Ep 182: Write to Discover Your Reason for Writing
If you\u2019ve read On Being a Writer, you know my coauthor Charity Singleton Craig and I start with identity\u2014claiming we are writers. I told the story of the university publication that accepted my first poetry submissions. They asked for a bio. I looked at examples from a previous issue I\u2019d purchased. The poets talked about why they write.\n\n\u201cWithout overthinking it, I scribbled out, \u2018I write, because no one listens to me.\u2019\u201d1\n\nUntil I wrote it out, I don\u2019t think I realized why I was penning poems and pursuing the life of a writer. But when forced to express it in writing, there it was. At that nascent stage of my writing career, I simply wanted to be heard.\n\nYour reason for writing can be as simple as that\u2014to have a voice. That may always be what drives you to the keyboard. But it can change over time. It\u2019s been a few years\u2014a few decades, if I\u2019m honest\u2014since I first identified my reason for writing. Over time, my purpose, my motivation\u2014my reason\u2014has changed, and changed again.\n\nIt pays to revisit this question of why you write and see if your reasons have morphed. Because when you know why you write, you can stay focused and motivated. You can run decisions through the filter of your primary purpose.\n\nHow to discover it? Through writing.\nWhy Do You Write?\nMost of this exploratory work can happen in our private writing, like journals, rather than in public forums, like a blog or an essay. But you may find that an essay or poem intended for publication ends up effectively verbalizing your purpose.\n\nWriting invites us to grapple with unspoken desires and tap into our driving forces. When we write, we not only unearth our purpose, but we articulate it.\n\nI\u2019m going to give you a couple of prompts to help you find your reason for writing\u2014for being a writer.\n\nYou might answer them in a single sentence without a pause because you know exactly why you\u2019ve turned to writing.\n\nOr you might look at these and realize you\u2019re not at all sure why you write.\n\nOr you might end up writing paragraphs in search of the answer. You might unearth multiple reasons that suggest more than one motivation.\n\nGet them down on paper. Write them out.\nWrite to Discover Your Reason for Writing\nYou\u2019ll understand yourself better. You\u2019ll realize why you\u2019re drawn more to one project than another. You\u2019ll have a way to decide where to focus your resources.\n\nAnd keep in mind that your purpose doesn\u2019t have to be noble or big. Let\u2019s say you decided to try writing a thriller on a dare from your best friend and it\u2019s fun. That\u2019s a reason for writing. You might want to see your name in a publication, to make money, or to be known as a subject matter expert. Those are all reasons for writing.\n\nYou could work your discoveries into some sort of personal mission or vision statement, or a manifesto. Or going through this process may simply make you more aware of what\u2019s driving you to write. It will ground you.\n\nYou can play around with this. Jot out ridiculous answers and see how they look on paper. Make yourself laugh. Maybe, well, maybe that\u2019s why you write\u2014to entertain first yourself and then, others.\n\nWrite to discover your reason for writing.\nThe Prompts\nNow here are the simple prompts to get you started:\nI write because __________.\nOR\nI write to _____________.\nYour response can be honed down to a few phrases. For example:\n\n \tI write because I can\u2019t not write.\n \tI write because I love words.\n \tI write because I have important observations to share.\n \tI write to become famous.\n\nMaybe you write in response to this and discover a specific reason based on curiosity, industry knowledge, or some personal experience\u2014joyful or tragic\u2014that ignites a passion, like:\n\n \tI write to explore the deepest reasons people lie.\n \tI write to bring underreported historical events to light.\n \tI write to explain creative organizational solutions.\n \tI write because I love sharing my frugal travel discoveries.