Last month’s tip Rock, Paper, Scissors provided a series of questions for you to answer in order to help you understand the direction you want to go with your writing. There are no correct answers to those questions, as the answers will apply to your particular circumstance, idea or desire about what you want to achieve.

As promised, I offer a bit of commentary in regard to those questions and the possible answers in order to help you gain clarity about what you really want to accomplish with your writing.

After answering the questions from last months tip:

• You may have concluded that you write for the pure joy of writing. You could care less about how many books are sold, how much money you spend/make or how long it takes to even finish a given manuscript. Although you have dreamed of being a published author, that isn’t what drives you to write. If that’s the case, your writing is more of a hobby. Even if you share your work with a select few, you simply share the results of your work with others to bring joy to them as well. What a great hobby to have!
• Maybe you discovered that you fear criticism from others about your subject matter or you are unsure about your writing ability. I say…Welcome to the club! Not everyone will agree with your position or be interested in your topic and not everyone will get your writing style. If fear is holding you back from pursuing the publishing of your book, have your work reviewed by a professional; someone you don’t know. Receiving an unbiased opinion can help you pinpoint areas of your writing that need improvement, making your message or story stronger and helping your confidence to grow.
• Suppose your answers reveal that you want to sell, sell, sell; with the intention of becoming a millionaire as a result of those sales. Then consider the following: First, are you keeping your expectations real? Second, do you have a plan in place to achieve making the millions you want to make? Third, have you started taking action on that plan? And forth, is an agent part of that action plan? If your answer is yes to all of these questions, then good for you. You are on your way. If your answer is no to even one of these questions, then something is holding you back; and it’s probably you. Once you figure out what you need to do to turn your answer into a yes, you’ll be able to move forward with your plan.
• Lastly, there is the greater purpose of your writing. Perhaps, you have something amazing you want to share with the world, or you believe your work will help others. But you keep tweaking and adjusting your work because you’re afraid you’ll leave something out or you think the story is too long or too short. If that is your dilemma, you’ve come to a crossroad where many (if not all) authors arrive. Here’s where you’ve got to make some tough decisions and get really creative. Say you have left something out without realizing it. That could end up being the cliffhanger you need to leave your readers craving the next book. For manuscripts that are too long (and not meant to be a novel), consider breaking it up into smaller books and package it as a series. Start looking at the marketing and promoting aspects of publishing your work and that may help you decide which way to go. Remember, if you keep tweaking and adjusting then your initial purpose will never reach its full potential, much less an audience.

Whatever you have discovered about the purpose of your writing, I commend you for your dedication and passion. The power of the words you inscribe on paper can have an enormous impact on our world; impact that is accompanied by an incredible amount of responsibility with an influential span that can bring joy to a child or change an entire nation.