Creating with a web designer

I need a website. It’s the part of the author’s required social media presence I like. I’m on other apps, but my author’s page feels most comfortable. I have no agenda other than to build a community who might like the books I write. Yet, I know nothing about building a webpage. Despite all the YouTubers telling me I can make a professional website in 30 minutes, I can’t. 

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My web designer is my son’s friend. Let’s call him JR. He’s patient with me, but sometimes too deferring, like we’d all be to our grandfathers. It’s his kindness shining through. He listens well. He makes suggestions at the right times. Many are elegant solutions to the we-can’t-do-that! obstacles my mind envisions. He knows how to do things I don't, so I listen.

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We talk often about how I want the website to “feel”. I remember the first time he asked about this – I thought it was one of those “if you could be a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” questions. Because he’s explained it to me, I now know websites look and feel different because their purposes are different.

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“That’s easy, then. I want my site to feel peaceful.” 

That’s where I’m at in my life now. I’m not looking for anything flashy or in my face. 

I’d like visitors to my website to feel welcomed and relaxed. I hope they enjoy reading about my author’s journey, my new woodshop, my family and faith. 

I believe JR’s design is what I was looking for. It “feels” like the place where I write.

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We always meet at the same coffee shop where, I swear, every other web designer in Winston-Salem comes to consult with his clients. If JR and I aren’t there before 9:00 AM, some interloper takes our preferred work table. I stare at him/her as I pass by. You’re in our spot.

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We worked through the project over several weeks. Whenever JR’s MacBook worked – his screen tended to freeze about every half hour – he showed me how the design proceeded from his “wireframes”. He demonstrated the functionality as he completed the required programming. It was all very impressive.

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I once saw, completely by accident, the screen where he’d written the code that drives the website. Instantly, my eyes blurred and I felt a headache coming on. It was similar to the visual aura I get when I have the occasional migraine. I quickly averted my eyes like I do whenever I give blood. I don’t want to see the phlebotomist stick the needle in my arm. 

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Needle sticks and computer code. Both have made me dizzy before.

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As our project ends, I think about JR’s creativity. I try to create stories using words, description and dialogue.  He creates websites with computer language and screens and databases. And RSS feeds. 

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I don’t know what those are, but they do sound cool when JR talks about them.