This is part three, in a three-part post, in which I attempt to answer the question:

Are your voice and your platform dynamic the same thing?

If you have already read the first post in this series, where I talked about voice and the second post in this series where I talked about platform dynamic, they by now, you realize that voice and platform are not at all the same thing.

I say “not at all” to clear up any confusion like: Yes, but isn’t your voice KIND OF like your platform dynamic?

Nope, it’s not kind of like it.

Your voice is the expression of who you are as a writer and is a tool you flex to suit various forms and formats. Your voice is the expression of all that you have written and all that you currently write, wielded skillfully to articulate whatever you are attempting to say.

Your platform dynamic is similarly holistic. It encapsulates and draws on all that the writer has ever written and done, however the comparison stops there.

You don’t have to consciously choose to have a voice. You already have one. You were born with a voice and it is likely coming through whether you realize it or not.

Writers usually recognize the power of voice, and turn it up and down to suit their genres and readers, as I discussed in the first post of this series.

We all have also likely encountered writers who are prone to making too much of their voices, to the point where the effect becomes self-conscious. This just shows that when you mess with voice too much, instead of just letting it happen, you can muck it up and this impacts reader trust.

When it comes to voice, appropriateness, tone and volume are all. You use your voice when you are writing and when you are supporting your writing and when you are just living. Embrace your voice as the instrument it is. Learn to use it and you will grow to trust it and wield it wisely. But don’t expect your voice to be the temple where we are expected to worship, because that’s just taking voice too far.

On the other hand, platforms rarely happen by accident. And they should be constructed and launched in conscious ways that make the most of a writer’s strengths and past successes. That’s why, when I wrote my second book, Get Known Before The Book Deal, we chose the subtitle, Use Your Personal Strengths To Grow An Author Platform. I fought for that subtitle and I’m glad I did. Because your platform is not just about your strengths, it’s about what you decide to do with them.

Therefore to understand your platform dynamic, you need to be aware of your strengths and you need to channel them in conscious ways that support the overall success of your writing career.

Your platform dynamic is not merely your writing, it’s your writing and everything else that you offer, the way you uniquely offer it. It’s what you do, how you do it, why you do it, whom you do it for, when you do it, where you do it, and whom you do it.

This is why, when all of the other writers in your genre are following one trend, you should buck that trend and turn inward and proceed in the way that is appropriate to your integrity.

Your platform dynamic springs from your most precious values. It do not suggest you merely start doing things because they are fashionable or even if they worked for another writer.

As a writer, you have to follow the dance of your creative spark in order to succeed. And as a writer with a ever-evolving platform, you have to consciously build step-by-step, day-by-day, growing stronger and more visible as your grow.

You may use your platform to establish a niche, develop a community, become a media mogul, or create connections. And all of these things are conscious choices that go way above and beyond a writer who posses a strong voice because you will use your platform dynamic to create the results you envision.

Certainly a writer’s voice comes into play in honing in on a platform dynamic but it’s not nearly enough information to go the distance. There is much more work to be done, and there is much interplay among the various steps, as I have described in my forthcoming book, The Writer’s Workout.

So, voice typically comes before platform dynamic, and voice can inform platform dynamic, but you can’t expect your voice to do all the heavy lifting in helping you become visible and stay viable in the marketplace. To expect this would be to put too much pressure on your wonderfully unique, but also delicate instrument.

Let your platform dynamic lead instead. It’s how you do anything and how you do everything. It’s who you uniquely are as a writing professional, and that reputation proceeds you everywhere you go anyway. Trust it and it will trust you back.

Questions about voice vs. platform dynamic? Put them in the comments and I will answer them in a future post.

~ Photo by sean dreilinger

Platform is not a place. It’s not your turf. Platform is not a pipe-dream either, a fantasy of what author success is going to look after it is magically transformed by you writing a book.

When it comes right down to it, you can tell whether or not you have a platform by what is on your daily to-do list. And others can tell whether you have a platform or not by how much influence you bring to the table.

Your platform should never be the only thing you do. Because if you are a writer, you are supposed to be writing. But at certain times namely at start-up, consolidation/transition, and book-launch, platform will become a major focus of a writer’s energies.

I teach a class, Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform that is designed to help make the start-up phase of platform development more manageable and less expensive. This class is really two classes compressed into six weeks and it is now available to writers of all genres. Because there is one irrefutable truth in publishing right now: whether you are self-published or traditionally published, you need to build and maintain a solid marketing platform to become visible and sell books. And even if you don’t plan to become an author at this time, writers of all stripes understand that the size of their platform is becoming increasingly crucial to their becoming and staying hirable.

All of this work takes energy and energy is a creative person’s most valuable commodity. In this class you will also learn how to manage your energy so that you can sustain enough of it to be able to write, sell, market your work and yourself, and continue learning in the long haul. Because writing is a marathon, not a sprint.

Which brings us to the best way to go about all of this and that is by writing your way to a clear plan. Once you have the plan, all you have to do is break it down into to-do steps. But many writers never create a plan. They start blogging or join a tribe of like-minded others in good faith that their platform will emerge out of this experience. And sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.

Or they look at someone else’s plan and decide it’s not for them. That’s because someone else’s plan isn’t for you. You need your own plan, custom-fit to what you want and need and what your audience wants and needs from you.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Platform is what you DO with what you have to offer (see my full definition here). If you want to build trust, authority, and influence, you need to stand on your own two feet before you start partnering with others. And then partner wisely when you do partner. Because if you don’t partner wisely, you can undermine all the hard work you’ve already done.

Ever since my book, Get Known Before the Get Deal came out two years ago, I’ve been listening to fiction writers lamenting how none of my platform advice applies to them. But if you are a fiction writer ready to acknowledge that platform development and practice are just as important to your future success as the next writer, then I want to work with you. Because I’ve done my homework, and I can tell you that healthy platform habits are just as important for fiction writers as they are for every type of writer.

Don’t be confused. Platform is not going to take the place of any of the other important work you do: writing, selling your work, and continuing to invest and learn for the sake of your career. So if you are looking for magic formulas and short-cuts, stop, and get ready to dig deeper than that. Get ready to serve from a more authentic place.

I have been empowering writers who earn money writing, partner wisely with others, and build solid platforms for almost ten years now. I coach them but they do the work and the most successful folks do the work willingly and joyfully. So attitude really is everything.

If you are ready to take your writing career more seriously, I’d like to work with a few more writers who are ready to build their successful platforms beginning September 8th. This is going to be a really fun, challenging, and expansive six weeks. I hope you will join us. Please contact me if you have any questions. All of the class details are right here.

~ Photo by George E. Norkus

This Sunday, January 24th, I am hosting the Northwest Author Series. Our guest this month is children’s author Amber Keyser, who will speak on How To Use a Critique Group.

There’s even going to be a demo! Amber is bringing some members of her critique group, Viva Scriva, and they are going to show us how they critique each other’s work. So if you are a member of a writing group or you wish to start a writing group or if you are just curious about how writing groups work, this is the workshop for you!

I’ll even be giving away extra door prizes from my generous publisher. In addition to our usual one-year-subscriptions to WritersMarket.com and Writer’s Digest magazine, I have two copies of Becky Levine’s new book, The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide from Writer’s Digest Books. [Amazon link]

You can read all about the Northwest Author Series at our blog. Don’t forget to sign up for our e-mail reminders, if you live nearby!

And, on Sunday, January 31st, I’m hosting a three-hour Power-Up Your Platform For the Internet Age workshop. If you’ve always wanted to work with others on your platform-building or refocusing, this experiential workshop is your chance to get on-the-spot feedback on your ideas. I hope you will join us!

You can learn all about it right here. Holler if you need questions answered.

Next week is going to be tons of fun. I can’t wait!