When we look at the writing-related skills and insights we need to learn, we often find it easier to understand lessons about the tangible aspects of our career. For example, craft skills about grammar or plot events can seem more straightforward to learn than skills about theme or voice.

Developing our skills for elements like theme, voice, motifs, style, mood, character likeability, etc. often feels more intangible. The “rules” or guidelines that might help us know what to do are less clear—or missing entirely—and practice alone is less likely to be enough for us to get things right.

Understanding what branding means for writers is similarly intangible. We don’t necessarily fully grasp what branding is at all, much less what our brand is or how to develop our brand.