On Building a Platform (Reluctantly)

I have repeatedly and emphatically been informed that in order to be a successful writer, I must build a platform.

This, apparently, is non-negotiable.

A platform, for those who have somehow avoided the term, is a collection of online presences designed to demonstrate that one is visible, engaged, and capable of attracting readers before one has, strictly speaking, any books for those readers to read.

There is only one small complication.

I love writing.

I am less enthusiastic about ... whatever the heck social media is.

I no longer have a Facebook account. I deleted my Twitter (back when it was still Twitter) years ago. I am told Instagram is essential, though at present it remains something of a mystery to me. I understand it involves carousels, reels, stories, and possibly choreography.

And yet, here we are.

Because the experts agree on this point: agents and publishers want to see that a writer is serious. That she understands the business. That she is building an audience. That she is not waiting passively for discovery.

So I am building a website.

This one.

It currently contains no bestselling novels, no award badges, and no triumphant press clippings. What it does contain is work: projects completed, manuscripts written, ideas in progress, and a steadily growing body of effort.

If nothing else, it is proof that I take writing seriously enough to construct the infrastructure around it.

Will I master Instagram? Possibly, but without the dancing.

Will I learn to speak into the digital void without flinching? I can but try.

In the meantime, I will do what I know how to do as well as I can do it.

And if a platform is required, then I suppose I shall construct one.