Keeping The Horse in Front of The Cart

When I wrote Building a Writers Platform, I was asked to go into more detail on how to promote a novel (or any other book) on a tight budget. However, to be honest I am not sure what more I can add on the subject. There is the fact that I am taking steps to form a side business producing “Book Trailers” that will use short videos to promote primarily Novels. This will take some doing and yet, the wheels are in motion! I will demonstrate a book trailer from You Tube as a example of what I have I mind, even though the ones I plan to produce will be shorter ( about 30 seconds in length) and will be more cost effective.

This Hub is about setting priorities and managing your time. It has been said countless times before; time is money so the wiser you use time, the less money you will waste! Like a lot of other online writers, I have discovered that if you want to make a living online, or for that matter as a writer, you must wear many hats.

The challenge is to find creative ways to promote your writing while doing all the other activities you need to do. For me, it has become necessary to find ways to connect every thing I write online together. It does not mater if you are a copywriter, a poet, working on a novel or all of the above. It is important to find ways to link all of that together. Everything you do online should be connected and have a purpose. The different styles you write may not seem to have any common ground and yet, I am willing to bet you can find a way to tie them all together with a neat little bow.

Let us peek at my own hubs for a moment, for I do tend to write all over the map. Even in confessing this, I know I can find a common thread that unites them. Maybe, even many threads. I have written about self-publishing, fishing, several aspects of Christianity, Horror and the history of the Toltec and the Mayan Civilizations. I have also written about promoting your writing and now, about organization and setting priorities. Oh yea, I cannot forget my Fear of Homelessness!

Now, for my next trick; I will show you how they all fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

The first ingredients are patience and faith.I seen you all out their scratching your heads at this one. You are asking yourself, how does patience and faith tie all these subjects together. Well, each one of these topics depends of patience and faith to a degree. As a writer, you are already aware that you need patience (or perseverance may even be a better word). This is also true with fishing, a seasoned fisherman develops over time the faith that his knowledge and tactics will pan out. He must have perseverance or patients. He also must be vey observant. He must observe the signs of nature and learn to read the water.

The same is true in any form of writing or in the practice of Christianity. Being observant can help you become a better writer and…a better Christian! Now when it comes to Horror, the greatest Horror I know of, is a separation from God. Also, being homeless can be a form of horror and my pet werewolf, in my Howling Heart “Horror Parable” does become homeless at one point… I am getting a little getting carried away here by revealing part of the plot of my book whoops, my bad!

Are you starting to get my point, you need to find ways to connect all of your efforts together? No matter how disconnected they may appear to be at first glance, you can find ways to fuse them together! Another thing I do is I write a business journal, log diary or what ever. I have even know of writers who call these writings a Book of Shadows which kind of threw me off, the first time I seen this use of this term. The reason for this is that Book of Shadows is an Occult form of diary that Witches use in keeping records of there spells and other spiritual activities.

Personal, I see my journal as a cyber wall I use to bounce ideas off of. You can use it as a way to chart your activity. The one I wrote actually started as a “Five Year Business Plan” then “morphed” right in front of my eyes into digital drawing Board! The main thing is that I have found it vey useful for my self to keep tract of my thoughts and different methods I may experiment with in my writing.

All of these ramblings have been leading up to my GRAND FINALLY, my so-called secret weapon in organizing methods! It is something that can be applied to almost any form of business endeavor. It something called a CPR but not the type of CPR one may use to revive someone life. Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation is a technique used to help get a victim breathing again or restart the heart when it has stopped. Just as the more commonly known CPR is, a technique used to revive the heart and in so save a life, the CPR I am speaking of can revive a business or writing project by helping you evaluate your goals and help set your priorities!

This CPR I speak of stands for Context, Purpose and Results. This is a simple guide or chart that can help you keep the “horse in front of the cart” OR first things first if you prefer. If you invest the time in using this tool, I believe you will discovery its potential the first time you apply it!

To better understand how you can use this CPR, let us make sure we understand the meaning in the words. I will refer to the Merriam Webster’s Desk Dictionary to give the precise definition of the words. First, we will look at Context n “connection of words, coherence, to weave together the parts of a disclosure that surrounds a word or passage and help to explain its meaning. Also, the circumstances surrounding an act or event.” What I would like to focus on is the seconded part of the definition, “the circumstances surrounding an act of event.”

The way this exercise is designed to work, is to be sort of a written meditation. You meditate on the circumstance for the particular project you are about to embark on. What are your motives for the project? The Context is your first concern. What I do to help aid myself, is write that on the left hand side of the page, followed by the description of the situation I want to address.

Then, I deal with the Purpose of the project. Once again, we glance at the trusty old’ dictionary-n 1. “An object or result aimed at.” Okay, that works for me, for it sets it up to lead neatly to the Results the finally! However, the dictionary does not stop there. It goes on to use words like INTENTION RESOLUTION and DETERMINATION! Some of my favorite words! Now on to the most important part, the Results! What is it that you want to accomplish from the project? I like the third definition of the word the best for the way I intended it. “Something obtained by calculation or investigation.” . However, to make certain you grasp this concept I have added my own personal CPR that I used in writing a hub I was stuck on. Here it is, in all its glory, a CPR I wrote when I was stuck on one of my The Feathered Christ Series.

The Feathered Christ - CPR

CONTEXT: I have been attempting to write a rebuttal to the whole “The Mayan knew the end of time” BS going on right now, with the conclusion being that the Bible says that only God the Father knows the time of the end.

PURPOSE: To give people a better understanding of the Mayan and Toltec perspective, what they prophesied (if any thing) and how will the world really end.

RESULTS: To calm people down, help them understand the hype around the 2012 thing and what the Bible has to say on the subject. Also, to supply an informative and entertaining insight into some of most fascinating (in my opinion) Civilizations the world has every known!

Are you starting to see how powerful this little tool can be? It is a way to Jump-start any kind of project you are planning, be it cleaning the bathroom or writing the great American (or any other country) Novel! Three powerful words which can help make more precise and simplified planning!