“exhibition 1” by devi laskar

Discoverability. It’s something that people who make video and throw it up on YouTube think about. And it doesn’t matter if it’s some kid in a bedroom in Wisconsin or a corporate committee working for Brawny paper towels. You make a video, you want people to find it easily so they can like it and get more people to like it and find it and … build your audience. What does a little ol’ you do if you aren’t throwing up short videos about the truffles you found in the park the other day, which may not have been truffles, it now occurs to you, but cat feces. It’s funny to watch when your aunt bites into your “truffle oil” pasta. Ha ha.

What does this have to do with you as a writer? Well just this: how are your readers going to find you?

You will find a lot of advice out there about blogging and building a platform, tweeting and creating a social media presence. And that’s all great — once your book is purchased, you’ll be damn glad you have a group of devoted fans willing to support you. But before that, you need to get your work good.

And one great way to do that is to put it out into the world, to take a risk and build your chops — and by chops I mean your skills at writing AND your skills at sitting with the artistic equivalent of your truffle oil pasta displayed for all the world to taste.

So today, I challenge you — and myself — to start putting out. This is the first in a four part series where we put out in a group. Here’s what I’m thinking:

1. Next week, I’m going to start a project. A small one. Nothing major. Tiny. You might not even notice it, except it’s Friday and you came by the BWW and huh, there is a blog on premise and loglines. In that blog, I’m going to create a premise and a log line of my own. My hope is that our readers will feel encouraged to do there own and just put it out there for the world to see. Try the pasta.

2. The week after, we’ll do a super fast outline. We’re going to just brainstorm some ideas. Again, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. My outline, rough and weird and awkward will go up. Post yours.

3. The final week, a super short 500 word piece that comes out of the previous week’s outline. Short enough that you can post your 500 words in the comments section.

Are we practicing process over the weeks? A little bit. Practicing narrative arc? Sure, if you want to. What we’re really practicing is putting ourselves out there.

4. And on the last week, I’ll post a revision of my 500 word piece. Because the truth is you still need to practice finishing, and improving, polishing and giving a truffle about the quality of your work.

How does this process related to discoverability? It has to do with taking the risk to start looking at your writing not as one instance of you but as a body that you are constructing over time. And that quantity, AND quality, that persistence, will conspire to bring the world to you. We’re practicing being public, not perfect with a willingness to learn in public.

Who’s with me?