Withdrawal Symptoms

I've spent the evening shutting down some social media stuff. Got rid of Wattpad. I never used it and haven't been back in months. No use taking up space with a handful of short stories. I tried it. It wasn't for me.

Next, I signed off on my personal blog. I didn't delete it, I just think its time is over. Whatever is going on with me now is not worth blogging about anymore. I will stick with the writing blog and try to focus on more interesting topics rather than the disaster my health is having on my writing. Yeah. That should be interesting.

A few weeks ago I decided not to use G+ anymore other than to post announcements and blog posts. Once they changed the format a couple of years ago, I lost interest. I keep getting invitations from men who have either two first names or have the last name first and a first name last - a sure sign they're not who they are pretending to be. And if I get one more that tells me how beautiful I am and how I look like an angel and how they want to get to know me.... well, I may send them a photo of the real me. No, I won't post it here!

Anyway, I've cut things out. I know they say platform and branding and marketing but honestly, I'm not sold on it. Takes a lot of time and by the time I finish doing things to "grow" it, I'm too tired to write. And if I'm not writing, I have nothing for that platform. I just want to write. And I've left it so late.

I did get some time in pseudo-writing. That sounds really active, kind of like sumo wrestler. Believe me, it wasn't. I spent about an hour working on some material details about things in the story. I need this because I the organization is a major "character" in this story and until I understand how it works, I'm not much good writing about it. I've spent about three hours this week just working on that and on details about the realm. I figured out very quickly that I could get caught up in the world building but I think I'm done now. I want to get a friend to read over it and see if it hangs together. Then I've got a resource of sorts.

That's it for tonight. I've been really depressed all day and I think I need to go to bed.

The Underside of Platforms

Courtesy Pixabay.com

I don't get this whole platform thing. I mean, I know what it is... sort of. Where I'm from a platform is something you preach from or where you get on a train. Oh, and of course, the oil well platforms. There doesn't seem to be any similarities.

The current model seems to be metaphorical. I know you need "followers", a public who recognizes your name before you become famous. Of course, I'm making an effort with things like Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and a blog.

Recently, I started to push to get more followers on all those and have had some moderate success. I still don't know what it means but hey, there is a trail of people behind me. It just isn't enough. 

A few days ago I discovered that there might be a downside to this platform thing. Today I was reminded of it again. I should say the underside because there is definitely an underside. 

Once upon a time, I had a blog on a site called Multiply. I actually paid for it! I loved Multiply and all the friends I made there loved it, too. What I remember most from those days are the marriage proposals. I got quite a few from some Prince. Of course, I was younger then but I was also already married. He kept sending them, though.

In the last week, since I've been building this platform thingy, I had a message on Facebook from an extremely handsome fella asking if we could get acquainted. I got to tell you. It was so difficult (I'm not married now) but I was strong. I said, "Nope."

This week I got a message on Twitter. From a Polish fella in Georgia. I assume it is the US Georgia because there was some mention of Atlanta and I don't think the one in Europe has that. He keeps sending these inquiries into my health and happiness. Very polite, he is. Today he wanted to Hangout. I don't think he realizes that Google Hangouts is not the best platform for meeting someone. Skype has far superior functionality. 

Oh, and he had a photo, too. It was not the same man . . . unless the first photo was a fake. It wasn't nearly so difficult. I said, "I don't do hangouts with people I don't know. Thanks anyway." He continued to send me invites to these chat sessions with 20 other females involved! I'm not impressed or inclined to join the party. I blocked him today.

The combination of these two events made me realize that there could be things under this platform. I have extensive experience with things under floors. They tend to be unpleasant. Some have multiple legs that are all crooked. They have fat bulging bodies and bulging eyes and they jump in ways you can't predict and don't usually want. 

Hang on a second while I check around my chair. 

I don't want to appear unfriendly. I'm actually rather likable, on my good days. However, I'm just a bit hesitant about adding any more planks to this platform. I mean, I know I have to build the thing. I just really hope that that Prince doesn't do Twitter or Facebook.