When I was younger, random curiosity about a topic or a writing technique was enough to propel me to the finish line on most things I wrote. A difficult piece meant stalling on the what [is this about?] or how [do I write this?].
Now I tend to stall on why [should I write this?]
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Now, knowing *what* I want to write gets me from seed thought to brain dump/research notes/tweets
Knowing *how* I want to write it gets me from brainstorm to first draft/outline with lots of TKs
But only knowing *why* I want to write it gets me to the finish line these days
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And increasingly I don’t know, so I don’t get past first drafts.
Why is a very bad question for writers to ask. It’s for utilitarian optimizers.
Writing works best when you don’t know/care why you want to write a thing. Ideally mere energy abundance should carry you through.
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A good answer to why is one that gets you to finish.
For me good answers tend to be along the lines of “this is unimportant enough to be fun, important enough to require a bit of courage.
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Sounds like a bigger project may be lurking and asking to be focused on (psychologically)
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Smaller. Usually this is a sign I’m not thinking trivial enough.
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