But how do you actually go about doing this? Let me give you an example and then let’s talk about some simple ways to get clear on your message.

Here’s an example that you’re already familiar with because you’re listening to this podcast. The core message of the Daily Writer, which is my “brand” so to speak, is this: a regular writing habit is the foundation of everything else you want as a writer. Nothing else will happen until you write regularly.

Here’s the trick: I don’t think it is a matter of creating your message. It’s a matter of identifying it. You already know what it is. It’s the thing you talk about, write about, and like to research and think about.

You can also identify it this way: What makes you upset? What breaks your heart? What injustice or wrong do you want to correct in the world? This helps identify your passion.

Your core message is where your passion, your knowledge and gifts, and people’s needs come together. If you can figure out a message or core idea that meets all those, then you have a winner.

And when you hit on your core message, it must have an element of transformation built into it. How does it change people? How does it benefit their lives?

If you don’t know what your core message is, then your readers won’t either. Take a little time to put some thought into this, and it will have a radical impact on your writing.

Question: What is the message or topic where your passion, knowledge, and people’s needs

The post How to Identify Your Core Message appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

In J.R.R. Tolkien‘s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, we meet the creature Gollum, who is obsessed with the magical One Ring. Back when he a Hobbit known as Sméagol, he had taken it from his cousin, who found the ring in a riverbed after being dragged into the water by a large fish. For five hundred years, Sméagol allowed the ring to poison his mind and transform him into the unrecognizable Gollum, who calls the ring “my precious.” By the end of the trilogy, Gollum loses his life because he is obsessed with his precious ring.

There may be a tiny bit of resemblance between Gollum’s love for the ring and our love for our own words.

When we are in love with our writing, it’s hard to edit. It’s hard to take constructive criticism. It’s hard to be objective because we are in love with our words.

When our words emerge on the screen or from the pen, they are not diamonds. Instead, they are more like coal. Coal is dirty and messy but it is made from carbon, the same element diamonds are made of. With enough time and pressure, carbon turns to diamonds.

The writing process is like carbon that is being turned into another substance. Most of what you produce will be coal, but a portion of it will be diamonds. The trouble is that you don’t always know which is which in the moment. You just have to keep producing.

Then as you sift through your words by editing and rewriting, you will discover the diamonds. Keep mining for those diamonds.

The post Most of Your Words Are Coal, Not Diamonds appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.