WHY I Write

By

Bill Cottringer

“Great writers tell compelling stories about adversity challenges they have been successful overcoming by learning to solve critical problems well enough to tell others about. They do this with poetically imaginative, nobly worthy and cleverly entertaining words.” ~The Author.

   All writers have two main reasons for writing—a spontaneous one without much thought, and a well-planned purpose from a self-reflecting personal agenda. The spontaneous intention is “just because we have to” in order to rid our minds of important ideas that flow through us, so that we can cautiously continue to tip-toe to the edge of reality and bring back new ideas to discuss in the spirit of helping us all get to the finish line together.

     The personal agenda is different for all writers. My own personal intention is to do these things within an acceptable success level:

·         Provoke the reader with unpopular truths which can help them leave a situation in better condition than as they came upon it.

·         Offer possible solutions to common problems and challenges that confront us all in life.

·         Propose a general formula to be more successful in solving problems for a greater peace of mind.

·         Simplify complex situations for easier understanding.

·         Remind people of important things they already knew but have forgotten.

·         Close the gap between just surviving and enjoying thriving.

·         Confirm that we are all in deed becoming who we were born to be as our best selves and making progress at this purpose.

·         Share interesting secrets and suspicions others probably have.

·         Challenge readers to think about life critically to find the governing principles that can be applied across the board.

·         Propose a better time management strategy to shift future and past focus onto the present moment in becoming more aware of how to best live now.

·         Develop a unique style of doing all this that works best.

    How do I tell if I am successful in accomplishing what I intended to? That has a lot to do with reader’s perspective going into the situation and my intended target audience. I can only find out the first part by having after-the-fact conversations about the impact an article or book has had on a particular reader. From these experiences, I have found that I am not really a great writer yet and so have to narrow my audience down a bit, to connect with content that is more widely relevant and immediately useful, until I learn what fills a wider audience’s appeal, relevance and usefulness.

    In the meantime, if one reader gives me positive feedback on this, or suggests a valuable criticism to help me become better, than I have the needed sense of making enough progress in surviving the writing work waiting patiently for the thriving to arrive.

“Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.”

~Mark Twain.