A lot of writers I talk to – and a lot who I hear from by email – struggle with the more techy side of things.

If you're feeling daunted, overwhelmed, or just reluctant to engage with the technology of writing (blogging, social media, email newsletters) then I sympathise! It is a steep learning curve at times. You might want to just get on with the writing itself and not deal with anything else.

Realistically, though, you do need a certain familiarity with technology in order to write for an audience – whether that's through blogging, self-publishing, or even getting a traditional publishing deal. (When I worked with Wiley's editors on Publishing E-Books For Dummies, for instance, I needed to use Word's Styles and Track Changes, and make some fairly detailed tweaks to my computer display settings in order to take screenshots correctly.)

Whatever sort of technology you're struggling with:

You don't have to master the intricacies of WordPress (or Facebook or anything else) in one go. You don't have to read a whole book it. Start off with the basics – getting your blog set up – and gradually work from there.

Whatever you want to do, someone will have written a blog post, or recorded a video, with instructions on how to do it. The blog WPBeginner has a brilliant collection of these, though they can tend towards the slightly too techy side of things.

Let's say you're not sure how to add an image to your blog post. A quick Google search for "How to insert image into wordpress" will give you instructions on what to do.

If you've tried to figure something out using online instructions but it's just not working, then there's nothing wrong with getting a bit of help.

Facebook and Twitter are great places to ask for assistance: "This widget in my blog's sidebar isn't working right – does anyone know what I've done wrong?" If you don't have particularly techy friends, then you could try online forums or a site like Quora.

This is one of the lovely – and frustrating – things about technology. There's (almost always) more than one way to do pretty much everything.

Sometimes, these are all pretty much equally good (e.g. you can copy text using Ctrl+C on the keyboard or by right-clicking your mouse and selecting "Copy" from the menu that appears).

Sometimes, one way is better than another (e.g. you can individually format all your chapter titles in Word ... or you can set up a Style to format each one with a single click).

It's worth keeping an eye out for different ways to do things, especially if a particular task seems repetitive and cumbersome: you may find that there's a much better method that you didn't know about before. 

I started blogging in 2008, and WordPress has become a lot more user-friendly and intuitive since then. Lots of tasks are really quite straightforward, so don't assume that something is going to be complicated!

Sometimes, I've shown friends how to do something with their blog (e.g. add or remove a widget – which is a simple drag-and-drop process) and they've been astonished how easy it was. 

Like it or not, if you're going to be a writer, you do need to use technology. Take it slowly, take it step by step, but don't let any initial feelings of bewilderment put you off trying: it really will get easier.

Not only will unfamiliar tech become familiar and comfortable (e.g. you'll be able to upload blog posts without any hesitation), you'll also find that the more different things you get to grips with, the easier each new thing will become.

If you've got a question about how to do something specific with your blog, or with another bit of technology, then just reply to this email. (Questions can be as basic as you like – chances are, if you're struggling, someone else will be too.) I hope to compile some questions and answers into a future blog post or newsletter.