Why Do You Write?

I’m sure the other girls have talked about this question, but I want to talk about it in terms of process. Every writer should ask themselves why they write because it impacts how you approach writing. (Hint: there’s no One True Way.)

Do you want to tell a good story above all? Chances are you approach writing plot-first. You may want to try outlining.

Do you write because you have something to say? You definitely want to try outlining to make sure what you’re writing says what you want it to.

What about if you have a character who won’t leave you alone? Do some prewriting to see who s/he is and what s/he is about, maybe, or try pantsing as a way to explore the character and find the story attached to him/her.

For me personally, I write because I don’t know what I want to say. I write to explore ideas and figure out what I think about things. So I tend to approach stories through themes. For a long time I would think I knew what I wanted to say and outline accordingly, but lately I’ve come to realize that’s not quite true–I write to give myself voice and figure out what. I’m trying to be less strict about the outlining as a result and have even written out of order, which has been freeing. In fact, I’m considering pantsing a project for Nanowrimo as an experiment!

Knowing yourself as a writer is super important for process but also for general issues like, what genre should I write? I love to read fast-paced commercial books, but I can’t write them to save my life.  I get sidetracked by literary devices and deep questions of meaning because of how I approach writing at all. Yet I’ve still TRIED to plot fast-paced commercial books. And gnashed my teeth when they didn’t work out. I could’ve saved myself a lot of trouble.

I know this probably sounds really basic and “duh” but if you’re a new writer and don’t know where to start, or if you’re a more experienced writer who’s feeling stale and wants to try something new–it’s all about, as I said in my last post, intentionality.

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