A Writer's Manifesto: What Is It and Why the Hell Do You Need One?

Hey, everyone.

So, if you're an Indie author, likely you know how some big name writers out there are trying to help us out with our own writing success. One such writer is Jeff Goins. This past week, he emailed all his subscribers and gave out free copies of his book 12 Steps to Make a Living Writing which details all the things writers need to do in order to be successful. Now, most of the tips aren't anything too secret or special: start a blog, get a mailing list, get more followers, etc. But one of his tips left me a bit puzzled and that was...

Now, this left me confused as hell, as is obvious by the two questions underneath, because I thought I knew what a manifesto is and I didn't understand what the hell it had to do with writing. According to him, a manifesto is "a summary of [our] worldview. It's a short, shareable document that quickly lets [our] readers know what [we] are and are not about."

That sounds simple enough, but you'll notice that Goins defines the word "manifesto" around another word: "worldview." Now, I thought I knew what a worldview was, too. But, according to Goins, a worldview is "the guiding statement that undergirds everything you write and why you write it." And again, I'm really f*cking confused. I've never thought about what I write and why I write it in some great cosmic sense. I write what I do because I want to. That's as far as it goes really. Now, there may be reasons besides that, such as the reason why I'm writing a novelization of RWBY, to expand my audience, or why I'm writing a beginner's guide to traditional archery, to introduce people to archery in a friendly manner and to expand my audience, but all things I write start foremost with the reason of because I want to.

 

Unfortunately, telling people that I write because I want to isn't very romantic. To some extent, I do feel a calling to be a writer, and not everything I want to write is random, some of it has a definite point such as another WIP that I'm calling "Struggles on and Meditations with the Catholic Faith." That's all about breaking down the harder to swallow beliefs of Catholicism and explaining why Catholics have them. So, the purpose is to enlighten others. But, I'm also writing that because I want to write it. Like I said earlier, I may have other reasons for why I write something, but generally I write because I want to write.

 

Now, some may ask, how does this cover the what I want to write. How do I choose to write what I do. Well, I write what I write because again, I want to--I'm interested in it. I'm interested in poetry, philosophy, romance, thriller, horror, gothic, fantasy, science fiction, plays, screenplays, and all the rest. There's no great metaphysical reason behind why I write. I write because there's nothing in this world I would rather do.

 

So, unfortunately, that's my manifesto: I write because I want to. Truth be told, phrasing it as "I write because there's nothing in this world I would rather do" is much more romantic, but it's the same thing. In fact, I may actually use that as my manifesto instead. But, the point is, I write because I want to, hence why I call myself Bryan C. Laesch, the Writer. I write for the sake of writing.

 

And to get rich.

 

Next week, I'm going to cover fan fiction and whether or not it's good to dabble in it or not. And, in case you didn't notice, the two ads on this post are of my two newly published novels: Remnants of Chaos: Chaotic Omens and Heroes of Majestia: The Company of Flight. Click on'em. Buy'em. Do it!

Keep writing, my friends.

 

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