Earlier today I had a chat that challenged my reasoning for wanting/needing to write. I had to discuss my motivations and really think hard about the desired outcome of all this output.

Do I want to be published?
Do I need the validation (to say nothing of wanting it)?
Do I define success already?
Do I do what I do well enough already?
Do I have a process?

There was talk of reading (Imagine that! Folks who want to learn to writer better talking of the bi-product of writing: reading) some helpful texts, specifically Stephen King’s On Writing and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird.

We also tossed around Ficlets (I know; I’m a broken record), bed-side notebooks, blogs, Twitter and “safe places”.

Deep, I know.

I’m focusing on a few key takeaways:

1. Who(m) else I would include in this circle
2. Concrete goals for my writing efforts/endeavors
3. Finding more time
4. Having more fun
5. Sharing more of my writing
6. Planning for additional meetings – both in frequency and length, but also purpose

Which is not to say I’m all business. Notice ‘fun’ is enumerated. That’s a sure sign that ‘fun’ will occur: writing it down on a list.

“You kids will have fun whether you like it or not” kind of a deal.

I also want to focus on the opposite goal: getting something written. Kinda obvious for a guy who wants to be a writer, but hard when I work full-time and have a wife and two young kids.

Still, I have enough snippets, thoughts, stray story-starters and ideas that, when added to my nightly allotment of WoW time should equal productivity in the form of characters, words, sentences, paragraphs and pages.

At least I hope it does.

So here’s to all of that, plus a dash of inspiration.

Writing!

UPDATE: Too many Firefox tabs leads to forgotten links. Here’s some more inspiration.