Writer, It's Not About You.

How is it possible that I wrote five books, including a memoir, before the lightbulb went on for me and I realized that writing a book really wasn't about me?

And how is it possible that it took me five more years to implement practical strategies I was discovering to serve the reader?

That weird situation is possible because no one told me. Well, they may have told me, but I didn't hear it. About six years ago, though, I heard it. And I hope you will, too.

Writers, it's not about you.

Even if you're writing a memoir that is literally about you, it's not about you. The best books serve the reader.

• If you're writing memoir, the way you tell your story resonates with the reader and creates an opportunity for her to reflect on her own experience.
• If you're writing Christian Living, every chapter has takeaway value for the reader. 
• If you're writing self-help, the reader discovers practical strategies to live differently.

For many of us, writing to serve the reader requires a complete inversion of our thinking. I had lots of stories and ideas in my head that I wanted to share with readers, but I wasn't being thoughtful and intentional about meeting their needs.

As I mentioned, that conversion in me happened over time. I learned from Jonathan Merritt how to create a single target reader for my book, and then write to meet her needs. I learned from Margaret Feinberg how to consider the needs of a reader on every page. I learned from Lysa Terkeurst how to identify readers' needs and craft a book, from the inception, to meet those needs.


So What?

If you're anything like me, I suspect that when you're writing you want to brain-dump all those ideas and stories you have crammed into you head. Fine, go ahead. But then be sure to return to every chapter and make sure that it serves the reader.

• At the end of the chapter, can the reader name the one big idea you were communicating in that chapter? (Can you?!)
• Does the reader see what the big idea looks like as it's lived out in the lives of people who are like her and unlike her?
• Is she equipped with practical tools to gain traction with the big idea in her own life?

Craft a book so that it meets a reader's felt need.

And if you really want to grow and develop as a writer who serves readers:

Jonathan and Margaret have created Write Brilliant

Lysa and her team equip writers through Compel Training

Has this revolutionary idea, that it's about the reader and not about you, found traction in your heart and head? If it has, be strategic about meeting readers' needs. If it hasn't, hang on to this idea and commit to discovering practical strategies to meet readers' needs.