119T – Knowing Your WHY Will Change Your Writing

Today's episode is taken from a live writing workshop I taught at my church in Malmö, Sweden, in November 2018. In this first portion of the talk, I discuss the “why” of your writing and how that “why” will help you choose topics and stories that will impact your audience to a greater degree. (See the entire brilliant clip of comedian Michael Jr. on his YouTube channel here.) Knowing your “why” will also help you to write better, choosing more impactful words and phrases and constructing your manuscript in more interesting and compelling ways.

But how do you know if you're “doing it right?” If anyone tells you after reading your work that they understood and/or were moved, that's a good sign that you're getting through. If the reactions are more “meh” and “I think I understood” then you probably have more work to do.

I also mention the fruits of the Spirit as mentioned in the Bible – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – and talk about how each of those sentiments can be a way to better reach a certain audience. For instance, if you're writing to a group of stressed new mothers you'd want to write with a tone of peace rather than a “telling you what to do” attitude, even while getting across the same information.

The full 2-hour workshop will be available soon for Patreon subscribers only. 😀