Writing – Day 8
30-Day Writing Challenge
What I’m doing right now is hard… Like really f******* hard!
That thing is writing. Even though the process of writing is hard, it’s one of the most rewarding practices I’ve brought into my life.
Out of all the classes I had to take as a kid, I hated writing and reading the most… And funny enough, that’s basically all I do now. My hypothesis as to why I enjoy writing and reading today is simple – I get to choose what I read and write about.
Throughout the last couple of years, I’ve uncovered many different benefits to writing, but the three that fundamentally changed my perspective are…
- Creativity – The process of going from research, to outline, to a written piece is a rough one, but surprisingly creative. Most traditional forms of creativity like painting, sculpting, or drawing never really resonated with me, but turning a vague idea into a completed narrative is something I’ve fallen in love with. Writing is one of the very few practices that transports me into a “flow state”.
- Speaking – This was an unexpected benefit… The more I write, the more I wrestle with ideas, vocabulary, and structuring narratives, which all helped my speech. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 1-on-1 conversation or a public presentation, I’ve felt calmer and clearer with speaking.
- Thinking – This is definitely the most precious to me. I’ve always admired great thinkers, people that are able to step back from a question or complex idea to genuinely think it through… Writing has forced me to think. Too many of us go throughout life never really thinking. Most of the ideas we share and debate are foggy constructs floating around in our brains… These foggy ideas are rarely crystallized into cohesive narratives that can be analyzed by you and others. When writing we force ourselves to be clear with these ideas, to put them into some kind of framework, so it’s understandable by us, as well as others.
This quote from David McCullough sums up everything you need to know about the importance of writing…
“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.”