What's your why?

If you want to make progress, answer this "simple" question.

I want to ask a simple question that a surprising number of authors cannot answer: Why do you write?

Don't shrug this question off.

I want you to really sit with it, because knowing the answer is key to making progress. Progress in your life. Your art. Your writing. All of it. But you have to take the question seriously.

So, really, why do you do it? Why do you suffer for hours in front of the computer typing away on a story that someone may never read? Why do you insist on writing just a little bit longer despite life’s attempts to pull your attention away? Notifications, pings, bills, family, your cell phone! Why do you do it?

I’ll help you out a little bit. Here’s a list of incorrect answers:

• I write because I want to be a New York Times Bestselling Author.

• I write because I want to be famous.

• I write because I want to make money.

Sorry, friend. These are not whys.

These are goals. And your writing is a vehicle with which to reach those goals.

So let’s try this again. Why do you write? What are these goals in service of? What are you trying to accomplish at the end of the day?

Image created with DALL·E 3 Man sitting at computer with a concerned expression

I apologize to anyone I might be stressing out. And if that’s you, then good, because your stress is a sign that some of your most fulfilling work is still ahead of you.

Finding out your why is critical to making progress, because until we know it, we’re essentially walking around in the dark. If you don’t know your why, everything looks like a target and you’ll keep swinging your pen like a tiny baseball bat trying to make contact with whatever moves. If you don’t know your why, you’re at risk of wasting your time, your money, and your energy on the wrong things.

So how can we tell the difference between a WHY and a GOAL?

There’s a simple trick for telling the difference between a why and a goal:

• One can be completed. ✅

• One cannot.

Still confused? Let’s look at an example. You’re walking around a writing convention, and you overhear two people talking about why they write:

• [Alison]: “I write because I want to be a New York Times Bestselling Author.”

• [Janice]: “I write because I find connection with people when moving them emotionally with my words.”

Understand the difference? Alison’s example is a goal. We know this because it’s something that can be checked done ✅ (albeit not very easily, but still, becoming a bestselling author has a start and an end). Janice, on the other hand, has given a great example of a why, and you know it’s a why because it’s not something that can be completed. It’s lifelong. It’s inherent to who she is. It’s at her core. She writes because she finds connection when moving people emotionally.

So, cool, how is this information valuable?

Like I said, if you don’t know your why, everything is a target. The writer that’s out there just trying to be a New York Times Bestselling Author hasn’t done anything to narrow their field of focus. If that’s the goal in front of you, good luck. There are about a thousand miles between you and your dream, and there’s not much water in the publishing Sahara. But the author that knows their why can shorten the distance between them and their goals considerably. They can design goals that are fulfilling. They can make forward progress and start achieving things they never thought they were capable of, and it’s simply because they’ve narrowed their field of focus.

Because she knows her why, Janice can easily start checking things off her to-do list. For example:

• Join a writer’s group

• Self-publish a novel and host a book launch reading

• Volunteer to read her work for a nonprofit organization

• Attend an open mic night

All of these goals may seem humble when compared to seeing your name in the New York Times. But they speak to her why, which means she’s going to have a much higher sense of fulfillment pursuing them.

Alison on the other hand is going to have a much harder time, and probably a lot less fun. Her to-do list includes:

• Write a New York Times Bestselling Novel

• Find an agent

• Get published by one of the “Big Five”

I’m not saying this is impossible. Plenty of people still accomplish this massive milestone. All I’m suggesting is that Alison might do herself a favor if she really asked herself why she writes in the first place. If she did, she might actually find that there are some better goals for her to set her sights on.

Interested in finding your own why?

Simon Sinek wrote the book on WHY. No really. And he has a great little trick for folks who are curious about taking their first step. I highly recommend watching his video below.

Until next time.