Finding Your Why

Last week, I discussed Bullseye Editing. In a nutshell, Bullseye Editing is working from the outside (big concept) in (down to the nitty-gritty). The idea is that you write your book with the four "keystones" and, once you have a complete draft, you then edit it with four concentric circles.

For the past five years, my quest has been to improve my craft, with the ultimate goal of traditionally publishing a novel. As with any hero's journey, I was reluctant; I refused the call. Things like, "Learning about writing and editing will take too much time. I should just do it!" or "It will negatively impact my voice," held me back. After I'd completed my novel to where I thought I should be, I sent it out to a newly met critique partner, certain it would be the best thing she'd ever read and would lead to great things.

Lauren became my first mentor on my journey. She handed me a list of "how to" books, and gently told me that my novel and the edits I had made needed vast improvements. One of the sub-quests she put me on was Lisa Cron's Story Genius. And from there, I trekked through various online classes like Dani Abernathy's "Finding Your Roots."

I had never really thought about the impact a writer has on their own work until I read Story Genius and studied some of those classes. One of my favorite quotes came up within them:

"Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there'll always be better writers than you and there'll always be smarter writers than you... but you are the only you." ~Neil Gaiman

Our personal impact on our story influences much more than our voice.

It inspires our exploration of the idea that leads to the novel in the first place. While I hesitate to say it provides the "lesson" your main character should learn, or the "point" of the novel, it's almost always tied into the main character's story arc and brings the story into clarity and focus. Which is why "Finding Your Why" is the first keystone in writing a novel. Knowing why will help with every subsequent step. In a way, it's the compass on our hero's journey.

Finding Your Why, The Compass That Points to Your Novel

So, let's ask ourselves the ultimate question: Why should I write this book?

Did you have an answer? I certainly didn't, at least not in the beginning. That's why this keystone is about "Finding" it.

STEP ONE:

Cron called this first step the "first pinprick." Others have called it the "Spark" or the "Revolving Idea." I call this step the "Inspiration behind the Why."

My first moment of inspiration with An Uncharted Destiny came while walking home alone from the bus stop in high school. Despite being in a normally active subdivision, it was eerily quiet. "Too quiet." By the time I got home, I was spooked. What was worse, my normally full house (two younger brothers, a younger sister, a stay at home mom, and always 1-3 friends) was empty.

That day, I started really dabbling with the idea of all my family and friends just suddenly being gone. That first moment of inspiration spiraled in my head, and came up every time I rode the bus home from then on.

Think about your inspiration. What influences your thought patterns? What is spiraling in your head?

STEP TWO:

With your inspiration in mind, comes step two. The "Why do I care?" step.

At 17, I thought about going out into the world alone. I carried the burden of deciding on colleges and careers and finding a partner in life.

The strange thing I've discovered after setting An Uncharted Destiny down for an extended period, when I came to pick it back up, I needed to do this "Why do I care" step again. Until I embraced my "Why do I care? " I couldn't get excited about the project.

Being 35, I was through college. I'd lived on my own for almost as long as I'd lived with my parents. Heck, I had become a parent myself! Instead, I faced all the things I had learned from my parents, realizing I would have to choose to take up or to leave behind what I taught to my own children. My parents are both alive and well, and I love them dearly, but learning my own values allowed me to reflect upon stepping away from others' influences. It allowed me to figure out my "why I cared" about this novel.

Ask yourself: Does this explore a fear or trauma? Is there a social injustice or world problem you want to solve? What makes it exciting?

STEP THREE:

When I finish, how do I want to feel? When my ideal reader finishes reading it, how do I want them to feel?

All of my favorite novels have some level of empowerment. I knew I wanted to start from some place of trauma or fear, and grow more and more confident and capable within the world.

STEP FOUR:

What's my point? What little nugget of knowledge will my character (or me, as the writer) explore and hopefully learn? The clearer here, the easier it will be to understand the story I want to expound upon. Remember that even escapism has subtle messages and inspiration to change.

For me, with An Uncharted Destiny, I wanted to explore leaving the world I knew behind. Like me, Bella came from a large family: two older brothers and one younger, two older sisters, and both parents. Like me, she moved out into the world, had to explore which of her parents' values she would keep, and to create herself anew. Like me, loved ones passed away, making it difficult to lean on their knowledge. Like me, she had to develop her personal character and figure out who she was in order to stand on the battlefield alone.

Gloria Anzaldúa: "The boundary lines between the world of the imagination and the 'real' world are fluid. Your writing is the bridge only you can build because only you have crossed that specific border."

With those four steps in mind, our first keystone, "Finding Our Why," should come into clearer focus. Whether we know some truth and wish to impart that knowledge to the world, or are seeking to discover that knowledge ourselves, we should know why we're uniquely qualified or passionate about our project, it will help us write a better novel, or as Gloria put it, build the better bridge.