Your Writing Journey Starts with Your Purpose
Writing is a journey that requires a commitment of time, energy, and heart. Obstacles, setbacks, and detours are plentiful. Knowing "why" you chose to embark on this journey will be what carries you when the going gets tough.
In this blog post, I'll discuss three questions you can ask yourself to help you get clear on your why, and I'll share a creative writing exercise to help you explore who you are as a writer.
Let’s hop to it!
YOUR PURPOSE IS THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR WRITING JOURNEY
Three of the top struggles I hear about from writers are 1.) trouble getting started, 2.) finding the motivation/inspiration to keep going, and 3.) the inability to finish.
Basically, writing a book in general is a monumental struggle.
Reasons run the gamut from “not having enough time” to “lost confidence.” If this resonates with you, I’d like you to avoid tangling yourself up with figuring out methods on HOW to finish and instead, focus on WHY you are a writer.
Your purpose is what drives you. Your purpose is what keeps you motivated. Your purpose is what supports and encourages you through the tough spots.
You have to ask yourself:
“Why am I a writer?”
“Why is this story rattling around in my soul?”
“Why is this story keeping me up at night?”
“What do I see myself, as a writer, doing in five years? Ten?”
“How will I feel if I don’t write?”
“How does writing make me feel when it’s going well? When it’s not going so well?”
Your purpose is what drives you. Your purpose is what keeps you motivated. Your purpose is what supports and encourages you through the tough spots. You have to ask yourself: “Why am I a writer?” Read this post by Kate Johnston | Author & Story Coach to learn why it's important to know your writing purpose.
MAKE WRITING A DAILY PRACTICE
Part of establishing a strong foundation for your writing journey is to build a daily practice. When we engage with our creative pursuit every day, we learn A LOT about ourselves and what writing means to us.
Now, I know there are a lot of people who disagree with the notion of writing every day. But in my view, writing is a form of nourishment. Every day, we do self-nourishing things like eating, drinking water, sleeping, socializing, reading, enjoying nature, playing with our kids or pets. All of us do lots of different things every single day as part of our self-care.
Your physical, intellectual, and emotional selves need that daily nourishment to stay healthy. The same is true of your creative self.
Writing every day nourishes your creative self, which heavily involves your mind, heart, and soul.
The outcome of daily writing is a deeper understanding of who you are as a creative. When we begin to dig deep, we learn our values, worldview, strengths, fears, weaknesses, beliefs, and passions.
Those are critical areas that help define who you are and your place in this world. Your creative journey is based on who you are and who you are becoming. You’ll have a clearer vision of your path and your destination.
Your purpose is what drives you. Your purpose is what keeps you motivated. Your purpose is what supports and encourages you through the tough spots. You have to ask yourself: “Why am I a writer?” Read this post by Kate Johnston | Author & Story Coach to learn why it's important to know your writing purpose.
SELF-CARE COMES FIRST, WRITING SUCCESS COMES SECOND
I write every day because I have something on my heart and I need to put it into words. My mind never stops churning. My imagination is constantly at work, seeking, observing, creating. If I didn’t pour the brew out of my cauldron of ideas and onto pages, it would overflow and flood everything in my life.
For a short time, I worried about the quality of my writing. I realized that kept me stuck in an iron-walled zone of comfort and safety. I wasn’t growing because I wasn’t taking chances. I wasn’t taking chances because I feared the Reaper of Creativity.
Things flipped for me when I began to focus on myself first. What about writing makes me giddy with happiness? Why am I willing to get up at 4:00 in the morning just to write? Who do I want to be as a writer? What does writing mean to me? What do I value about writing?
Answers to these questions helped me build a writing system where I was able to nail down time management, confidence, and long-game habits.
MAKE A DECISION TO COMMIT TO YOUR WRITING JOURNEY
You have to DECIDE to commit to your writing journey. This is a concrete deal you make with yourself, either in your secret garden of writing or in a letter to the Writing Fae that watch over you. It must take the form of a statement, a pledge, a promise. WORDS that you can look upon any time you need that reminder.
“I pledge here and now to commit to my writing journey because _______.”
The WHY speaks to your purpose. Why are you committing to this way of life? Do you honestly understand what you’re getting yourself into? Are you aware of just how much blood, sweat, and tears you are about to shed?
Yeah. That’s why understanding your purpose is key.
HONOR YOUR COMMITMENT
This is the hard part because it’s one thing to say you’ll commit and another thing to actually COMMIT. How can you stay accountable to yourself?
Keep your pledge in sight, perhaps go as far as tacking it to a vision or dream board. Read it to yourself every morning as part of your morning routine.
Journal at the end of the day how it went—if you wrote, how it felt, what’s working, what isn’t working. How will you challenge yourself next time? Read your journal entries each week to see the progress you’re making and take note of where you could make adjustments.
Make a writing friend! Get yourself a writing partner, join a writing group, hire a coach or a mentor—someone that you can talk to about your commitment and who will help keep you on your path.
Give yourself some goals. Mix up short-term and long-term goals so that you have something to shoot for on a regular basis. For every goal you set, be sure there is a solid WHY behind that goal and that it aligns with the purpose behind your writing journey! If you don’t know why you’re pursuing it or how this particular goal matters to your overall journey, then there’s not much chance you’ll stick it out if things get rocky.
Keep checking your commitment. Are you still clear on where you want to go? Do you still feel as passionate and as motivated as you did when you first decided to make this commitment?
It’s okay if your motivation and inspiration are waning. It’s okay if your vision has altered in some way. It’s okay if you you want to take a detour or push “pause.” Sometimes, these changes are signs of growth, which means you need to answer the Call to Adventure! Other times, they’re signs that you’re not aligned with the things you’re doing, either because you’re not living by your values, or you’ve sacrificed the wrong things, or the cost you’re paying isn’t worth it.
If this is happening, take a break. Spend some time away from projects that are pressuring you and simply allow yourself to “be,” to ride this wave of chaos and unrest. Journal through anything that comes up for you, and talk to your writing friends.
Eventually, things will sort themselves out and you’ll find yourself in a different spot, either mentally or emotionally, and choices will be made available to you. They may be the same choices you’ve been facing all along, or they may be entirely different.
Trust the process, and listen to your heart.