Panorama of San Bernardino

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Platform

I started this blog more than a decade ago. My first post was about my humiliation at doing the sprinkler dance at a work gala. The writing is just okay. Looking back, I think it had a nice energy. And a voice. That's the most important thing in my opinion. You can learn to write and hone your craft, but the question really is whether you have something to say. A perspective. An attitude. A lens.

My blog writing has improved. Looking back at at some of my blogs, I think, wow I wrote that? But blog writing is not about perfection, it's about getting it out there. For me, I think of it like a diary aimed at an audience. It's very personal and active. 

Everyone knows that I think in song lyrics and love weaving music in. There's a whole subset of my blogs focused on music and the intersections with my life. And occasionally, I sneak in a political essay. 

Every blog takes about a half hour to no more than an hour with editing. No more than an hour because that's the point. It should be quick and easy. Breezy. 

After all these years, I've written over six hundred entries. That's 600 stories people! I've memorialized my life and I'm so glad I did. 

In my blogs, I've dealt with death, grief, infertility, weight issues, body image, pain management, forgiveness, trauma, love, mental health, my writing path, relationships and more. The one overarching theme is really about how to find your path and purpose in life.

My blog became a way for me to process. It's something I can look back on to remember how it felt. How I felt. Who I was. 

It took me years and years to build an audience. At first, I was happy if ten people read a blog. Hovering around fifty hits a month for years and years. Then, something clicked. 

Finally, I have a following. A thousand hits a month may not sound like a lot, but when it's consistent, it's enough. It's enough to know that this blog matters. Plus, my lovely micro audience is loyal, educated, creative, super literary and a tad political. My audience is people like me, inside wise that is. 

So I'm writing this to urge you all to write a blog. I'm planning on producing and teaching a class soon about audience building and how to use a blog, along with a podcast and social media, to create a platform (what I call "an identity" in the writing world). I'll announce it here and on my Life of JEM Facebook page when it drops. 

Remember that this public identity is a version of you. It's really whoever you want it to be. Be authentic and true, and always vulnerable, or don't bother. Keep something for yourself too. I call JEM my alter ego. At times, she's my better self.

I didn't start out thinking about platform. It happened organically, but it's paying off now that I finally finished and published my books. 

So think about it. And then make it happen. You can do it. Promise. 

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