On Discovering Your Story

Last week, during one of our coaching calls in the Write Things Community, we did something a little different.

Many writers are working on the first draft of their manuscripts, so we spent the session exploring their endings through a series of reflective prompts. Rather than trying to think our way to the perfect conclusion, we simply followed our curiosity, allowing each prompt to uncover a little more of the story before ending by writing a potential ending.

There was only one expectation: explore. No one had to find the perfect ending. No one had to decide whether what they wrote would stay in the manuscript. The goal wasn't to solve the story. It was simply to discover what might happen if they gave themselves permission to write.

What happened didn't surprise me nearly as much as it might have a few years ago.

Several writers found endings they hadn't seen before the prompt. Others discovered moments, images, or conversations that suddenly felt true. One writer uncovered a realization that completely changed how they understood the final moments of their story. None of these discoveries came from sitting with folded arms trying to think harder. They came from writing.

It reminded me of something I've been thinking about for a long time.

I wonder if many of us have misunderstood what writing is supposed to do.

We often treat writing as though it's the final step in the creative process. We believe we need to know our story before we begin writing it. We try to understand our characters completely, identify our themes, solve our plot problems, and work out our endings before we're willing to put words on the page. When we don't know those things, it's easy to feel stuck, as though we aren't ready yet.

But I don't think writing is simply a way of recording what we already know.

I think it's one of the ways we come to know it.

Some of the most meaningful discoveries I've made about my own writing haven't happened while I was planning. They've happened with my hands on the keyboard, halfway through a sentence I didn't know I was going to write. I've watched the same thing happen in hundreds of writers over the years. A memory surfaces. A character says something unexpected. A scene moves in a direction no amount of outlining would have uncovered. We begin by writing what we think we know, and somewhere along the way we discover what was actually there.

That's one of the reasons I've never believed we have to choose between writing for ourselves or writing for our readers.

Sometimes those ideas are presented as though they're opposites. Either we write purely for self-expression, or we carefully manufacture a story for an audience.

My experience has been that the strongest writing doesn't begin with either of those goals.

It begins with curiosity.

It begins with a writer giving themselves permission to explore an idea, a memory, a character, or a question without needing to know exactly where it will lead. That exploration becomes the raw material for the story. Then, through revision and craft, we shape what we've discovered into the strongest possible experience for the reader.

To me, that's where the real partnership exists.

We don't abandon ourselves for the sake of the audience, nor do we ignore the audience for the sake of our own expression. We discover something that feels true to us, then we use everything we've learned about storytelling to help another person experience it.

It's not an either/or.

It's an and.

So if you've been waiting until you understand your story before giving yourself permission to write it, perhaps you've been asking the page to do something it was never meant to do.

Perhaps the page isn't waiting for your certainty.

Perhaps it's where you'll find it.

Last week I mentioned that I'd be opening a few summer 1:1 coaching spots. Those filled much more quickly than I expected, and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who reached out.

If you're looking to do a little writing this summer, registration for my August Writer's Camp is now open. It's four weeks of writing, feedback, technique, and a heck of a lot of fun. If you'd like to spend August exploring your stories alongside a wonderful group of writers, I'd love to have you join us.

You can learn more or register here:

https://www.ihelpyouwritethings.com/writinggroups

Wishing you and your stories all the best,

Trevor Martens

Founder, I Help You Write Things

P.S. The next time you find yourself stuck, try asking a question instead of searching for an answer. You might discover your story has been waiting for your curiosity all along.