Clarify Your ‘Why’

Megan is such a great writer and thoughtful teacher. I’m so excited to welcome her today. 

If you are a paid member, I recommend reading the Writing section of How To Become a Successful Author or the Making Great Content section of How to Build Your Creative Career to help give this article context.

If you are not a paid member, you can read everything with a 7-day free trial, or give us a one-time tip.

I met several years ago when we were tabling next to each other at Wondercon in Anaheim, and became fast friends. I love their fiction work, and I love their non-fiction work. We both write portal fantasy, too, and it’s a small community. We have to stick together.

I love this article, and can’t wait to share it with you.

What are you doing?

No, seriously. What are you doing? Maybe more importantly, why are you doing it?

Do you even know?

Writing is a tough gig. At least, it’s tough if you want to make an income doing it. Both art and business, creative and logical.

The artistic side of our brain shouts at us to make great art. We are the masters of the imaginary world between our fingers and the screen. We focus on craft, story structure, character development, world building…ALL THE THINGS unique to our chosen profession.

The business side of our brain says we need to “write to market,” to write faster, produce more, be on social media, create ads, schedule posts, go to events, engage with readers, write newsletters…ALL THE THINGS that will help our books find an audience of rabid fans.

There’s too much. Plain and simple.

So I ask again…What are you doing and why are you doing it?

Have you ever really spent time thinking about it?

I would argue most authors haven’t. They know they want to write. They know they want to make money writing (full-time or not). And then, they go for it.

That’s awesome. Truly. I think that’s how we all get started. We have a passion for books and storytelling, and we want to reach readers.

But then things get complicated. The path forward branches into a thousand possibilities. Do you self-publish or pursue an agent and a traditional book contract with a big publisher? If you go indie, do you enroll in Kindle Unlimited and keep your ebooks exclusive to the Amazon platform, or do you publish “wide” at every ebook retailer possible? Should you “rapid release” a series, or set a slower but more consistent publication schedule?

These are just some of the biggest decisions we make as authors. That’s not even taking into consideration all of the daily tasks we face or the distractions. Like the shiny new tactic that’s working for big-name-six-figure author over there.

Doesn’t that look amazing?! You should try that too! If it worked for them, maybe it will work for you!

Right?

Maybe. Or maybe your goals and motivations are different from theirs. Maybe your skill set, lifestyle, health issues, or financial situations are different.

They probably are.

So what do you do? How do you cut through all the advice and all of the possibilities to find the path that’s best for you?

At The Author Wheel, we talk a lot about knowing where you are now, and where you want to end up, in order to map the best path to your desired future.

It’s like a road trip. You know your starting point. Hopefully, you know where you’re trying to go. But the possible routes are nearly endless.

Let’s say you’re starting from Los Angeles. And let’s say you want to go to San Francisco.

You could take the direct route and drive up I-5 the whole way. If you do, you’ll mostly see the butt end of big rigs and a couple of fields as you drive through Central California. Your food options will consist of drive-thru hamburgers or gas station snacks. But that’s the fastest route north. You can make it in about six hours, if you don’t stop and smell the roses along the way.

Now, let’s say this is a vacation. It’s your break from your grueling day job. Do you really want to breathe big rig exhaust for six hours without stopping? Probably not. Instead, you might choose to take the scenic route and travel up the coast. Along the way, you might stop for lunch in Santa Barbara, or go wine tasting in San Luis Obispo. Maybe you want to check out Hearst Castle to see if it’s really as beautiful and ostentatious as everyone says.

Both routes will get you to San Francisco. The scenic route takes a little longer, but depending on how long you spend at each stop on the way, it might only be a few extra hours. Either way, you’ll reach your destination eventually.

So what’s the real difference here? The route is simply the consequence of the underlying motivation.

• Trip A is the most direct. If you have a meeting or event you need to get to and you’re in a hurry, I-5 is the road you’re going to take. (Okay, maybe you’d actually fly, but stick with me.) Speed is your motivation.

• Trip B is more relaxed and arguably more enjoyable. Your motivation is joy. It’s a trip that might help refuel your mind, body, and soul. 

Both are valid. Both are intentional. Both get you to the destination.

Alright, metaphor over, let’s get back to writing. How does this apply?

Writing is a creative activity that doesn’t always happen in a straight line moving logically from point A to point B. There are many winding roads and alternative routes. However, if you understand what you’re trying to achieve, you can say “yes” to the best opportunities, and “no” to the distractions.

Without clarity, we wander. We take wrong turns and get off track. With it, we can choose our route with intentionality.

Before you can map your path to “success” you have to:

1. Figure out your underlying motivation for writing so that you can . . .

2. Define what success actually looks like for you personally and work toward that goal.

Ask yourself:

Why do I write?

What is my primary purpose for writing? What do I want to get out of the journey?

• Is it a full-time six-figure writing income to replace the day job you hate?

• Is it a creative outlet that you hope will earn supplemental income for your family?

• Is it a hobby to fill your retirement days?

• Is it a way to express your own internal struggles, but fictionalized? (Or not, if you’re writing a memoir.)

• What are you looking for? Once you know this, you can start to build systems that make sense for you.

This process is highly personal. Clarity requires self-assessment and brutal honesty.

What do you love? What do you hate? What is your current skill set? What are you willing to learn?

It might sound time-consuming, but it’s worth the effort to sit down and figure out what you’re doing and why. Once your purpose is clear, your path will be easier to see, and with that clarity comes productivity.

Better still, you’ll have productivity with purpose.

You will know what you’re doing, and why.

If you want help clarifying your ‘why,’ you can join The Author Wheel’s free email mini-course, 7 Days to Clarify Your Author Purpose at www.authorwheel.com.

In just 7 days you'll go deep and find your core motivation, then craft a mission statement and tagline for your author brand.

I seriously and highly recommend you check out The Author Wheel. Megan also has a Substack publication called Claify | Simplfy | Implement. I really like things that are named what they are, so if you want those things, I know Megan delivers the goods.

I was also a guest on The Author Wheel podcast. I’m a bit long-winded so they have to break it into two parts, but they are really good parts. PART 1 | PART 2

If you are a paid member, I recommend reading the Writing section of How To Become a Successful Author or the Making Great Content section of How to Build Your Creative Career to help give this article context.

If you are not a paid member, you can read everything with a 7-day free trial, or give us a one-time tip.