Ask Yourself, "So what?"

When you're writing, ask yourself, "So what?"

When you're reading, ask yourself, "So what?"

This is the most important question you could ever ask when you're writing or reading. It's important to ask because it helps you understand what information is important and why. It helps you understand how your audience will be affected by the information you're presenting them with and why they should care about that information.

But let's be honest: sometimes it's hard to figure out what is going to make your audience care about your writing. You're a writer. You write stuff down all day. But why? What's the point of what you're doing? Why should anyone care about your writing?

The answer is simple: People will care about your writing if it has an impact on them in some way. They'll care about it if it helps them solve a problem or achieve a goal, or if it just makes them feel something. Basically, people will care about your writing when it has meaning for them.

You can do this by making sure that every sentence in your piece can be answered with the question, "so what?" So what if I'm working this morning instead of sleeping in? So what if I didn't get my favorite flavor of ice cream? So what if I lost my job? So what if I had to go to work on Christmas Eve? So what if you're writing about how your best friend's dog is a total jerk and ate your homework? So what if you're writing about how your boss is so mean to you at work that she makes you want to quit every day? What does that matter? So what if the world ends tomorrow and everyone dies. So what if we all live forever or get taken up into space by alien life forms. Who cares? What difference does it make?

The point is, nothing matters unless there's a reason for it to matter. It doesn't matter if your friend's dog ate your homework unless that means something about friendship or responsibility or learning from mistakes—or even just about basic math skills! The point is, everything has an impact on everything else in some way—even if it seems minor or irrelevant at first glance.

You might think that your story is just one small part of the world around you, but in fact the truth is that every little thing matters. Your story is part of a bigger picture, and if you don't take care to make sure it fits into that picture properly, then nobody will be able to understand what you're trying to say.

In Conclusion

If there's no reason for the reader to care about what you're saying, then there's no reason for them to keep reading. So when you're writing anything (whether it's an article or a novel), try asking yourself "so what?" at least once per paragraph.

If you can't answer that question, you might want to go back to the drawing board.

It's not enough for your content to be interesting—it needs to actually be relevant. If your reader doesn't learn something from your piece of writing, or if they don't feel like it's helping them move forward in any way, then what's the point?

You can also ask yourself if there is any value in sharing your information with others. If you don't have a reason for writing it down and putting it out there for everyone to read, then maybe it would be better off left unsaid.