Get Along Lil' Dogie

Many years ago in the wild, wild west of North America, the only kind of branding you would find would involve a dusty cowboy, a white-hot piece of metal and some poor unsuspecting steer.  It was a way to lay claim to what was yours and woe be to the man or beast that tried to take it from you.  Some brands were known the world over and stood for something...something honorable and it represented the integrity of the person behind the brand.

Branding today isn't very different.  We take the thing most important to us...ourselves...and put our brand on it.  We create out of thin air this entity that sometimes becomes greater than any one person and we present it to the world as worthy of ownership.  But what exactly does YOUR brand stand for?  Quality work ethic?  Integrity in your writing? Honest dealings with those around you?

It's pretty easy to create a brand in today's high tech society, but will it last?  That's the question we must ask ourselves when we are creating our "writer platform".  This is the part of branding we are presenting to the world and the foundation of who we are.  Let's make sure the brand we create is something others will want to be a part of...

Traveling The Information Highway

I've blogged before about writers being on the path to publication and how this is a wonderful writing community in which we all play a part.  But I don't think I've ever actually talked about the path itself.  As little as a year ago I would have called myself a "newbie" to the writing world, taking my first virgin steps along what I thought was a solitary path toward my goal of being a published author.  I expected to struggle to find out what  I would need to become a strong, polished writer and wondered if I would ever fully understand all that is involved with the commercial side of writing.

To my surprise, I did not find myself on that solitary dirt path for long.  I discovered there were many books on the subject of writing already out there and soon my dirt road became a cobblestone path leading to a brighter future.  I devoured the information at hand and began running toward that distant point where I knew publication awaited.

Then in December of last year, I took a running leap and joined the blogosphere where the wealth of information expanded tenfold.  My cobblestone path turned into a high tech highway and I found myself racing along with other writers heading in the same direction as myself.  I am astounded by the fabulous blogs out there dedicated to writing knowledge and the betterment of writers everywhere.  I could quite literally spend hours each day surfing the internet to cultivate an array of cyber warriors who can come to my aid at a moment's notice while I tackle any writer's demon who dares to raise it's head in my presence.

But with great knowledge comes great responsibility and I must never forget that.  While it's lovely to drink in the wisdom of those who have come before me, I must always remember that it is the light of integrity that shines within us...lifting us up to a higher, more noble version of ourselves...that is the true path we must remain on as we travel toward publication...otherwise, we might find ourselves horribly lost and with no way to get where we were headed in the first place...