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Why Do You Write?
How to find your core thematic
This week we’re getting into the actual work of finding our core theme, that churning swirl inside your gut that compels you to tell every story through your unique lens.
This is important for writing your book because it’s your emotional north star, a way to orient your book to align with your deepest values. Sounds woo-woo, I know. But this atheist over here got immense value out of the exercise I’m going to tell you about, so maybe give it a try and see if it blows your mind, too (then come back and tell me all about it).
Of course, we tell a million stories in our lifetime, but there is always an undercurrent, a magnetic pull one way or the other, a core that anchors each story. Ask yourself: Why are you drawn to certain authors or fall in love with particular characters? Why do you favor a certain genre of writing, movies, or music? Why does a painting make you cry even if you don’t understand it? Why are you undone by this poet’s verses and put back together by that singer’s lyrics?
What is the thread that runs through it all?
We can find that internal thread, that core, that churning swirl mirrored in everything around us, as Paulo Coelho so beautifully explains in The Alchemist:
He knew that any given thing on the face of the…
