writing for purpose vs. process
A question to ask before you write anything: are you writing for purpose, or writing for process? Be clear and your writing will be clear.
This is a wildly generalized, but useful distinction. Writing as purpose is goal-oriented and directive driven. We write in order to say something to someone. To give information, to make an argument, to forge a connection, to find solutions to a problem, ask questions about a situation. When we write for purpose, the writing itself is simply a tool — a means to an end. Writing for process, however, considers the very act of writing the end goal in itself. The writing on the page lives its own life in tandem with the writer. In this category, I put all poetry and creative prose, all journals, and open-ended, personal investigations. We write for ourselves, or for the pure act of expression.
writing for purpose: content first
Writing for purpose requires that the content of the writing be made crystal clear. Language is simply the bridge with which you convey ideas from one mind to another. When you write for purpose, you must write for the reader; speak directly to the reader. You edit for concision and clarity of thought. You flesh out arguments and make things clearer. You look at the piece of writing from different angles to see if it’s serving its use. The writing may be personal, but it is not.
Muddled, self-absorbed, and rambling writing comes from writing for process when you ought to be writing for purpose.
writing for process: being first
Writing for process isn’t about the reader. It might help your writing to have an imagined reader, but ultimately, the sole impetus for writing comes from within you. If no one ever read this piece of writing, it will still have significance and meaning for you. Writing for process is ultimately a private relationship — not with you and your reader, but between you and this exploration of your perceptions, thoughts, insights, and feelings. Between you and the world within.
Bad creative work comes from writing for purpose when you ought to be writing for process.
Ironically, when you write for process — with integrity, truth, and joy in the doing itself, when it feels like uninhibited creativity flowing from you, the work shows it. The work created from enjoyment of process — yields magnificent purpose. Why? I think it’s because all the truest creative work comes from a pure, intimately connected relationship to ourselves. And what is most personal is the most universal.