by Theresa Garee | Aug 16, 2018 | Blog
Platform. Platform. Platform.
It is not news that editors and agents want a writer to have a following. And it shouldn’t be news that they expect that writer to have those potential readers in place BEFORE the book is published. But I’m often late to the party.
Oh, I’ve had a platform for years. I’ve been publishing Write Now Newsletter, my monthly writing email, since 2003. I’ve been writing this blog for nearly that long. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn. But in the current market, publishers favor authors who have a platform ON STEROIDS!
When I received a reminder of this truth, I did what I always do. I went to the library. The stack of books in the photo is just the beginning of my research. And, honestly, I already know much of what they are suggesting.
I also asked my friends, especially the younger ones, for advice. Last night, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to post something on Instagram. A friend sent this helpful photo:
Literally, I just didn’t know what button to push!
But once I’ve figured out the mechanics of these sites, there are bigger challenges. Yes I had a presence on these platforms, but I wasn’t engaging on social media often enough and I wasn’t doing it the most effective way. I’m still reading and consulting friends, but as I make changes, my numbers are climbing.
Stay tuned. Give me a few more weeks and I’ll write about what I’ve learned.
by Theresa Garee | Aug 14, 2018 | Blog
On a Wednesday night group run shortly after I blogged about posting a writing prompt every day, a friend asked, “What are we supposed to do with them?”
Good question!
Ideally, one would do “writing practice” the timed-writing, no holds barred approach championed by my long-time teacher Natalie Goldberg with whom I have studied for many years. For those not familiar, I recently blogged about teaching Nat’s “rules of writing practice.” Since many of my followers on Facebook and Twitter are writers, I thought of each #nitaprompt as a topic for writing.
But feel free to use them however you want.
One artist friend finds they inspire her drawing and painting. This makes my heart so happy.
Another friend who teaches at a university stopped me to say, “I like those #nitaprompts. They make me remember things I’d forgotten.” I do not know if he intends to write about them or not, but it was lovely to hear someone was paying attention!
The pupperina #Scarlet aka #ninetyninepercentgooddog brags to her doggy daycare friends about her creative mommy and her doggy friends bark about the topics.
Okay. Maybe that last one isn’t entirely true.
My point is that I have no claim to how these topics should be used.
Do you have a unique way you use “writing” topics? I’d love to hear about it.
by Theresa Garee | Jul 3, 2018 | Blog
“First thoughts have tremendous energy. The internal censor usually squelches them, so we live in the realm of second and third thoughts, thoughts on thought, twice and three times removed from the direct connection of the first fresh flash.” — Natalie Goldberg
Last week, I asked my Facebook followers what they wanted to see on my page. Some of the answers were things I already do. Writing tips. Writing events. Mental health information. Cute animal memes. Photos of #Scarlet the #ninetyninepercentgooddog.
But one request was so obvious I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it. A person suggested writing prompts. Wow! And, yes!
I’ve begun to post a daily writing topic using the hashtags #nitaprompt and #writingpractice and #tenminutesgo. My friend Suzanne came up with #nitaprompt when I said these topics needed a hashtag. Since the real Nita is not always “prompt,” I had to go with that.
The hashtags #writingpractice and #tenminutesgo honor my long-time teacher, best-selling author Natalie Goldberg whose ground breaking book Writing Down the Bones revolutionized the way many people teach writing. Natalie introduced “writing practice” as a way to tap into what she called “wild mind” or the first flash of how we see something. The concept of “first thoughts” came from Natalie’s Zen practice. She offered writing practice as a way to help people free themselves from writer’s block.
In the workshops I attended with her in Taos, New Mexico, we sat on folding chairs in the classroom at Mabel Dodge Luhan House. When it was time to write, Nat called out a topic often as simple as “mashed potatoes” followed by the admonition, “Ten minutes. Go!” We were to each keep our hand moving, pen flowing ink across the page of a spiral notebook, as we jotted down the first images that came to mind from whatever topic she offered. These ten minute timed writing intervals created a pressure cooker effect helping us to drop down into our writing.
Writing prompts still serve as the basis for much of my writing. When the blank page proves too daunting, a topic gives me a jumping off place. I often veer off into some other topic more related to whatever project I’m currently writing, but it gives me a place to begin.
If you’re stuck or bored or need a new place to start, scroll to Facebook or Twitter and type in #nitaprompt. Do with the topics as you wish. Ten minutes. Twenty. An hour. I hope you find them helpful.
And if you have favorite topics, send them my way. I’ll happily offer those to the masses as well.
by Theresa Garee | Feb 4, 2018 | Blog
“As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” – Henry David Thoreau
I don’t usually plug products in my newsletter essay or blog posts, but this month, Freedom saved my bacon so I will make an exception. Like many folks I know, I spend way too much time on social media and possibly on the Internet in general. I find myself on Facebook before I realize I’m there. And wow does time fly while I’m “like-ing” all the cute animal videos and making angry faces on political posts that upset me.
Technically, I have to be on Facebook sometimes since I have an author page. But I don’t have to be there all day. I can schedule my author posts so they appear throughout the day even though I’ve created them all in the same hour.
So how do I tame my desire to see every running photo any of my friends or their friends or anyone in the world anywhere posts on social media? Enter Freedom. I love it so much that I wrote about it back in 2014. I’d forgotten to use it for a while, but recently, with deadlines looming, I went back to it like an old friend.
Freedom is software that limits access to certain websites. It works both on a computer or your phone. I use it to block Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Yes. I’m the kind of woman who, if Facebook isn’t available, will spend inordinate amounts of time making LinkedIn connections under the guise of marketing. For shame!
With Freedom, I can start a blocking session immediately or schedule one for later. The scheduled blocks work well to remind me to go to bed. If it’s 10:30PM and both Ed and the puppy are snoring, perhaps I don’t need to read one more post about how to use the Insta Pot. I don’t even cook!
No, I am not being paid for this. I am not an affiliate or linked to Freedom in any way. I just know, as writers and human beings, our time is limited. We need to use it wisely. I’m not very good at that. So I let Freedom do for me what I can’t do for myself.
Do you have distractions that keep you from writing? How do you manage them? I’d love to hear more about it.
by Theresa Garee | Jun 3, 2016 | Blog
“I’m a hustler, baby; I sell water to a well!” ― Jay-Z
In real estate, it’s “location, location, location.” These days, in writing, it’s “platform, platform, platform.” Before the sales pitch must come a well-written book of course. But if an agent has to decide between two well-written books, she’ll choose the one written by an author with a platform. At least that’s what I’m learning in my research to find an agent for my memoir, Twenty-Six Point Freaking Two.
I’m fortunate to have had the chance to create Write Now Newsletter from a mailing list gifted to me by Shannon Jackson Arnold thirteen years ago. With it and my blog, Bum Glue, I’ve built a small, but growing group of readers and subscribers, aka, a platform.
These days, however, Facebook and Twitter are the go to outlets for information. We writers need to have a presence on at least a few of those social media outlets. I’ve been on Twitter for several years. You can follow me there.
Recently, I created a Facebook author page. I’d love for you to follow that page as well. My author page will include updates about my writing process, more general writing information, and central Ohio writing events that were sent too late for the once-a-month newsletter. I hope you’ll join the conversation and invite your friends too.
Are you doing anything to create a platform? I’d love to hear about it.
