This month I’ve been sharing posts focused on crafting your creative identity. We have recently talked about how to identify the narratives that define you as a writer, and how to write your mission statement or short bio. Another component of your creative identity online is how people see you through any photos or videos of yourself that you share. We can think of this simply as your profile photo for social media, or a headshot you share on your website.
So today I want to share some tips on how to create a photo of yourself that you like. Sounds easy, right? Well, it tends to get complex really quickly because we may worry about:
Wanting to hide because we fear being seen in public, and especially on the internet.
Justifying that people’s focus should be on our writing, not us, so we shouldn’t show ourselves.
We have complex relationship with how we look.
We want to present a certain image, but are not sure what that should be, and instead delay.
I often talk about how one’s platform as writer is about communication and trust. Well, faces are one way to develop that trust with readers. We are hardwired to respond to faces: eyes, expressions, etc.
Today’s post dives deep into this topic of how to feel good about sharing a photo of yourself, and how to do so. In my 20-minute video above, I will even show you exactly how to use these tips in action. As a bonus, all of this advice applies to any videos that you may want to make as well.
Are there reasons — really good reasons — why you may not feel comfortable sharing a photo of yourself? Yes! What always comes first is your sense of safety, however you define that. So everything I share here is meant to help you in the process, if you are okay sharing a photo of yourself. If for any reason, you are not comfortable with that, then simply skip this post.
Okay, let’s dig in…
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