Freshwater: Define Yourself as a Writer: Day 1 of the 2015 October Platform Challenge

Freshwater

Located in the wilds of Wyoming, the name Freshwater was chosen as a Western analogy to Christ. Just as He is the Living Water, and we must have Him to have eternal life, any desert dweller knows the importance of fresh water to life, both for self, and the nourishment of crops or livestock. By taking nourishment in God and His word, we strengthen our own relationship with Him, our faith, and the quality and abundance of our fruitfulness.

Our keystone verse is from Jeremiah, Chapter 17, Verse 8: "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see whenSave heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

The fruit that we speak of is mentioned in Galatians 5:22
"²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

And the heat could be anything we experience that might test our faith in God; trials and tribulations, relationships, anything that focuses our love and attention anywhere but on Him...

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Define Yourself as a Writer: Day 1 of the 2015 October Platform Challenge

By: Robert Lee Brewer | October 1, 2015

Define Yourself as a Writer

For the first day of this challenge, I want everyone to take a step back and define yourself as a writer. Don’t worry about where you want to be. Instead, focus on who you are, what you’ve done, what you’re currently doing, etc.

Name (as used in byline): Sonja M. Brow
Position(s): Assistant Librarian; Homeschool Mom
Skill(s): teaching, computer skills, creative writing, reading
Social media platforms (active): Facebook; LinkedIn; Google+; Twitter
URL(s): http://freshwateracademy.blogspot.com/
Accomplishments:
In one sentence, who am I? Sonja Marie Brow is a pastor's wife, mother of six, and avid reader who loves Wyoming and her library.
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These are some starter questions/prompts for defining yourself as a writer. If you have others, I’d love for you to share them in the comments below. The main thing is to start defining who you are as a writer, because it’s hard for you to communicate something you haven’t yet defined.
A few more things:

If you haven’t already, pick one–and only one–name for your byline. As you’ll see throughout the month, consistency is an important factor in building a writer platform–starting with your consistent byline. For instance, I’m always Robert Lee Brewer, not Robert Brewer, not Bob Brewer, or whatever else people try to invent.
Interests and accomplishments may lead you down an unexpected road with your writing. Be open to what you discover about yourself.
In one sentence, who am I? If you can define yourself and your writing in one sentence, then it will be that much easier for you to build your writer platform using that mission statement.