Midform

They Told Me Every Writer Needs a LinkedIn Profile

Now I have an identity crisis.

Although I have always enjoyed writing, I didn’t have the time or opportunity to belong to a writers group until after I moved to Maui twelve years ago.

I joined my second and current group here on Big Island in January of 2020, just before Covid disrupted our lives. We continued meeting online via Facebook Messenger.

Not a big challenge because I already used Facebook.

But then in November 2020, I found Medium. “Wow!” I said to myself. “I can read (and maybe write?) to my heart’s content!”

I sandwiched Medium in between writing group sessions, just dabbling here and there. But Covid really played games with my motivation. I didn’t really regain much momentum until this spring. Now I’m spending more time trying to learn the ropes here on Medium.

“They” told me that a writer needs a Twitter account. So, I became a Tweeter, but it’s a work in progress.

But the flood of advice that “They” dispense just keeps coming and tends to be littered with a lot of clickbait and nonsense. Teasing out the useful things takes time.

So, when “They” told me writers are using LinkedIn to promote themselves, I had to chew on it.

I’d had invites to join from friends and colleagues over the years, but never took them up on it. Would it really be useful to a writer?

I couldn’t help myself. I looked.

Then I joined, loaded my picture, and began to click on all “the things.” It promptly ate every contact in my computer and invited them all to connect with me. Oops! Didn’t mean to do that and…three whole people responded.

Woot!?

I’ve played with this for several days now trying to fill in all the about me and such, look for writers and writing-related things, and just generally gawking.

But I hit a major stumbling block.

Every time I go back to finish my profile, I hate it. It’s wrong, wrong — all wrong! I delete what I’ve written and start over.

My line of work has changed multiple times in the last 42 years. Which part is important? All of it? The last ten years? Five? Only my writing life? The common threads through it all?

And then I realized…

OH, MY, GOD! Identity Crisis. Who am I? I’m turning sixty soon and I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

Help! I’m clueless.

Key Message: Well, all I can do is appeal to any of you that might be a “They.” Please leave your comments and tell me how you built your LinkedIn profile to showcase yourself as a writer. Thanks in advance!

Taressa has loved fairy tales, fables, and imaginary worlds for as long as she can remember. She began imagining and writing her own in grade school and is compelled to continue. To support her compulsions, she has spent her working world life managing businesses of various types and is now self-employed in the hospitality industry in Hawaii. Currently she lives and writes in Pele’s rainforest with her husband, two dogs, one feral chicken, and an imaginary cat. She writes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and blogs. Some of her current works can be found in the publications Midform, The Lark, Middle Pause, and The Power of Poetry.