Planning for Success

The last couple of days I revamped my website, edited some pages and made it to several yoga class. All of these were things on my "get it done" list, so I feel pretty good about checking them off. I also feel pretty good that I did everything myself--particularly revamping my website. While somewhat technically savvy, I am no webmaster. I relied solely on the "easy builder" program available as part of the hosting platform I chose as well as one quick call to the techie colleague who convinced me I was bright enough to do it myself. So emphatic was he that I not give up the airline miles equivalent to two domestic or one international airline ticket that was to be my payment for web-building services (yes, I am a barterer and proud of it) that he volunteered to do it for free if I failed.

I realize now that I was baited, but the intention good and the job got done. By me!

My website is very simple and temporarily not optimized for touchpad technology (sorry iPad), but it gives me, my company, web presence. That's a must in today's business and creative world. I'll jazz it up when there's a budget for that, which, of course, is in the business plan.

Yes, I said it, business plan. To some creative folk creativity and business plans are oxymorons. Two things that have no relationship whatsoever. If the muse wants you to succeed, you succeed. A Business Plan is just a distraction from doing any REAL writing.

If I wasn't creating my own financial freedom, this reasoning might have stuck. But I realize that creativity is nothing without a good plan for what to do with it. I've got lots of pages that attest to that.

A business, whether a creative venture or capital investment, needs a plan. A plan keeps things in perspective. A plan keeps you from wasting too much time. A plan keeps you cognizant of all those areas in which you need to plunge in and do those things that seem impossible--like build a website.

You can check out my company website at www.slavetradepublishing.com. Now, in the words of Jay Z "on to the next one."

-30-

If you write, you know how good typing --30-- is. It means you've finished a manuscript of some sort be it a book, a screenplay, a pilot....I recently typed that on "Flung" the first book in the Whirlwomen Trilogy (out 1/2012) and my first novel-length foray into fantasy fiction. In fact, I finished the book about the same time Steve Jobs made his transition (R.I.P genius). One minute I was jumping on the beds of my hotel room like a seven-year-old, the next I was crying on the edge of it after hearing the news about Jobs on the BBC.

For the next 24 hours, I was more obsessed with reading about Jobs and catching snippets of his speeches on the news, than reveling in the fact that I'd finished another book. I inundated myself, with the help of the rest of the Mac loving world, with Jobs' quotes on creativity, management, the consumer, life and, yes, daydreamed that through some magical mishap I'd be a beneficiary of a small part of Jobs' fortune which reminded me that, unlike Jobs, I had yet to see any substantial fruits of my labor.

I turned my attention back to my new creation with Stewi in my head saying: "You know you're just procrastinating because the real work has yet to be done. I'd bet Bryan's book is better than yours." And that evil little laugh.

A finished book, is not a finished book until its been read and re-written so many times that if you're in a busy deli and they call out "174!" you think "that's the page where the shape-shifter stuck in the form of a rat realizes his soul's been snatched" AND you discovered you morphed his name into something different than what's on page 82. You may also remember that means your sandwich is up.

The mourning is over and that process is underway. It's almost as exciting as finishing, especially when I read through bits of it that actually shut that infernal Stewi/editor in my head up and make the corners of my mouth curl north. "Hey!" I think "Maybe one genius had to go to make room for another," then I LOL until I have to go and pee. Then its back to the Mac.