I’ve started reading A Writer’s Guide to Nonfiction. Right away the author, Elizabeth Lyon, suggests three questions to answer when deciding on the topic of one’s nonfiction book. So, here it goes:

What is my purpose in writing this piece?
There are a few reasons why I want to write The Book. First, I need to. There is something deep inside me telling me that I need to put pen to paper and write this darn thing. I don’t think I will get any rest if I ignore this voice. Secondly, I want to tell my story, share my ideas, and maybe correct some misinformation. And third, I just happen to enjoy writing, so why not write a book? So, my purpose is to inform and inspire, as well as write for the pleasure of it.

What promise am I making to my readers?
I am promising to tell the truth as best I can, and to not mislead them as some other authors do. I am promising to present things in a way that is easy to understand, but not to dumb things down. I am promising to respect my reader, and to believe that they aren’t afraid of a little bit of darkness when searching for spirituality.

Does this piece make a difference in my readers’ lives?
Well, I certainly hope it will. I know I’ve read a couple of books in this genre that have made a difference in my life. Of course, I was very disappointed to discover, a few years later, that some of them presented misleading information. But they still made a difference in helping me to define my spirituality, even if I didn’t agree with what the books were saying. I want to help my readers to do this too. Of course, I do hope they will agree with me, at least to some extent.

Fran, over at Sacred Ordinary has an entry about Exploring Benefits of Hand Writing vs. Computer Writing. This got me thinking about how I choose to write.

As you may be aware, I keep a personal journal in addition to this blog. In it, I write about more personal issues and thoughts that I don’t feel comfortable sharing with the whole world. This journal is handwritten, in purple ink, in notebooks who’s covers I decorate. It is a very personal thing, and I feel that writing the entries by hand make it feel more so that way. I may not get a chance to write down everything I am thinking, since handwriting is so much slower then typing, but I think the trade off is well worth it.

I also write the notes for The Book by hand. Again, this is a very personal process. I think that the first draft of The Book will be typed though, since it is becoming more public in that stage.

Maybe that is the line for me. Personal things are written by hand, like my journal, notes for The Book, and the items in my Book of Shadows and Tarot journal. Public things, like this journal and much of my other writing, are typed. Interestingly enough, articles for The Lotus Pond usually start life as being handwritten, and are edited while being typed up. However, entries for the Pond are always typed first. Maybe there is more of me over there then there is here.