By Barrie Davenport
If you would like to harness a deeper sense of purpose and fulfillment around your writing work, here are some suggestions you might consider:
1. Shift your focus. As you begin to write the very first word, shift your focus away from yourself or the thought process of writing and move it to your reader. Ask yourself repeatedly, “How can I serve, and what can I offer my beloved reader?” See the act of writing, not just the finished product, as a gift of love to the world. When you focus on serving, you create a vision for your writing that provides inspiration and direction.
2. Write from the heart. Be real and authentic in your writing. Open yourself to feeling what your readers might be experiencing and respond to their needs as though you were a trusted friend. Put your reader’s needs first, and let your emotions around those needs guide your ideas and words.
3. Share personal stories, even if you do that through a fictional character. Draw from your own experiences and be willing to reveal some of your flaws and failures. If people can relate to you, they can grow and learn from what you have to say. We all love a great story!
4. Be a teacher. People are hungry to learn. Find ways to share new ideas, skills and concepts with your reader without sounding preachy or condescending. Do your research and give them something solid to take away from the experience of reading your writing. Reading for pleasure is great, but reading for pleasure with benefits is even better. I love historical fiction for this very reason.
5. Lift them up and inspire them. In a world fraught with bad news, ugly and horrifying images, and mean-spirited commentary, become a source of vision and illumination. If you believe in some form of divine intelligence or in just plain goodness, imbue your writing with a heavy dose of it. People crave sources of inspiration and hope. Be one of those sources. Let your writing reflect the best parts of your psyche and soul.
6. Make them laugh. If you have ever read a book by David Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day and When You Are Engulfed in Flames), you’ve seen how he can transform the most mundane or pathetic life situation into a laugh-out-loud vignette that is wildly entertaining and fun to read. If you are downright funny or even just a little witty, please share that with the world. We need to laugh and see the humor in the inanities of life. It’s good for the soul.
7. Stay tuned-in and inquisitive. Get out of the house and step away from the computer. Go out and find your readers. Observe and listen to people. Keep a little notebook in your pocket and write down ideas and inspiration you receive from your observations and interactions with people. Ask your readers thoughtful and probing questions about their interests, their worries, and their hopes and dreams. Your readers are your best resource for topics and inspiration, so go out there and meet them.
8. Leave a legacy. Remember Randy Pausch, the professor at Carnegie Mellon University with pancreatic cancer, who wrote The Last Lecture? His real last lecture at Carnegie Mellon was part of a lecture series where top academics were asked to think deeply about what matters to them and give a hypothetical final talk. For Randy, knowing he had a short time to live, it wasn’t hypothetical. His real motivation was to leave a legacy for his children. I don’t mean to sound morbid, but shouldn’t we all have that motivation?
(Taken from The Nearly Ultimate Guide to Better Writing)
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If you would like to harness a deeper sense of purpose and fulfillment around your writing work, here are some suggestions you might consider:
1. Shift your focus. As you begin to write the very first word, shift your focus away from yourself or the thought process of writing and move it to your reader. Ask yourself repeatedly, “How can I serve, and what can I offer my beloved reader?” See the act of writing, not just the finished product, as a gift of love to the world. When you focus on serving, you create a vision for your writing that provides inspiration and direction.2. Write from the heart. Be real and authentic in your writing. Open yourself to feeling what your readers might be experiencing and respond to their needs as though you were a trusted friend. Put your reader’s needs first, and let your emotions around those needs guide your ideas and words.
3. Share personal stories, even if you do that through a fictional character. Draw from your own experiences and be willing to reveal some of your flaws and failures. If people can relate to you, they can grow and learn from what you have to say. We all love a great story!
4. Be a teacher. People are hungry to learn. Find ways to share new ideas, skills and concepts with your reader without sounding preachy or condescending. Do your research and give them something solid to take away from the experience of reading your writing. Reading for pleasure is great, but reading for pleasure with benefits is even better. I love historical fiction for this very reason.
5. Lift them up and inspire them. In a world fraught with bad news, ugly and horrifying images, and mean-spirited commentary, become a source of vision and illumination. If you believe in some form of divine intelligence or in just plain goodness, imbue your writing with a heavy dose of it. People crave sources of inspiration and hope. Be one of those sources. Let your writing reflect the best parts of your psyche and soul.
6. Make them laugh. If you have ever read a book by David Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day and When You Are Engulfed in Flames), you’ve seen how he can transform the most mundane or pathetic life situation into a laugh-out-loud vignette that is wildly entertaining and fun to read. If you are downright funny or even just a little witty, please share that with the world. We need to laugh and see the humor in the inanities of life. It’s good for the soul.
7. Stay tuned-in and inquisitive. Get out of the house and step away from the computer. Go out and find your readers. Observe and listen to people. Keep a little notebook in your pocket and write down ideas and inspiration you receive from your observations and interactions with people. Ask your readers thoughtful and probing questions about their interests, their worries, and their hopes and dreams. Your readers are your best resource for topics and inspiration, so go out there and meet them.
8. Leave a legacy. Remember Randy Pausch, the professor at Carnegie Mellon University with pancreatic cancer, who wrote The Last Lecture? His real last lecture at Carnegie Mellon was part of a lecture series where top academics were asked to think deeply about what matters to them and give a hypothetical final talk. For Randy, knowing he had a short time to live, it wasn’t hypothetical. His real motivation was to leave a legacy for his children. I don’t mean to sound morbid, but shouldn’t we all have that motivation?
(Taken from The Nearly Ultimate Guide to Better Writing)
Be A Learning Spreader. Please Share this post.
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