The start of a new year always comes with a sense of new beginnings and a refreshed attitude. Making resolutions to write more and finish that novel go hand-in-hand with renewed energy. The problem is making that energy last beyond the second week. Sticking to those resolutions until they are fulfilled or underway and part of a new routine.
The easiest way to start again is to remind yourself why writing is important to you. Why do you want to write? Why do you want to spend your time putting words on the page? Why are you willing to spend hours searching for the right words to express what is in your head?
If you don’t know why, your motivation will wither and die. There’s nothing to inform it. There’s no substance to your desire. It’s all fluff and fanciful dreams. And, while writing may come from imagination and dreams, it needs more than those to survive. It needs a purpose, like any other endeavor humans undertake. You need to understand why telling stories on the page matters to you.
This is no different than the reasons you need for writing characters with purpose and agency. It’s the same thought process behind writing strong characters and story. Every action must follow a desire. You can’t have characters wandering about without purpose. Something has to inform their decisions—some deep-seated desire, an external force pushing them forward, a mission, a duty, a sense of honor. What is moving you toward your goal? What will get your butt in that seat every day so you can put words and sentences together? What will help you follow through until you’ve told a complete story from beginning to end?
Find that reason and you will move forward in your goal this year. Find your writing “why” and you will find your purpose and have a higher chance of succeeding in reaching your goals.
In the next blog, we’ll look at concrete steps to take to move forward in your freelance business and writing goals. Until then, meditate on why you write. Know your reasons. Commit them to paper.