What Am I Writing For?

Actually I wanted to say why am I writing but...

Actually I wanted to say why am I writing but my coach training put up some resistance to using the “why?” word.

I’m also going round in circles in my head with the right question to ask. Who, what and why are it seems, tripping me up.

So here are the 3 questions:

• What am I writing for?

• Who am I writing for?

• Why am I writing?

I might be able to give the same answer for all of them, and at the same time they are nuanced, not in the question but in the answer.

I sometimes use a “this not that” strategy. Working out what I am not doing. I’m not writing a story (at least that’s not what my big What? is. Even if I use story as an instrument in my writing.

Who is not my audience? I’m using big brushstrokes for the not but fine ones for the group who are my who? The who is not my audience is just to remind me that I’m not trying to please everyone. If you are not my audience you probably won’t like what I write, you might even hate it. It will make me cautious when I hear your review or feedback not to take it too seriously.

For my book I’m writing for Christian leaders, in any space where they find themselves leading others, church, business or organisations. They are my who. I’m not writing for leaders and I’m not writing for Christians, just a tiny subset of both those groups. And to be even more specific I’m writing for those in that group who are interested in developing other leaders. If you aren’t in that subset what I write won’t matter to you.

So that’s my who? My audience.

What about my what? What am I writing for?

I’m acting as a mentor and guide.

I want to teach, to educate, to take old teaching and help apply it to today’s settings so it makes sense. To take what’s useful in the world of people development and make is accessible.

At the same time I also want to take the coach approach of asking questions to provoke, or maybe just nudge towards, new thinking that creates new ways of seeing and opportunities for my reader.

And then why? Why am I writing?

It’s a sense of call, a prompting of the Holy Spirit, an urgency to speak something into this moment that isn’t currently being spoken.

It’s legacy, writing exists beyond me and after me and can have a greater reach that I can have personally or physically.

It’s who I am. Paul exhorts Timothy in the second of his letters. Whatever I have taught you, teach to reliable people who can teach others. I’ve been working on that for most of my adult life. At least the first part. Writing gives me a way to fulfil the second part, the multiplication part.

It’s not just anything, and it’s not for everyone. I’m gaining clarity on what I am trying to do so it becomes more defined and as a result more coherent.

So join me, sit for a while with your who, what and why of writing and let me know what happens.