By now we have all experienced social media in some capacity in our lives. Some of us love it and use it daily, others of us only use it because all our family and friends are on it, and then there are those of us who are afraid of it or anti-social media for various reasons.
I’m here to tell all you creatives: Don’t be afraid of social media. Embrace it. Use it wisely. Social media is a phenomenon that has been popular for a little over a decade now. I am part of the generation that grew up without internet or social media, so it didn’t come as naturally to me as some of the younger people for whom it is second nature. However, as an adult, when I was obtaining my MFA in Writing, I began to have a brand new relationship with social media. One day, a visiting writer came to my school who transformed my thinking about social media. Her name is Virginia Heffernan. I heard her lecture and presentation. I listened to her read from her insightful book Magic and Loss, and I got to continue the conversation with her over some delicious Thai food with a couple of classmates and my professor.
I went home that night and recited everything I learned that day to my husband for hours. As I tried to explain to him what Virginia Heffernan was talking about, I had an epiphany and a complete change of mind about what the internet and social media meant to me. Her perspective on technology and the internet was so different from any other writers I had met so far that it changed my worldview.
The biggest thing I learned from her was that as a writer/artist/creative person, we have to look at the internet and social media as another form of our art. Each social media platform or digital content creation strategy is a way to express our art. We have to learn how to express ourselves differently depending on the platform we use. I began considering everything I posted on social media, in Wikipedia, on my blogs, and anywhere else on the internet, as part of my writing portfolio. I became conscious of how I used the internet and social media as a professional platform. I had this realization back in 2016, but just a couple of years later, today, we see resumes becoming obsolete. If you are a creative person, it is all about your online presence. Your resume is irrelevant if you have a strong digital footprint. Even if you have a solid resume, clients and/or employers still want to see that you have a strong online presence. This is especially important if you are a business owner or an aspiring business owner. I make my own jobs based on what I put out on the internet on my websites and social media platforms. I never need a resume. Just to clarify, I am talking about using social media and other digital platforms with a purposeful strategy and as a professional. These are a whole new set of skills that you will have to develop. It will take time, but will be worth it in the end. There were many ways I was able to develop my digital content creation skills. One, way was through my MFA program where I learned persuasive writing, branding, and rhetoric that helped me learn how to use my words to control people's perception. I also read many books such as Contagious by Jonah Berger which is a research based book about why some things spread faster than others.
I learned from and researched people and brands who have a strong digital following, and finally, I practiced consistency. It takes years to learn and understand how this works and how to build a consistent online following.
If you feel overwhelmed by everything I have just shared with you or with social media itself, don’t worry. You don’t have to use every single social media platform out there. Find one platform that best suits you based on your personality, artform, expertise, audience, etc. and start with that. If you need help building your platform or just want to learn how to use social media and digital platforms in a more professional way as a creative person, feel free to contact me here. Building a social media following, like any other craft, is about hard work and consistency so start small and only tackle what you have time for. Don’t be afraid of expressing yourself and showing the world how talented you are. Go work your magic.
Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear about your relationship with social media as a creative person, especially a creative person of color.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. For my readers in the Atlanta area, I want to thank you all for coming to my workshops on the Atlanta Beltline last week! It was so great to meet all you amazing talented folks and I hope to continue to keep building with you all. For those of you who missed the workshops or don't live in Atlanta, the last one was a digital workshop on Facebook Live so go to the Prime Vice Studios Facebook page to catch that one (it has over 2,000 views and still climbing!). So once again, thank you guys for showing us love! <3 Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page ?? Art by Loso F. Perez of Prime Vice Studios
0 Comments
If you've attended any of the comic book workshops I teach with Prime Vice Studios, you know that the first thing I talk about when it comes to writing a comic is creating an iconic character. In comic books, iconic characters rule. Think about it. Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. This also applies to literary writing. The first thing we do in our comic book workshops is design the character based on physical appearance, personality, hobbies, strengths/weaknesses, place of origin, etc. I find this helpful in my creative nonfiction and fiction writing as well. Iconic characters help readers get emotionally attached to the story. Once they read a story with an iconic character in it, they will want to read all the stories with that iconic character in it. Unfortunately, one thing you may have noticed with all the comic book characters I listed above is that they are all White and mostly male. It is important for more of us, people of color, to create iconic characters of color whether in comics or in the literary world that represent us the way we want to be represented. Thousands of authors get published every year, but only the ones with the most iconic characters and the strongest storytelling skills are remembered well beyond their lifetime. Whether you are reading the Odyssey or Huckleberry Finn, it is the strong timeless characters that you relate to and whose journey you want to follow in the story. We need more iconic timeless characters like these of color in modern literature and the only way for that to happen is for more of us to write them. When you write an iconic character of color, you are not just diversifying the industry, you are also creating an intellectual property (IP). Once you have an iconic character, you have an IP that you own. This can pay you dividends for generations to come and give you a consistent creative outlet for your work. For example, even if the writer/creator of Spider Man, Stan Lee, passes away, Spider Man will still live on, continue to make money, and continue to develop into new comics, movies, toys, etc. You can do anything with your own IP. You can write multiple stories with it, you can turn it into a movie, video game, merchandise, whatever you please! Having more long lasting iconic characters of color out there will bring long term wealth to our families and our communities. Writing an iconic character is no easy task, especially for some of us literary writers who tend to focus more on the story and how the characters fit into the story. It is also difficult for comic book artists because they often end up focusing more on the art than the characters and story. One of the ways in which writing comic books has helped me with my literary writing is that I have started to build more well developed characters using the template I use for my comic book characters. This has helped me write stronger characters and have a stronger voice as a writer. I also use the same templates to teach. If you would like to use my templates for writing more iconic characters, creating new IPs, writing a story, or starting your own comic book, you can purchase the Prime Vice Studios “Fresh Voices” Comic Creator workbook. It’s not just for comic book artists or writers. Anyone can use it to create and develop an original story idea or a new IP. The workbook can also be accompanied by the free online tutorials on the Prime Vice Studios YouTube page if you are unable to attend our workshops. Hope you guys find the workbook helpful. If you already have one of our workbooks, I would love to hear your feedback on it. Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences with creating strong characters of color and your opinions on developing IPs. Also, who are some iconic characters of color that have inspired you?
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. For my Atlanta readers, we are teaching the Prime Vice Studios “Fresh Voices” Comic Creator workshop on the Atlanta Beltline for their AMFM Summer Fest at The Bakery Atlanta from 2-3pm today, tomorrow, and Friday. If you come to our workshop, you can get our workbook for FREE! See you guys there! :) Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 Art by Loso F. Perez of Prime Vice Studios, LLC.
Hey ladies!
I felt compelled to write this blog because of all the wonderful women of color I meet who write, but are afraid to call themselves a writer. Who is a writer? Who decides what makes you a writer or not? It’s pretty simple. If you write everyday (or almost everyday), you are a writer. That’s it. Stop letting other people’s narrow-minded definitions constrict you. No, you don’t have to be published in a major publication to call yourself a writer. No, you don’t have to have a degree in writing to call yourself a writer. No, you don’t have to be a traditionally published author to call yourself a writer. There are many types of writing out there: novels, articles, blogs, social media, poetry, insta-poetry, copy writing, grant writing, technical writing, digital content, infographics, business writing, medical writing, self-published books, ghostwriting, and the list goes on… It doesn’t matter what type of writing you do. If you write, you should be proud to call yourself a writer. This is 2018 and the definition for what constitutes a writer has changed a lot, especially due to technology. Writing for Instagram doesn’t make you any less of a writer than a person writing for the New York Times, as long as you have quality content. Self-publishing a book doesn’t make you any less of a writer than a person published through Harpercollins, as long as your writing is strong and you have had your work edited by a professional editor. The industry was not made for us and it’s still extremely difficult for us to find our way in and be accepted. Which is why, going the traditional route is not the only way to do things anymore. For those of you who have found success going the traditional route, more power to you. Keep diversifying the industry from the inside. For the rest of us, keep writing, putting your writing out for the world to see by any means necessary (blogs, smaller publications, social media, self-publishing, etc.), and owning your title as a writer. So, ladies, be proud of who you are. You are a writer. Own your skills. Own your narrative. Now, go out there and make the world a better place with your talent.
Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences with identifying as a writer and a woman of color.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. If you are in the Atlanta area, catch me on the Atlanta Beltline from Aug 8-10th at 2pm at The Bakery Atlanta teaching character design and development for comics along with Prime Vice Studios. See ya’ll there! :) Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page ?? Art by Loso F. Perez of Prime Vice Studios People say a lot of things and society tell us how we are supposed to live. When it comes to people of color, society usually doesn’t have anything good to say. As a writer/creative person of color, it is our job to breakdown the things society is telling us and find the truth. As an Asian-American woman, I dealt with the mentality of coming to the United States and achieving our goals by blending in and keeping White people around us comfortable and happy my whole life. Many of us come here on visas and have to stick to a job that we hate where we are undervalued and overworked for years just so we can get our green card. My father had to do this. In this type of situation, I completely understand why we as Asian-American immigrants want to stick to the “model minority” myth, and keep our head down so we can get through the rigorous, complicated, messy immigration system without diminishing our chances. Unfortunately, this mentality tends to stick with us long after the first generation. Even after we have our green cards and citizenships, we continue to live this way in the United States because society and culture tells us the it’s the only way to survive in America. As a writer and a creative person, it is impossible to succeed at your craft without letting go of this limited mentality. Just because society tells us that no matter what our citizenship papers say, we will never be “American” because of the way we look, doesn’t mean we have to believe it. I grew up with many people around me who told me I had to fit a certain mold to succeed in America. I grew up all around the world, so it was difficult for me to accept when people told me who I should be. For example, when they assumed I was good at math and would let them copy off my test or that they could walk all over me because I was supposed to be submissive. The more I learned about myself and about the world I lived in, the more frustrated I grew with these microaggressions. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized I was a citizen of this country and this country belonged to me too. Just because I was born outside the country didn’t mean that it belonged to me any less. I had to start making a place for myself and stop letting myself be treated as a second class citizen or an outsider. Once I realized that this country belonged to me as much as anyone else, I realized how important my stories were for this country. There are other people out there who have had the same experiences and background as me in this country. If I had known about them and their stories, I would have been much more confident in my identity as a child and young adult. This is why I realized I needed to write and get my stories out. My culture and experiences need to be normalized in this country instead of exoticized. Other Asian-Americans and Indian-Americans need to know that this country belongs to them too. We don’t have to fall into racist systems and structures created in this country to keep people of color down and pitt people of color against each other. There are other ways to live. We can disrupt the status quo. We can start our own business. We can vocalize our experiences. We can create art based on our experiences. All of these are valid ways to exist. This doesn’t mean that we won’t experience racism. It just means that it will become harder for these systems to keep us down over time. When your boss over burdens and undervalues you at work, you can speak up or quit your job. There are plenty of jobs out there. If your professors/colleagues try to undervalue your art because it doesn’t suit their preconceived notions of what art is supposed to look like, stay confident and fight back. If people talk to you like you’re dumb just because you speak with an accent, speak up or stop entertaining them. They’re just upset that they can’t speak multiple languages like you. Yes, it takes a lot of work to change the way you live in a country that continuously tells you that you don’t belong. But, by refusing to accept what we are told, by refusing to accept the status quo, we can de-program ourselves and change the narrative around our existence. By refusing to bow down to the system, we can create better opportunities for our community and create better art. This is why I keep writing and encouraging women of color to own our narratives. It is by owning our narratives that we can begin changing the narratives around our race, culture, and society. Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences with these issues as a woman writer of color.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 One of the biggest barriers I face as a woman writer of color, is being undervalued for my skills. In the United States, women of color make less money in their fields compared to white men and women in the same positions. I have approached many clients who did not think that despite having an MFA in writing, my skills were worth paying for. I’ve had clients tell me that because a project was their idea, and that my writing was just a way to get their idea down in a useful format, they didn’t feel that I needed credit or compensation for my work. I’ve also experienced small and large companies offering me “internships” which were basically glorified “volunteer-ships.” It took me time to learn because all of these were things I wasn’t taught in school. I wasn’t taught that the freelance world will treat me differently for being a woman of color. I wasn’t taught that even after being a master of my craft, I would still be undervalued in the industry for it. Luckily, one of my professors did teach me about internships. She told me to be careful when applying for internships because they are often a way companies try to get free labor. The U.S. Department of Labor has strict guidelines as to what constitutes an internship. An internship cannot directly financially benefit a company and it cannot be work that it supposed to be done by a regular employee. Also, in the state of Georgia, an unpaid internship has to be for class credit. If you are doing an unpaid internship and it isn’t for class credit, you are just a volunteer in this state and a few other states around the U.S. I saw many of my classmates and friends get taken advantage of with these “internship” opportunities. These were things I had to learn the hard way. I’ll be honest with you, I have over $100,000 in student debt because of my MFA. For me, it was worth it because my undergrad degree was free and my MFA allows me to do things that you can’t do without an MFA. It took me some time to realize that my $100,000+ debt means that I am worth over $100,000. This degree was an investment in myself that increased my worth in the market and I can’t let anyone tell me otherwise. Now you don’t have to have a degree to be a writer, you just have to write everyday and get good at it. If you don’t have a degree, you have to calculate the number of years you have put into the writing profession to realize how much you are worth. Even if you are just beginning your writing career, don’t let clients low-ball you and squeeze more work out of you for less pay. It has taken me months to learn my worth. For some people it takes years. So, I consider myself lucky. I’m still trying to figure out how to show my worth to clients, but I have noticed that once I quote a price and stand firm on it, many of the cheaper clients disappear. This leaves more room for clients that do know my worth. In the beginning this means I get less clients, but over time it means I end up with a portfolio full of clients that all know my worth. It’s a work in progress but, knowing my worth as a professional keeps me from getting taken advantage of by clients or companies that offer unpaid “internships.” So please, ladies, don’t settle for clients who try to squeeze every last penny out of you and then some. Don’t let clients tell you that your job is not worth credit or compensation. Don’t let clients tell you that anyone can do your job because they can’t. That’s why you were hired. Writing is a skill that takes years to develop. Not everyone can do it well. Know your worth as a writer and a woman of color. Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences within the industry as a woman writer of color.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 Also, if you are a writer of color living in the Atlanta area, come join us in this Facebook group! Right before I attend a big event, I have a conversation with my mom or my husband about whether I should wear Indian clothes or Western clothes to the event. It takes a lot of time and some serious decision making to come to a conclusion based on practicality, representation, and the type of event it is. Sometimes, my husband asks me why I don’t rock a bindi like other Indian women on a regular basis and I just brush it off with “it’s just not me.”
Every time I put on a lengha, spend 3 hours trying to wear a sari, put a tika in my hair, or put a bindi on my forehead, I’m putting my culture on display. A culture I no longer actively live in. With that salwaar kurta, I’m also wearing my ancestors who created these traditional garbs centuries ago, I’m wearing my mother who is my most solid connection to home, I’m wearing my aunts who carry these traditions with grace, I’m wearing my cousins who wore their beautiful lenghas with pride as girls then marked their womanhood with their first sari, I’m wearing my father who instilled in me the ancient values with which these clothes were sewn together. While you might accessorize your outfit with shiny earrings and a cute clutch, I accessorize my anarkali with an ancient family legacy that can be traced down to the beginning of civilization and the responsibility of carrying that legacy with grace. So, yes I’m proud of where I come from and I don’t take it lightly. The next time you ask me why I don’t wear my traditional clothes more often, know what you are asking of me. You are asking me to carry thousands of years of culture and traditions on my back in a foreign land almost completely wiped clean of its own ancient cultures through genocide, so I can look cute at someone’s party. You are asking me to replace my Western clothing with an entire country of over a billion people of varying traditions and languages and be the spokesperson for all of them. I am the bridge. I belong to two cultures, but I don’t fully belong to any one culture. I have one leg of my salwar in America and the other in India. Sometimes I put on a pair of jeans and blend into American society to take the burden off of me. Other times I reveal the full depth of my identity by ripping of my jeans and replacing them with clothing sewn specifically for me by hands that hold ancient secrets in my place of birth. My true identity is not a secret. I just chose how much of myself to reveal and when based on my ability to carry the weight. As an immigrant, it is my burden to explain to others and validate for myself that I where I come from is just as important, if not more, than where I am going. I don’t take this responsibility lightly. There is nothing light about my mom’s pure silk turquoise sari with gold borders. There is nothing light about my beautiful pink embroidered lengha choli decorated with mirrors, beads, and ancient wisdom. Yes, my traditional clothes are beautiful to look at. I carry them as well as I can with all the pride with which I carry my culture. Maybe, in the future, I’ll start wearing a bindi more often when the burden and responsibility of carrying my ancestors on my body feels lighter. When I am able to pass this great responsibility down and share it with my future generations like my mother did with me. When the foundation of my bridge grows stronger to fully support the weight of the two worlds I carry. Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences with carrying the responsibility of being the bridge of multiple cultures. You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 In May, I attended a writing conference where I asked the panel of agents if they thought that diversity was just a trend or if it was here to stay. There were about eight agents on the panel out of which two were people of color. Both of the agents of color admitted that diversity was a fad in the industry right now. They said they were afraid that the number of people of color that are being published will decline once the fad goes away, but that they were both working actively to make sure the trend continues long after the fad is gone. The rest of the agents who weren’t people of color all had the same response: “That’s something the older white people in the industry do, we’re different and we’re into diversity.”
I was disappointed to hear this response because instead of providing solutions or explaining what they are personally doing to challenge the lack of diversity in the industry, they blamed it on older white people and were convinced that they were not part of the problem. In fact, they made it sound like the lack of diversity problem was no longer a problem because of them. Yes, there are more writers of color being published now, but the growth is minuscule. The best way to get more writers of color in the publishing industry is to have more people of color working in the publishing industry. Today, there are only a handful of agents and editors of color working in the publishing houses. Having more agents of color accepting queries and willing to represent writers of color and having more editors of color willing to work on books with writers of color will increase the likelihood of more writers of color getting published. So how do you find these agents and editors of color? The truth is, it is not easy to find them. The way I found agents and editors of color is by attending writers conferences, other writing events in the community, and in grad school. All of these options are expensive. You can also go online and look through agent databases, like the Poets & Writers literary agents database, to find them. It is time consuming and requires a lot of research, but you can find them online. In other words, it isn’t impossible, but it is difficult to find agents of color to pitch to. Fortunately, there is a fairly new organization called People of Color in Publishing that was established in 2017. POC in Publishing was founded by professionals of color who actively work in the publishing industry like agents and editor and their mission is to diversify the industry. As they continue to build this organization, they are putting together resources for writers of color to help us get into the publishing world. If you are a person of color in the publishing industry, this is a great organization to be a part of. Of course POC in Publishing is just one organization with a big mission so it will take them time to grow and create change. Until then, the only thing we can do is keep writing our stories and owning our narratives. We can also encourage each other to work in the publishing houses to help create the change from inside. Thank you for reading! Please share your opinions on this topic with me in the comments below so we can continue this important discussion. You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing, my workshops, and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽
As a writer, the number one thing you have be cognizant of is “who is your audience?” You have to know who you’re writing for and who’s going to be interested in reading and hopefully spending money on your writing. As a writer of color, who is your audience? How do you determine who you are writing for?
I recently had a conversation with a South Asian-American woman who wrote a great piece on Medium about the lack of humor in South Asian-American literature. She told me that, unfortunately, she has to write for a white audience because she wants her books to sell in the United States. This meant that she needed to water down her stories to make them easier for white readers to digest. I was shocked and disheartened to hear her say this, especially, because there are so many South Asian-Americans in the United States like me who are eager to read and buy works written by other South Asian-Americans about our culture. There are also literally billions of people in South Asia who have been exposed to American culture enough to be interested in her writing. Why should she or any other writer of color feel the need to make their stories less authentic in order to cater to white readers? When I read books by most American writers of color like Roxane Gay, Scaachi Koul, Issa Rae, Angie Cruz, Eddie Huang, and so many more, I don’t feel they've “white washed” their stories to appeal to the White audience. I love the detail into which Angie Cruz goes when talking about Dominican-American culture using Spanglish and exploring spiritual traditions in her book Soledad. I love the unapologetic tone which Eddie Huang uses to show us what it’s like to grow up in a traditional Taiwanese-American family in his memoir. These details are what make their stories feel real to me as a reader even though I’m not Dominican-American and I didn't grow up in a Taiwanese-American home. Through good writing, I learn about new cultures. If I don't understand anything they say, I look it up. That is what reading is supposed to do. It's supposed to help you open your mind and learn about people who lived different lives from your own. Incorporating the languages, foods, scents, and traditions of your culture to create a detailed world for the reader to immerse themselves into is what makes good writing, not watering it down for those who might not be familiar with your culture. That makes generic writing. In the end, there is plenty of literature out there for White readers to relate to. Also White writers write for White readers. They don't worry about whether their stories will be understandable or interesting to people of color. So, as writers of color, we should also be able to write about and for our own community without worrying about what white people will think. Our own community is our most important audience. I know I’ve said this many times, but it’s time we write our own stories on our own terms. The more stories we write on our own terms, the harder it will become for publishing industry to ignore us.
Thank you for reading! Please share your opinions on this topic with me in the comments below so we can continue this important discussion.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing, my workshops, and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page ?? I know, it's a lot of hashtags, but this week, I’m excited to promote #ThatGirlCanWrite! I’m constantly on the search for publications for women of color that give us an opportunity to share our stories on our own terms. #ThatGirlCanWrite was established by writer Lauren Small, MFA and had its beginnings as an Instagram page that promoted women of color who write. It promoted all women of color from beginners to established professionals, from authors to bloggers, from fashionistas to political leaders. Eventually, #ThatGirlCanWrite grew beyond Instagram onto Twitter and then to its own website. Now, #ThatGirlCanWrite is open for submissions! On their quest to give women of color a platform to share their stories, they are now accepting blogs, essays, and poetry to publish. So, if you are looking for a place made for women of color by women of color to publish your writing, you can submit your work at tgcwrite@gmail.com. You will see my work on there in the near future. Until then, go check them out! Instagram: That Girl Can Write Twitter: @tgcwrite Website: https://linktr.ee/thatgirlcanwrite Thanks for reading!
Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 When I was in grad school, I remember my professor saying “do not use the word ‘guru’ to describe yourself on LinkedIn.” The more time I spent in the professional world, the more I realized how many people needed to hear this advice but clearly never received it. When did the word ‘guru’ become associated with cheap branding and self-promotion? As an Indian-American, it personally hurts me to see this word, historically used in my country of birth to refer to someone highly esteemed by the community, taken by Americans and turned into cheap marketing. But my personal feelings aside, let’s look at what being a “guru” really means. I know many people who don’t necessarily refer to themselves as “gurus” but still present themselves as experts on how others should live their lives. They use social media platforms to tell you how they can make you rich, successful, and “spiritual as hell” -- to quote my favorite fake guru -- J.P. Sears. The irony is that most of these "gurus" are under 50 years old and aren’t actually rich, successful, or “spiritual as hell” themselves in real life. Many of them gain their “expertise” from the 3rd page of Google or watching YouTube videos (I’m not even going to go into how to apply critical thinking skills to sift through the internet to find out what is credible and what is garbage). These “gurus” only pretend to be experts on the internet. I get it, they are relying on the overused “fake it 'til you make it" strategy and I’m all for it. However, if you’re going to fake it, fake it well. If you half-ass your faking, you’re never gonna make it. I’m not a guru. I’m too busy figuring out my own messy life to tell others how to live theirs. However, I do have an M.F.A. in writing and a couple of personal brands that I have been developing over the last five years. I can tell you that the best way to sell yourself and gain followers on the internet is to have a good story. If you want to be a “guru” on the internet, you need good storytelling skills. If you don’t have a story to backup your brand, you have no substance. You can tell people all day that chasing their dreams and following their hearts will make them rich and successful, but if you don’t have concrete examples from your own life on how you became successful and the strategies you used to get there, your words are meaningless fluff. If you want to teach people how to be more self-aware, how to make more money, or how to have better relationships, show them your story. That is your brand. If you don’t have your own story about the topic on which you are advising people, you have no authority to be a guru. No one will care what you have to say. It isn’t easy to build a strong, authentic brand which is why there are professionals (like me!) who help people with storytelling and brand development (yes, that was a plug). But seriously, get help. You can be a successful “guru” on the internet by having a good story and a strong brand. For example, I know many people who love the life "guru" Gary V. He motivates a lot of people even though I'm yet to meet someone who became successful because of him. But, it doesn't matter because he has a strong brand that is working for him. You, however, may not have the skills to develop a strong brand so be honest with yourself and get help! It is often easier for other people to tell you what your story is than for you to figure it out for yourself. Once again, I don’t claim to be a guru, but I do have quite a bit of knowledge and experience with storytelling and I’m just tired of seeing people in my network selling themselves short. Now, excuse me while I go back to my messy life. Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave comments below with your stories and points of view on this topic. You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 ABOUT THE ARTISTLoso F. Perez is a cartoonist with passion for teaching. You can see more of his work or learn from him on PrimeVice.com and follow him on social media @prime_vice.
|
AuthorThese blogs explore my writing process and highlight my favorite writers and books. Archives
June 2022
Categories
All
|