I have been having a lot of fun with my writing over the past few days. It's up for debate whether that is a good thing or not but that debate is another blog post all together.  

One thing that the past few days did bring up that is of value, I think, as a writer is --drum roll please--branding yourself. 

No not burning yourself with a brand that would hurt, or doing something with Russell Brand that may be fun but is not advisable. Creating yourself as a brand. This can be difficult when you like to write in many forms and genres. It can be strength to be able to write this way because you can work in many genres and with many people and that can lead to more freelance work. However, it is also a great detriment when a writer is not able to make any traction in any one genre because their work is too spread out. 

Add into that some attention deficit type qualities and what you have going is a hot mess. Because titles are scattered everywhere and the attention is scattered several unrelated subjects this doesn't work well especially in the world of search engines. You see search engines want you to define yourself. The more postings you have with the same word set in it the stronger your presence on the web for that topic is. For example the more I have with writing, writer, blog, author and other similar terms the higher up the web link food chain I go when someone is looking up information about being a writer. 

Search engines, fans and publishers are the same. They want experts, people who know about a specific something, they don't usually call on Jacks  (or Jills in this case) of all trades. They want to know that you are a sports writer, a romance writer, a poet, a political wonk, an entertainment writer, a fashionista, too much diversity is confusing. 

This can be frustrating to people like me who are children at heart, that have never grown up.  I am constantly curious and wanting to experiment with different things,  I am bored quickly, and move on to something else that I can learn about. So to work at one thing day after day is not fun for me. Some would call it stability I call it tedious. 

However, if I don't pick something and stick with it. At least until I am known as a brand, I will be one of the many "Gee I wish I could make some money at this writing gig." type of writers. Frankly, I think the world has enough of those already.  

The Muse comes on Tuesdays
By Sophia Tesch

 She won't speak to me on Mondays.
 The muse comes on Tuesdays.
 Wednesday won't do at all,
 Thursday is too close to Friday,
 She never works on weekends.
 Then it's Monday again.
 But the muse always comes on Tuesdays.

Copyright 2011 Sophia Tesch

I just had one of those moments when things started coming into focus. I think they call it a moment of clarity. Just a moment in time when there is  a flash of inspiration saying, "Look this is how it works!".

Over and over I have read and heard writers say, "Just write", and to a beginning writer it is easy to ask the question "Write what?". Because somewhere along the way, maybe in school a person picks up the notion that you must be doing something for a specific purpose in order for it to be valuable.

So, I did.  I wrote.  Today in my literary travels I came across a poetry contest. Submissions are due tomorrow and what do you know? I had something to submit! Something I had written months ago for no specific reason, just doing my morning writing. That poem was a perfect fit for the contest. I'll wait and see how it does against the competition.

The important thing is that I now see why they say Write, write, WRITE! Create a stack of work that can be taken out and used as needed. Write for every holiday, every occasion, just write and at some time down the road when material is needed you will be able to have a quick and thoughtful turn around on work. After awhile it starts to catch on and you have all sorts of material to work with and submit as needed.

It felt wonderful to get that flash. Now that I get it, now that I see it, there really is nothing left to  do but do it and make it happen.