Do what you love and write what you love — sounds like a pretty good plan, right?
But what if I also told you that doing what you love and writing what you love leads to growing a platform you love?
Even better news!
But wait, here comes the punchline.
The challenge is that precisely what a writer loves is almost never apparent…unless the writer has already done a lot of writing.
In fact, I’d say 99.9% of writers I have worked with personally have to write their way to a successful platform.
Rare is the writer who can accurately predict what her platform is going to look like ahead of time without some writing to predict it.
That’s because you can’t describe something that does not exist yet, at least not with very much accuracy, where writing platforms are concerned.
Which is why I train writers to write first and describe their platform second, after they have a sense which topics will stay compelling to them in the long run.
Because when you are a writer, platform is a story about what you love to write.
Sure you could be a flash in the platform pan. You could manufacture a lot of short-term attention on just about any topic, if you wanted to.
You could grab and steal everyone else’s ideas on a topic and throw a platform up in no time.
OR you can dig in and write originally on topics that engage you and will continue to engage you forever.
You can write on topics that allow you to leave behind something solid and lasting.
You can write your way to a platform you love.
And if you do, I promise you will create a platform that will never let you down.
And don’t worry too much about those who beg, borrow, and steal from others so they can toss up a platform overnight.
They won’t be around tomorrow.
But you will, if you write what you love, for whom you love, and you love the process of doing it.
All we need is love?
When it comes to writing and platform, I believe this to to be true.
Christina Katz is the author Get Known Before The Book Deal, Discover Your Platform Potential, and the course, Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform. Nine months out of the year, she offers a 25-day platform workout for writers called Platform Bingo, which is available in three levels that writers can fit into their busy schedules any time.