, what do you write about? For whom are you writing? For what purpose do you want to direct people to your written works?

If you are a burgeoning freelancer or professional writer, then you might find that a blog is a good place to start. Blogs are inherently approachable, interactive, and casual, which is an ideal and immediate way for many writers to educate readers about ideas, trends, and events. However, more established writers or writers who have a variety of clients may quickly find that a website offers more flexibility in permanence and more solid branding.

I began with a blog simply to get my bearings and reorient myself to my own writing. However, I quickly realized two things: 1) as an arts critic, I like to write a lot, as in essay type pieces, because, well, it’s what I do, only this format does not necessarily work well in a blog; and 2) my writing was unfocused because I was trying to write about too many topics at once in an effort to present the variety of clients my company targets.

I am proud to be a multifaceted writer (hence my column title) with a diverse background that enables me to write across a range of sectors. However, since my business represents a larger concept than my own writing and also involves other writing professionals, the “to blog or to website” decision came down to one of corporate branding and mission.

Perhaps inevitably, I came to a compromise to separate me from my writing business, if you will. I am creating a business website for my company but am maintaining my blog—only now with vision and purpose. Thanks to a fabulous graphic designer friend, my website is moving along, while the blog remains a work in progress. I am trying to write shorter, more focused entries, yet I feel as if I’m still learning a lot about the medium.

While I have made my web decision for now, I am certain that my writing and my company, and in turn my blog and my website, will develop in many new and unexpected directions over time. For instance, I ultimately want to start my own arts and lifestyle magazine with a core focus on good writing. But, how do I to get there? I leave that quandary for a future column….

Jessica Quillin owns Quillin Consulting, LLC, a consultancy in Washington, DC, focused on content development, research, and strategy for the public and private sectors. She holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Cambridge.