Find Your Why: Keep Writing When the Going Gets Tough
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Are you stuck in your draft? Does plotting feel like it’s taking you in circles rather than showing you the way through?
Saying writing is hard feels obvious in a “the sky is blue” way, but it’s worth repeating. And so we will. As editors, the two of us have worked with many authors who have found themselves struggling with a story idea. As writers ourselves, we’ve been in those lows, too. From both perspectives, we can tell you that the best way to get through being stuck is to go back to your “why”—what drives you to write? If you don’t have a strong why yet, we’ll share with you three important questions you can ask yourself to find your why, the motivation that will see you through the ups and downs of this book and the next.
Finding Your Why
An idea is magical. It sends sparks flying into the ordinary, flinting sunlight and color, making kaleidoscopes of the most commonplace days. But then come the drafts, the multiple revisions, the critique, and somewhere along the way, the idea tarnishes, like silver you’ve handled too much. Instead of being something bright and exciting, this idea has become a problem, and no amount of beat sheets, character interviews, and structures seem to bring the spark back alive.
What’s tough to remember is that this is the natural lifecycle of an idea. New ones are ethereal, exciting, but as you work with them, they develop and become solid through description, plotting, and the sheer hard work of putting them on the page. There is less excitement, but, as with all beautiful works of art and relationships, intent is what makes them meaningful, if not profound. What you do with the idea is far more important than how it feels while you are working with it.
Of course, we’re always writing for ourselves first, and there’s a lot of joy to be found here. But if we’re going to write for other people, we have to handle our ideas a lot more than we would if they were just for us. Any kind of writing is work, and as someone who’s been working on the umpteenth draft of a book that I hope will be on submission to publishers soon, I’ll be the first to say that sometimes even the best work is difficult.
If you’re finding it hard to make decisions in your book or your characters aren’t doing what you think they should, it’s probably time to take a step back to find your why. Your why will give you all the perspective you need to keep going when writing is rough. Here’s how to find that why.
What do you want to say?
When you started your book, you might have had a sentence’s worth of inspiration or maybe just a few words, whether it was a character, a scene, or a snatch of dialogue. Since then, it’s likely unfolded into a much bigger conversation, full of complexities, plot threads, and arcs. At the heart of it, though, what do you want to say in this book? If someone asked you what your book was about—what’s it’s really about—what would you tell them? Put another way, if you could say anything to someone and you knew they were going to listen closely, what would you say?
We often talk about theme as a way to brainstorm and revise, but themes can also point you towards your why. A book is a conversation with a reader. What do you want to tell them, and why? You can go as deep as you like with this, but the deeper the why, the more grounding you’ll have when draft number four is making you question if you know the first thing about writing.
Who do you want to talk to?
Any conversation has to have at least one other person in it. As you craft your book, you should be thinking about who that person is. While you’re laying in plot threads and braiding character and plot, think about the one person who needs to hear what you have to say. Do you write for kids or adults? Do you write for those who are ambitious or heartbroken? Do you know why you’re writing for them over others? Whether it’s someone you know in real life or a composite of several people, the clearer picture you have of that person, the easier it is to talk to them in a way they’ll hear it. Instinctively, you’ll begin to make choices that invite them into your story.
This question and the previous one are inextricably linked, and you might find that you know this answer before you know the other one. Sometimes that person is crystal clear in your mind. You’ve meet them or you were them once upon a time. If a person is your why, if you already know who you want to talk to, ask yourself this: What can you tell them that they won’t hear from anyone else?
What does success look like to you?
The two of us here at Ground Crew make a point of asking writers, “What does success look like to you?” Many authors haven’t wrapped words around this yet. You can talk about readers and marketing until the cows come home, but will you recognize success when it comes? Some goals are too generic and loose to be useful: Get a book published. Get paid to write. For the first, almost anyone can publish a book nowadays. Getting more specific about what publication means to you is a stronger push as you consider the shape of success. Is it a number of copies or printings? Being able to hold the book in your hands or giving it to your family and friends? Opening your first fan letter? Getting specific about being paid can go the same way. Is success going full-time or being able to treat yourself a nice coffee every week?
Simply put, success can take all different forms, but it’s important to know for yourself what it looks like. Knowing this can point you to your why as well. Why do you want to write? Is it to encourage someone to keep going? Is it to make a living with your passion? Is it to meet other creative people? Deciding this can help you see the finish line you’re striving for.
The Race Goes to the Relentless
If you can find your why, the only thing in your way as a writer is your dedication to that why. If that why is strong enough, it will see you through innumerable drafts, scathing feedback, rejections, and disappointments. I came across this quote a while back, and it has been a bright light in many dark nights of the manuscript:
“Do not give up. The race goes to the relentless.” —Kate DiCamillo
Let your why make you relentless in all that you do.
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