Defining Your Why

Have you ever stopped to consider why you write or why you feel pulled toward a particular writing project? Have you gone deep with the question and answered truthfully?

You might be thinking, “Rachelle, why on earth would I want to do that?”

Defining your reasons for tackling the page is how to stay honest with yourself. As anyone who has tackled the page knows (and if you’re reading this, you know!), enthusiasm for a project can flag after a few chapters. The work of writing and the (sometimes) drudgery of trying to get the words on the page to fit the glorious picture in your head can often be enough to make the best of us close the laptop or put down the pen. Defining your Why can help you refocus daily. Your Why can be that sustaining fire that carries you through a first, second and third draft—all the way through the final edits and publication of your book.

Your reasons for writing can be noble or not. Do you want to leave a legacy? Do you want to exact revenge? Do you want to prove to your old Freshman composition teacher that you can write after all? Do you have a story or message that only you can tell?

Make a list of the reasons you’re determined to do this very difficult thing. Include the secret reasons—the ones that feel wrong or not very writerly. The ones that feel so raw and true that you would not want to appear in in your posthumous biography. Refer to this list often. Keep the fire lit. 🔥