Writing has existed for 1000’s of years, since around 3200BC. Throughout history people have written on everything. From stone, to paper, to the back of cubicle doors. Writing is communication stripped of its usual ephemerality. That is why we write.
Writing Improves Your Thinking
Personally, I don’t know what I want to write until I write it. Sure, I think about it beforehand, but really I’m listening. Listening to what’s coming from the other side of a long dark tunnel.
When you start adventuring, sometimes you get lost, and must find your way back. That’s okay. What matters is not that you get from one side of the tunnel to the other as quickly as possible, but that you arrive eventually.
Getting to the other side of the tunnel is analogous to getting through the thoughts that interrupt the conclusion you’re supposed to arrive at. Even if you don’t yet know what the conclusion is.
Often not knowing the path through the tunnel brings greater returns than if you did know. It means you discover new offshoots. You can connect ideas, encounter new ones or realise your old ones were garbage.
It probably sounds like getting lost in your thoughts is fun. I do enjoy it sometimes. When it comes to writing though, it’s absolutely not. When you’re lost in your thoughts, so is your reader. They don’t know what to think about the ideas on the page or about you and your credibility as a source of information and ideas.
Improve your writing, improve your thinking.
Ideas Matter
The biggest war being fought at the moment, or any moment, is the war of ideas.
In politics, all you see is disagreement. Although it’s unlikely the politicians would no longer disagree if they wrote more frequently, it is likely they would come to resolutions more quickly. So much disagreement stems from a lack of understanding of the other’s viewpoint.
Unfortunately, many do this deliberately too. Denigrate opposition members of parliament by moulding their opinion to seem worse than it is, or vice versa for members of their own party.
I wonder how much of this could be resolved with clear communication.
When you express ideas clearly in writing, it’s easier to judge their validity. Arguments are often hard to decipher when encoded in poor prose. Good or bad. Weak arguments can appear as strong as strong arguments if the construction of each of them is poor. Good writing strips the facade, removes the clutter and lets you see each idea completely naked. Only then can we truly judge anything.
But I Can’t Write
It doesn’t matter if you’re a literary genius or a blockhead. Everyone is somewhere on the spectrum. What matters is that you strive to improve. Writing better will improve your life. Your thoughts are your life. By improving how you think, you can improve your life. You probably won’t be the next Shakespeare, but hey, you can definitely be a better you.
You will seem more professional when writing emails, you will get fewer clarifying questions on return emails, you’ll save time, and the knowledge you share with others via the written form will be absorbed. So often, very smart people have their ideas lost in transmission because they don’t communicate them in a clear and engaging way.
Truth be told, I used to hate writing. I loathed literature essays and those long history exams.
Today, I love it. It’s a craft I’ve come to appreciate, and while I have evidently lacked finesse (see earlier posts), or this one, if you want to be a prick about it, it should be obvious that I am thoroughly enjoying my time spent putting ideas onto the digital page.
If you want some inspiration, to see it’s possible to improve, feel free to look back through my older posts. Beware! The active voice may never be used.
Write for yourself
Writing is therapeutic. Journalling at the end of your day, writing down what’s stressing you out, what made you anxious, is making you anxious, what things are worrying you about tomorrow or life in general is cathartic. You’d be surprised how much putting it all on paper releases the tension.
You can then begin to solve your own problems. What manifested as stress, now manifests as text. Third person thoughts about your life and problems. After separating yourself from your thoughts you are less influenced by your emotions. Thus, you make better decisions.
“To hold a pen is to be at war”
Voltaire
You are at war with yourself. Your ideas, your doubts, Resistance, as Steven Pressfield would call it in The War of Art.
Write For Everyone
Why do I blog? Am I so arrogant to think my ideas are better than those already out there? Maybe, a little. But without believing you have something to share you will simply share nothing.
Sharing nothing means being a leech. I’m not saying you have to start a blog. But speak up in class. Tell your manager you think you have a more efficient way of implementing a process. Express yourself.
I don’t even think people will care when I write. Not many people have cared so far in my two years of blogging. That doesn’t bother me. If someone chooses to care, even for a moment, that’s my job done. If my writing has engaged one person, improved their life, enabled them to beat their family at UNO, or just entertained, I’ve fulfilled my duty as a writer.
There’s something about being willing to share ideas publicly, especially under your real name. The transparency forces you to put more effort and take more care.
I write to learn. Currently I don’t have active discussions in the comment sections of my blog. One day, I hope I will. I like nothing more than civil disagreement. From civil disagreement one of three things will occur:
1. I learn something.
2. They learn something.
3. We both learn something.
This loops back to “improving your thinking”. Choosing a topic to write on often means doing some research, even if you already know a lot. Research means reading.
Another Reason to Read
As if I needed another reason to pick up a book. I’ve got three book in progress right now, two about writing. The more I read the more I have to write about. I can give more insight by connecting or clarifying ideas inside my own head.
The more I write the more I have to read about. There’s a line every creative person must draw. When is an artwork complete? Writing surfaces any lack or insecurity of knowledge. It tickles your curiosity about what lies at the edge of the topic at hand. This reason alone compels me to pick up book after book.
Art is never finished, only abandoned. – Leonardo Da Vinci
Reading and writing feed each other in a benevolent cycle. Like the seasons, except there’s only two of them.
Discipline
There are plenty of activities that require discipline. If you’re not a writer, you may not think writing is one of those things. However, in many ways, writing takes more discipline than anything else. There’s something about the direct nature of the art. What you say is literally what you think. Unless you’re a liar, of course.
A sculptor can hide behind the motions of the chisel. A painter paints their feelings, in a way not literally interpretable. The audience must construct half the artwork. The writer tells the reader what they are thinking and feeling directly. Nothing to hide behind. At least not in non-fiction writing. Fiction is a whole other ball game.
It’s scary. A blank canvas and a whole bunch of ideas. Firstly, you need to get them down in a way that is coherent. Secondly, in a way others can enjoy. When you don’t pay attention to the first, it’s obvious to the audience. Half shred an expensive stencil mural and its value could double. If your writing doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense. Interpretation can’t save you.
Is writing overrated, or am I write? You tell me.
