Do You Know Your Impact?
I think you are the most important part of your novel. You’re the roots of your story tree.
And part of having a strong root system is knowing the impact you want to have.
When you know your impact, you can shape your story accordingly—the themes, the character arcs, the ending, even your publishing route.
Here are the three layers of impact you need to consider.
1. Self Impact
This is the impact your writing has on yourself. Whether you know it or not, you are writing for a deeply personal reason, probably to earn or heal or prove something.
You may be writing to:
Feel known
Earn love
Prove everyone wrong
Get revenge
Make a parent proud
By recognizing your self-impact, you can nurture that child-like part of yourself and keep that underlying desire from becoming a liability instead of an asset.
What’s your self impact?
To learn more about self-impact, I highly recommend Nicole Lewis-Keeber’s book, The Three Whys. It’s technically a business book, but the ideas apply to writing as well.
2. Reader Impact
This is the impact your writing has on your reader. This is the most obvious layer of impact. It’s how you want your reader to feel, grow, and change as a result of your novel.
You may want to impact your reader by:
Entertaining them
Making them feel seen
Making them see someone else
Providing hope
Calling them to take action on an issue
Giving them a deeper understanding of the world
What’s your reader impact?
3. World Impact
This is the impact you want your writing to have on the world.
If your biggest dreams came true and you became a best selling novel with a theme park and HBO series, how would you want your books to change the world?
Perhaps you want:
Greater justice
World peace
To share a truth
To save the earth
To change public policy
It may feel difficult to find your world impact, but I encourage you to dream big.
How would you like to change the world through your writing?
I encourage you to take a few minutes to find your layers of impact.
Once you do, you’ll feel more motivated, confident, and connected to your story. Knowing your impact will help you write the story you really want to tell.
Are you willing to share one or more of your layers of impact? I’d love to hear about them.