Perhaps the most frequently spoken advice I give to those just starting out on the writing path is “It’s not about you.” Whether you are writing copy for a social media post, a website, a blog, a book or a novel, keeping that phrase front and center in your mind as you edit and craft your writing is paramount.
What do I mean by “It’s not about you?” when you obviously are sharing a part of your story? What I mean is it is about MORE than sharing your story. It is about what can I as the reader glean from your experience? What can I as the reader apply to my life to improve it? What can I learn from your story to move me forward in my journey?
If Holy Spirit is directing you to write for someone other than yourself, make sure you keep them in mind as you write. Often the Lord will prompt me to write something with a memory and a lesson learned. I start writing about the memory and it may remain as my “hook.” But I cannot tell you how many times I have deleted most of what I wrote about my personal experience.
Writing about my memory helps me to clarify what the point of the post, but my life experience in itself is not important to the message. My advice? Keep your reader in mind. Hone the message you want to share and edit out that which is all about you.
In order to keep your audience in mind, you must first know who your audience is. Stay tuned for how you do just that.