Why Am I Here? What Is My Purpose?

A few years ago, my oldest son had surgery, and after almost eighteen hours without something to eat, he wanted food fast…not fast food necessarily…but good food fast. We spotted a Raising Cane’s, and he said he’d eaten there, and that he’d enjoyed it, so we headed that way.
In this ageof being everything to everybody, I was surprised to find nothing but chickentenders on their menu. Yes, they sold a few side items, Texas toast, cole slaw, etc, but their meat was chicken. But then I realized what a brilliant marketing strategy. They knowwhat they do well—fried chicken tenders—so why mess with a good thing? Their chicken was delicious, so, yes, this is one instance where less was definitely more!


Asfreelancers, we can take a lesson from Raising Cane’s. We’re pulled in so manydirections: writing, marketing, social media, taking care of the business sideof writing, just to name a handful of tasks. I've been at this gig a while, and it doesn't matter where you are along this journey of writing, you wear all the hats, in addition to holding down a public job and raising afamily or helping out with grandchildren and/or elderly parents.
The onething I’ve learned (am still learning) is that I needto focus on the dream, the one thing that got me into this crazy, excitingbusiness in the first place.

So what’sthe answer? Better yet, what’s the question?

Why am I here? How did I get here?What am I doing here? What is my purpose?

I’m herebecause I’m a writer.

I mustfocus on my craft and creating a good story. Focusing for me means devoting themost creative times of my day to brainstorming, plotting, writing, editing, immersingmyself in my story, and guarding that time very carefully. Writea good story and the rest will follow.

Yes, thecheckbook must be balanced, the website updated, the books mailed out. Themarketing has to be done, the blog tour scheduled, the contract reviewed, the phone answered. Thereare a ton of things demanding an author's attention: blogging, tweeting, sending out a newsletter,hosting a book signing, or speaking every other weekend, attending conferences. But if we don't focus on the one thing that brought us to this place -- writing  -- none of these others things will be needed or even necessary.

I don’t wantto get so caught up in the multitude of things screaming for my attention everyday that I forget to focus on what brought me here.

I’m herebecause I’m a writer.

Keep your focus and keep writing!
I popped over to Amazon and saw that two of my books are on sale for .99 cents, so if you haven't read these, today's a great time to snag copies. Happy reading! And WRITING!

Link to Second Chance Brides on Amazon
Link to Silver Lining on Amazon