How to Find Your Why
- Knowing your genre
First of all, you will need to start with the genre of the book that you are going to write. Is it a memoir? Is it an autobiography? So your whole story. Or is it fiction or nonfiction? Is it an expertise book? So you want to define what your book is about. If it’s your own personal story and experiences with key takeaways, then it is an educational memoir.
- Know your ideal reader
Who is the book for? Why should they buy the book? What are the key takeaways that they are going to learn from your book? What problems does your book solve? What are your top five values that are aligned with the book? What resonates with you emotionally? What sort of impact do you want to have with your book? What sort of problems and challenges did you solve on your journey. Getting clear on the above questions and who the book helps you to get clear on your Why and your purpose for writing the book.
- Knowing your purpose
My purpose for the Journey of Riches Series is how I first got into publishing was freedom of expression. It was to learn how to express myself. I suppressed so many emotions growing up. So the problem that I saw is freedom of expression.
- Knowing what impact you can make with your writing
For me, social giving is a big aspect. I like to support people that are disadvantaged. All the proceeds from the Journey of Riches series go to charity. We personally go out meet and support disable people mostly in Bali. Some of these people still live in huts and dirt floors. The look of joy on their faces is priceless.
- Tapping into your emotional Why
So you need to find out what is going to drive you to get up to write when you don’t feel like it. You need to find your emotional Why.
I did a consultation a couple of weeks ago and the woman’s Why was her son has autism and being able to give back and support other parents because she had such a challenging time. So, her book is to make it easier for parents that have a child with autism.
So really tapping into your emotional Why.
When you tap into your Why, the how is no longer in the way. It helps you on the way. You no longer see it as an obstacle or a block. You see it as something that you need to do to get your book out. It increases your drive, motivation, and inspiration to be a source of good for others.