Creating a website is a personal way to become involved in a subject as well as a creative gesture

Like said in the introduction, create your own website, it’s not only to share a subject, or not only to make our creativity live. It’s… a bit of both. 

It’s a great occasion to explore two ways in one process.

In this first chapter, we are going to climb up three steps. 

The first step will be to focus on how it is important to enjoy yourself during all the exercise.

The second step will consist in finding a subject that is mindful for you.

And the first and final step will be on visual possibilities there exist through Google Sites, to customize as you want your new platform. 

1.1 The notion of pleasure at the centre of the process

Enjoying ourselves throughout the whole creative process is a good way to make his work well and properly. The more we delight in doing this, the more results are not lacking. 

Stress, pressure, fear are not part of this experience today.

Just pleasure and joy.

It’s a quite informal subsection, but I think essential before starting any project.

Maybe these videos could be interesting you on this point: 

• These two show bad effects of stress at work on health and many others aspects: 

⇒ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlMfEL_sCYI

⇒ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuyPuH9ojCE

And this video explains how it is possible to limit your stress in work: 

⇒ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGVWRvNe1-A

Another important thing to remember before starting, especially in this kind of work requiring creativity, is the notion of uniqueness: the best website you can make is a website which is like you, in harmony with yourself.

None website other than yours is the best. No comparaison, no wish to do like the others: listen to yourself because only you know what you want.

This video, about comparaison, explains that the only person with whom we always have to compare ourselves to is only ourselves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Xj_lH7jWw

Alright, now that this point has been clarified, we can move on to the next subjection, in order to find a subject.  

1.2 Sharing whatever subject matters to you

Why is it so important to talk about a subject that is mindful of you? 

Exactly for the same reason to put enjoyment in the process: the more you like your subject and you’re feeling involved in it because it’s a cause that matters to you, the more you would want to look deeper into it. 

You can talk about everything you want, without limit, whatever the nature of your subject: societal, artistic, environmental, philosophical, mythological, scientific and many other topics.

The most important thing is to like it.

You don’t know yet what is motivating you? No problem, try to take some notes in a notebook and write ideas that are through your imagination at this moment, and think about each of them: “Do I want to look deeper into that subject, or I prefer maybe this one here or this one there?”

After deciding your subject, if you don’t know how to start, which is the first road you want to follow, maybe you can use the Mind Mapping strategy.

This video will help you to understand how to use it concretely and why it could be effective for you to resort to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCyjFipytRE.

The idea is to outline some first ideas and directions you would like to follow during the process.

….Perfect, you have a subject now and the first main lines!

1.3 Customizing the websites

So, from now on, you have a subject that matters to you, you enjoy the prospect of studying it more, and you have outlined a few ideas and directions to take.

So, let’s start, to end this first chapter, to discover the main lines of the aesthetic approach enabled by Google Sites: a platform that makes websites, like WordPress, but simpler. It will be our support during all this lesson because every test you’ll make, it will be on it. 

Go ahead, to discover options of Google Sites according to exactly your esthetic wishes (layout, colors, pictures) and ergonomic intention. Try, make some tests, start to see the first steps of your future website, regarding your subject : choose a main photo, headline, think about future subheadings and draw up a preliminary draft of your layout with your first ideas.

An example of a draft of website: https://sites.google.com/d/1VDzXrTxeRZnewXqJj9HjYBbXBen1_W8j/p/18pwy5oJjGa88cBlc8p2iCzio5bCsDoSY/edit

So presently, you have: 

• One subject that you like. 
• Several potential directions to take to explore it. 
• Discover options of Google Sites and start to think about your esthetic wishes, doing a few tests.

From now on, we are going to look deeper into Google Sites functionalities, and try to put sense into our esthetic choices according to your subject.