The Writer’s Voice Vs. The Writer’s Platform Dynamic: Part 3

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