I tend to sprawl—both in my writing and, if you ask my family, on the couch. I start with a plan, but as I write, new ideas branch out in every direction. Before I know it, I’ve lost my way.
And yet…
While I encourage the power of outlines, I confess that I often prefer finding my way through the sprawl, writing until I experience an epiphany—a moment of convergence that shows me what the piece is…and isn’t.
In other words, I write my way to clarity.
Project-Level Discovery
If your work-in-progress is sprawling, you might end up with too much content and wish you’d stuck to an outline. But that sprawl, while inefficient and maze-like, can lead to a revelatory moment. Your writing takes on meaning you didn’t anticipate.
Also, you’ll enjoy unexpected benefits. For example, you might sort through the mess and realize you’ve started two or three projects instead of just one. Another chapter? More blog posts? Nice!
Sift through the mess of ideas. What belongs? What doesn’t? What’s trying to emerge that you hadn’t planned for? Will you end up sharing more vulnerably, going deeper than expected? Good. It’ll likely serve readers even better.
Sometimes, the writing reveals that your original claim was too simple or didn’t feel right. By sprawling and sifting, you’ll eventually find the heart of the piece—it was hiding beneath the surface, waiting for you to discover it.
Career-Level Wayfinding
This sprawling approach to writing has pointed me not only to the purpose of individual writing projects but also to the purpose of my writing career overall.
Project by project, we write our way into becoming the writers we’re meant to be. But it’s rarely a straight line.
My own writing life has meandered as I’ve written for a wide range of publications, blogged on wildly unrelated topics, and reinvented myself several times. I helped co-launch a freelance business, poured my heart into it, and then stepped away when I realized it wasn’t the right fit. My colleague built it into a hugely successful business, and I’m genuinely thrilled for her—because writing revealed it wasn’t my path.
What did I do instead? I wrote about motherhood, creativity, and whatever topics caught my interest. Eventually, writing my way forward, ideas sprawling, I realized I’m as meta as they come (not Meta, but “meta”): I write about writing.
As a writing coach, I’m convinced that writing is how we find our way forward to the writing life and career we want.
Finding Our Way to Readers
When I finally understood that writing was how I would find my way forward—and how my clients could, too—I saw that writing is also how we find our way to readers.
Each piece we publish becomes part of our body of work. Pieces that fall flat or fail to find readers help us try again, discovering audiences who do connect with our work. In time, we produce projects that land in inboxes and on nightstands, resonating with readers, confirming that this is the way forward. Keep writing this. More of this, please.
The Writing Compass
It’s okay to sprawl, especially when it leads to greater truths. It happens through the thinking and exploring and reflection that happen while writing.
When you’re stuck, write. When you’re confused, write. When you have something to say, write. When you’re not sure which direction to take your writing life, write. Through writing, I’m convinced you’ll find your way forward.
Writing Brought Healing
One of my clients—let’s call her Jamie—struggled for years to make progress in therapy. But when she started working with me as her writing coach, everything shifted. She told me she made more progress in those first few months of working with a writing coach than in years of therapy alone.
It wasn’t me. It was the writing.
Writing unlocked something. It gave her purpose, space, and permission to explore thoughts she’d been avoiding and emotions she’d been suppressing. She chose to share some of her work with readers, and kept some just for herself and her therapist.
Talk about finding your way forward! Writing—alongside a quality therapist—became her path to healing.
As a coach, I believe:
1. If you need to process something, you can write to understand.
2. If you have something to say more widely, you can write to be heard.
You have the ideas in you, waiting to emerge through your words. Write your way to clarity and healing. Write your way forward, and let your voice be heard.
Resources
- Write to Discover – Start with Yourself
- Write to Discover Your Top Themes & Topics
- Write to Discover Your Ideal Reader
- Are Outlines a Writer’s Greatest Gift?
- What Lies Beneath the Surface of Your Life?
- Interview with Patrice Gopo on Meaning Making on the Page and Studying the Craft
To pursue publishing, you’ll need to become book-ready
Book-Ready Writers offers the best of all my coaching in one comprehensive, 12-month program so writers can craft quality book proposals, build their platform, improve their writing skills, and work alongside others so they become the book-ready writers that agents and publishers are looking for.
