This week, we’ve been talking about the importance of having one core message as a writer. The reason this is such a key principle is that many writers, especially at the beginning of their journey, feel paralyzed by all the things they COULD say or WANT to say.

When there are a dozen potential messages you could focus on, how do you move forward without feeling like you’re making the wrong choice?

That said, there are times when it’s OK to have several different messages. That’s when you’re writing a lot of books and want to build a few different brands.

Some authors do this by having different pen names. For instance, one of my favorite writers, Joanna Penn, creates resources for authors. But she also writes thrillers under the author pen name J. F. Penn. It’s a way to separate her nonfiction for writers from her fiction, which is mostly a different audience.

My friend and writing mentor, Honorée Corder, does this very, very well. She has a series of books for single mothers, she has books for business leaders, and she has books for writers, among other topics. But she has done this over the long term.

That’s important to keep in mind… you’re doing this over the long term. It’s hard enough for most writers to consistently write on one topic, much less two or more.

So don’t get distracted and feel you have to write about everything. Focus on one main thing. That being said, if you’re highly motivated and want to put the work in to write multiple books a year and build multiple “brands” with your books, then go for it! The more great books you can write, the better.

Question: On a scale of 1-10, how motivated are you to have more than one core message by writing a lot of books?