There is no 'Right way' to write...part 2

...so why can't we stop ourselves looking for one? Part 2: Why do you write?

As a creative writing mentor I am often asked to define the ‘right way’ of doing something, especially when people have a preconceived idea in terms of what it is they have to write. The most common of these is I think evidenced in the vast numbers of people who believe they must write a novel. If they don’t, how can they call themselves ‘a writer’…?

In many ways trying to divine the ‘correct way’ to execute our craft is to put the proverbial ‘cart before the horse’. Rather, the first challenges one should address are not outwards towards your work, but inwards toward yourself.

For me there are three fundamental questions that need to be posed before you go on to contemplate what you are writing and how you are writing it. Not only do the majority of us fail to recognise these questions, we rarely pose them to ourselves. But we should; they are the way-markers to which we should return again and again throughout our writing lives. Why? Because the answers can change over time - and because how you answer them can inform what you should or should not be writing.

Question 1: Why do you write?

Have you ever asked yourself that - and done so seriously and honestly? Most writers write because it’s something they’ve always done, writing takes them to their happy place etc. But there are many more answers, most less superficial or ‘easy’. On its own, this is a simple fact that - in the context of these posts - contributes to the proof that when it comes to writing there is no ‘right’ answer. [Spoiler alert: there are no ‘right’ answer to questions 2 and 3 either..!]

This is one of the reasons I cannot stomach ‘How To’ books; if it was that easy, we’d all be doing it. Writing is not a commoditisation exercise!

So, why do you write? What drives you to sit down and spend time stringing words together, irrespective of genre, poetry or prose, fiction or non-fiction etc.?

Here are some possible answers -

- and undoubtedly there are many more.

Defining the core motivation behind why we do what we do is, I would argue, absolutely fundamental in understanding our authorial make-up - and one which can, and probably should, help steer what we choose to write.

A trivial example. Let’s say you are crystal clear that you write in order to make money and for no other reason. A perfectly valid answer. But against that motivation, if all you write are limericks, or poetry, or news snippets for your local newspaper, then unless you are very, very lucky - or incredibly talented - what you are writing will never satisfy your reason for writing. The ‘why’ and the ‘what’ will be out of alignment - and alignment of your answer to what you are writing is key to being the best and most contented writer you can be.

Very many people - myself included - write in order to make sense of the world. Many others will write to better understand themselves. If the latter, you can easily see how writing memoir might align very nicely that that core motivation…

My premise is that in order to be the most effective and happy writer you can be, you need to be undertaking the most appropriate projects which will fit you as an individual/writer - and that the way to define all of that is to honestly challenge your understanding of yourself.

So, question one: “Why do you write?” Homework: go away and come up with an honest assessment, one you know to be true - not one you think is ‘right’ or expected of you. Truthfully, why do you write? Once you have an answer you’re happy to stand behind then we can move on…

Next time, Question 2…

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