Why writers write is the mother of all questions.
You might not have your answer at the onset of your writing journey, or your answer is in flux as your relationship with the craft evolves. Ponder gently, resolutely; ponder with intention.
Here are the three tips on finding your why.
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Scale down
Do your search for an answer pertinent to a specific piece of writing you are currently working on—why do you want to write this? Let it germinate. Distil. Repeat with another piece of writing until it’s convincing, concise and clear.
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Be curious
Let your favourite authors inspire you—how did they answer their big why?
For example, one of my favourite authors, Jeanette Winterson, in her memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? said:
It’s why I am a writer—I don’t say ‘decided’ to be, or ‘became’. It was not an act of will or even conscious choice. To avoid the narrow mesh of Mrs Winterson’s story I had to be able to tell my own. Part fact part fiction is what life is. And it is always a cover story. I wrote my way out.
George Orwell intellectualized his answer in his essay Why I Write. He narrowed it down to four pillars: political purpose, historical impulse, sheer egoism and aesthetic enthusiasm.
Another one of my cherished authors Lidia Yuknavitch, in her memoir The Chronology of Water, said:
Writing, she is the fire of me. Where stories get born from that place. Where life and death happened in me. She carries me and will be the death of me.
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Write
As mundane as it sounds, writers write. Write like there is no tomorrow, write as if your life depends on it, write till you no longer can. Write impulsively, write for self-reflection, write to make sense of that insatiable burning that urges you to write. Trust yourself, and the answer will present itself.
Happy writing!