Writing with Intention

Today, we are all writers. For work or personal, we write more than 10 years ago. Phone calls have made way for emails, and anyone with an email address can create a blog. Information about the latest product or the newest addition to the family is passed around very quickly, and maybe even passed around again to another circle.

People with opinions can share them on public review sites. People with thoughts can write on their own blogs about any subject. People with knowledge can share it through electronic books, webinars and articles. People who like their own voices drone on in every medium. Everyone is writing. But not everyone is a writer.

I don't have a definition of what makes a writer, nor the formula for becoming one. Someone somewhere must, since some people win awards and others don't. It seems to be something you just feel when you read a really good piece. True, we all have personal preference but from comedy to editorial to sports writing, a good writer is obvious.

I am currently savoring the book On Writing Well by William Zinsser. My copy is now earmarked since I have found inspiration in so many passages throughout the entire book. But the excerpt for today responds to what makes a good writer, regardless of genre.

“Intention is what we wish to accomplish with our writing. Call it the writer's soul. We can write to affirm and to celebrate, or we can write to debunk and to destroy; the choice is ours. But nobody can make us write what we don't want to write. We get to keep intention. Nonfiction writers often forget that they are not required to acquiesce in tawdry work, to carry the trash for magazine editors who have an agenda of their own – to sell a commercial product.”

“Writing is related to character. If your values are sound, your writing will be sound. It all begins with intention. Figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it, and work your way with humanity and integrity to the completed article. Then you'll have something to sell.”

Most of us write with the end in mind at the start. The end being a commercial success. But we've got it wrong. Write something from the heart, something with deep meaning to you through comfortable words that reflect your meaning, and the rest will follow. Readers are looking for something real and recognize a hack from the first sentence.

When you write something you believe in, you not only make yourself happy but will find people who appreciate your style and subject. It may not be a few thousand who want to subscribe to your blog, but if that's your main goal, I probably lost you long ago anyways. In anything we write, including an email or a tweet, we have the choice of intention. It's powerful, something that should not be taken lightly. What are your words saying about you?