I have to admit, sometimes I fall out of love with my writing. Maybe I’ve been hard at it for a few weeks and I’ve just run out of steam, or perhaps I’ve sat down one day and just felt stuck. I used to find myself losing my passion one day, and then avoiding my WIP for days, sometimes weeks, because I just wasn’t ‘feeling it’. What I’ve discovered, though, is that the reason I procrastinate and delay is because I’ve forgotten why I’m writing. I have become so focused on the characters, or story line, in my WIP that I’ve neglected my own purpose; my writing purpose.
Why do I write?
I could argue, quite successfully, that I write because I want to tell a story. But that’s not my only motivation. I write because I have something to share with the world. I’ve acknowledged before that the relationship between a writer and a reader is important, and how by tapping into my desire to understand what I want my reader to feel, I become more aware of the key themes within my stories. When I write, I need to know what it is I’m trying to achieve. What is this story really about? Who am I writing it for? What do I hope it will achieve?
Knowing what drives me as a writer means that whenever I do start flagging with my writing goals, I know to go back to basics and remind myself why I’m doing it.
What do I want to achieve by writing?
I write because I want to understand the world, and seek to explore it through multiple sets of eyes (let’s face it, that’s why I’m also such a voracious reader). My stories typically tend to have people discovering things about themselves they didn’t know to begin with – whether that is a new sense of resilience; a secret that is revealed; or a surprising emotion. Not surprisingly one of my core values happens to be personal growth. This is what I am doing when I write: I am teaching my characters how to grow, and hopefully, by extension demonstrating to readers that they have these capabilities too. I write to inspire; to help people see that change is possible and how positive it can be.
How do I know if I’ve been successful?
So, when I look back over a piece of writing – perhaps one that I am ambivalent about – this is what I look for; does it deal with change? Will it help people who are afraid of change see that it can be a good thing? In the end, will it leave a reader reflecting on my character’s development and compare it to their own?
Usually, if I’m missing these elements, that why I don’t feel the writing. It doesn’t fit with my writing purpose. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad piece of writing, but rather than it’s not a piece that I am in love with, not one that I could spend time developing and still enjoy the process despite the many hours I spend in it.
With a better comprehension of why I write, I’m more capable of determining what drives me to write. Without this acknowledgement of my writing purpose, I used to try and write anything and everything that I thought of; I’d spend hours on a short story that wasn’t true to what I believed; I’d write whole novels and then feel bad for stuffing them into a drawer without realising that the reason I wasn’t passionate about them was because they weren’t the type of novels I wanted to write.
Reinvigorate your writing!
I’ve never been more in love with my writing than I am now. And that’s because I am working on things that fulfil me as a writer – that speak about the stories I want to tell, that share with a reader a message I want them to understand. But be aware, that it takes time to find your purpose. So, if you’re not sure you’ve found it, experiment, observe, be mindful of your response to your writing, and it will slowly emerge and become clearer.
The great thing about understanding all of this is that when you do find yourself lagging, you can tap back into this writing purpose and feel reinvigorated. You’re reminded that your writing has a purpose, a greater one than just telling a story. You can feel when it’s happening and know that’s why the words are flowing. It is your raison d’etre, and knowing it can drive you forward and fuel your writing passion.
Now try this!
To help identify your writing purpose try these tips:
What do you most love reading?
Generally, this can give you a nod in the right direction as to what it is you want a reader to experience – because you want to experience it too. Look for common themes, the satisfaction you get at the end of the story – what has it been about for you? What will you take away?
What do you most love writing?
Identify a piece of writing that you loved working on – that perhaps you still love working on. What is it about the piece that speaks to you? What is it really about? Why does it excite you as a reader?
Troublesome Piece?
Now, examine a piece of writing you’ve perhaps fallen out of love with; does it achieve what you want? What’s missing? How could you add a little bit of what you’ve found in the two exercises above to this story? Does this encourage you to keep working on it?