Day 17 - No Writing Today, Researching Writer's Platforms

Day 17

I'm not going to try to defend my lack of writing yesterday. I didn't write - not a paragraph, not a sentence, not a word. I own the fact that I did not make the time to move my story forward. 

It sucks! But, it happens to most writers at one time or another. The important thing is to not make excuses - "oh, I had x, y, or z going on yesterday, otherwise I most certainly would have gotten some writing done." 

Sorry, but there are no justifications for not doing your job. At the end of the day, writers must hold themselves accountable for their writing. Whether you have an editor breathing down your neck or simply a group of supportive friends and family, you, dear writer, are the beginning and end of the work. No one can do the work for you, and no one is responsible for it getting done except you.

So, today, I will pull myself up by the bootstraps and make time to write.

Instead of Writing

What did I do instead of writing yesterday? Well, I'm glad you asked. 

I spent my writing time yesterday researching and reading about creating and building a writer's platform. If you've been writing and selling (or trying to sell) your work for awhile, you probably know all about this concept. However, if you are new to the world of publishing and self-marketing, then you are probably not familiar with the term.

A writer's platform is the public, online, and publishing presence writers build for themselves. Not only do you need to write a kick-ass story that people want to buy and read, you also have to take the time to get your name and ideas out there for other people to see. Unless you plan to go the self-publishing route, publishers expect you to have the drive and tenacity to get this done.

Now, you may be thinking this is a case of putting the horse before the cart, but I assure you it is not.

Since it is election time around the country, look at it this way - being a writer who hopes to be published is much like running a political campaign. Name recognition is important, but the ability of the voters (publishers) to find out about you, your ideas, and brand (platform) is imperative.

Susan Grigsby, one of my writing mentors, has told me many times about the importance of self-marketing, particularly online. To paraphrase Susan: 

Potential publishers will look for you online if they are interested in your work. They want to see that not only have you taken the time to build an online presence, but also that you have the technological skills to do so. If the choice comes down to two authors, one who has a strong online presence and one who doesn't, they will choose the one with over the one without every time.

The fact of the matter is this - publishers only spend marketing money on their top selling authors. The remainder are expected to market themselves and their work. This is where building your writer's platform comes into the picture. In my personal research of a wide assortment of publishers, I have found approximately 25% (particularly smaller presses) ask about either what you are willing to do to help market yourself (readings, conferences, workshops, ETC) or what platforms you are currently active on (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, ETC) - more often than not, they ask both.

Resources for Building Your Writer's Platform

During my research yesterday, I found some good resources to share with you about this important facet of being or becoming an author.

• Janet Cannon has an excellent article about building your public presence here. 
• Kimberley Grabas  offers 101 Ways to Build Your Writer's Platform which is filled to the brim with links to other extremely helpful articles and resources.
• Matthew Turner provides writers with 5 Free Services That Help You Build Author's Platform.

Moving Forward

I am going to have to work on this process. I tend to get lost in a time suck when I enter some of these online forums. I need to streamline the process. I'm looking into HootSuite to help with that (fingers crossed).

For now, I'm imposing time constraints on the amount of time I spend in these online endeavors (because there really is no point if I never finish this book). The way I figure it, if I can't accomplish what I need to in an hour, I'm not doing it right.

I'm going back to my writing. Yesterday, I encountered a stubborn little girl who insists her story be told differently than I first saw it in my head, so I had better get to it.

Good Day and Good Writing to You All!

Writing Days 7/8

Stuck. Stuck. Stuck. I absolutely hate knowing what I want to say and not being able to come up with the words to say it. It is one of the MOST frustrating things in the world to sit down to write and the words just refuse to come. 63 words was all I could manage to pull out of my stubborn self today.

On a positive note, I finished my grant proposal yesterday outlining a cross-curricular media literacy and production program for which I have been designing the curriculum for about a year now. The whole program is put together, I have found a funding source I believe would be perfect to pay for all the equipment purchases - now, of course, all I have to find is a school willing to give me a job with a faculty who are down for some major collaboration, and who will take a chance on the implementation of such a program. Ah, to dream the impossible dream.

Also, I am readying myself to send my children's book out into the great unknown. I am so in love with this book. I hope I can find it a good home somewhere.

As far as the novel goes, tomorrow is another day, dear Scarlet. Since I struggled with writing today, I did some minor revisions and made some expansion/clarification note on the manuscript to look during later revisions. I plan on getting up early and hitting it hard in the morning. Hopefully, I will be able to power through this block using pure unadulterated will power.

Good day and Good Writing!

Today's stats -

NIP - WTA - pages: 32; word count: 7813

Writing Day Three

Today's writing inspiration from Mr. Clive Barker.

I have nothing to add. This says it all.

Well, on the writing front today, it was slow and steady with a break for creation of another kind. As I was falling asleep last night, I was struck with the idea of creating a book trailer for my work in progress. Ever since I first saw Ransom Riggs' trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, I have been utterly smitten with the idea of marketing written works through a variety of media. After a quick search on YouTube, I discovered that book trailers have become quite commonplace in the world of publishing. Of course, many of these (including Riggs') are slickly packaged mini-movies in their own right. For a newbie to the world of video production, I used MovieMaker and Audacity (both free programs). I taught myself to use MovieMaker for a class in Educational Technology that I took earlier this year, and did my best to teach myself to use Audacity this morning in the wee hours before the sun came up (see people, insomnia is good for something).

So, with no further ado, here is my maiden voyage into book trailer creation.

Now for the day's writing stuff. I did not progress a lot on the digital manuscript - adding a scant 76 words. I did, however, work longhand today - completing 4 1/2 pages. After working on the trailer, I was just digitally done for the day. 

Plans for tomorrow include working out some more longhand (the weather here is supposed to be bee-you-ti-ful tomorrow). If everything goes according to plan, I should be able to finish Chapter 4 and be well into roughing out Chapter 5 tomorrow. I also have to make time to complete the query and finish the publisher's search for my Children's Book - I have a quickly approaching deadline to meet.

Good day and good writing to you all!

Today's Novel Stats - 

No stats for today because the majority of my work was done the old-fashioned way. :)

Writing Day Two

Today's bit of writing wisdom comes from Jodi Picoult - a writer I greatly admire.

I think it is important to remember as a writer that an idea written on paper - or the keyboard - has not been carved in stone. Anything can be changed or manipulated, but only if it has been written in the first place.


Today was a productive day on the writing front. Although I didn't quite finish the section I have been working on the past two days, I did add 1000+ words to my manuscript. I also finished indexing the remainder of my notes and completed basic outlines for the entire novel (all 36 chapters of it). I also completed another round of historical research and finalized the founding genealogy for my town.

On the publishing front, I uncovered three solid leads for the children's book and two publications for the shorts.

Tentative plans for tomorrow include working on the novel, creating a query for the children's book, and searching for at least three more publishing leads for the children's book.

Ending the day with a positive feeling today.

Today's Novel Stats -

NIP - WTA - pages: 29; word count: 6772