Which task would you rather do, one someone directs you to perform, or one you dreamed up on your own? Answer that question honestly, and you’ll understand why in his book Drive, author Daniel H. Pink argues Autonomy provides us with a powerful motivator for our work.

As we previewed in our introduction, along with Mastery and Purpose, Autonomy forms the triad Pink claims boosts our motivation to do work and be productive. Moreover, he notes that Autonomy, perhaps more than any other factor promotes innovation and creativity.

To bolster his point, Pink offers several examples from the business world wherein companies allowed their employees free time and the necessary resources to conjure up ideas and execute on them. The result? A relatively small percentage of time resulted in a high percentage of innovations that moved the ball forward for company X more so or at least to the same extent as their regularly scheduled programming. Why? It seems when people do what they want to do in the way they want to do it, they come up with interesting and often useful solutions to problems that more traditional, structured methods produce with higher costs and lower yields.

Let’s apply this finding to writing. When does your writing shine most: when someone hands you an assignment, or when you self-assign the writing task? When someone gives you a topic, or when you imagine one on your own? You get the point. Pink calls this self-direction, the ability, even if limited in scope, to perform the task you want to perform the way you want to perform it.

I think something wonderful happens when I sit back and ask “what if?” Something magical keeps happening when I let the answers that come back and the ideas that form in my head turn into a story, not because someone directed me, but thanks to my freedom to explore and pursue whatever story concept pops into my head on my own terms.

Note that this does not mean working alone, without the constraints of a team or without the benefits a collaborator offers — say, your favorite editor. For my work, it also doesn’t mean I am creating in a vacuum, with self-satisfaction alone as the end goal. Eventually I do want my story to connect with others. I want them to read what I write and enjoy it. Self-direction doesn’t go against relating with others. Rather it means that you own a modicum of freedom in how you go about your work. You have latitude to dream up the best way forward. Pink contrasts this with the top-down, turn-the-crank, process-driven, you-the-cog-in-the-machine management environment many of us have experienced.

I dare say that what appeals to most of us as writers, especially those of us concocting fictional stories, is this very thing: the ability to imagine, visualize, devise and implement something we want to write. We desire the independence of thought and the unfettered creative outlet for all those things stirring in our minds and hearts.

Something to think about: Maybe Autonomy is all that drives your writing, but perhaps the next time you are feeling frustrated in your writing, ask yourself whether you find yourself in a situation where you can’t be as self-directed as you’d like and what you can do to free yourself from unnecessary constraints that may be restraining your creativity.

For samples of my work, visit my Amazon author page.