Why write?
The point of this post has already been thought of by many others.
So what's the point to make a point over and over and over again?
Many people have thought what I'm writing now, but have they written it? No.
Is that important? Probably not.
However, I'd argue the articulation of a point is the point of writing. For yourself and for the slim chance that it will chime with the swirling thoughts of others.
Thoughts are fuzzy, ephemeral, and transient. They only last for 90 seconds. So writing is a way to crystalise and provide clarity to the foggy cloud circulating upstairs.
There's a reason people love writing. We think we can figure things out in our heads, and make sense of the medley of thoughts we have daily. In fact, they say we have more than 6,000 thoughts a day. Some of those will return tomorrow, and the next day. Some will taunt us, some will make us laugh. With any luck, you will have done enough work on yourself to realise the separation of you and those thoughts. You will have done enough work to be able to view them objectively and decide how they affect you emotionally.
However, writing not only puts those thoughts down on paper, but it also converts them from nothing into something tangible. Writing pulls out many more connected thoughts whilst you type. This is what I'm doing now. I didn't expect to write these words today. My first thought was only "writing helps you articulate, I'd like to write about that".
Writing as an articulation and development of the day-to-day thought process is pretty remarkable. It's also shit scary to do because it's a window into our thought process and teeters on the edge sounding like complete nonsense.
It is also a creative process. Many successful people have described the creative process as a big waste pipe full of, for want of a better word, turd. Your job in the creative process is to let that turd run through the pipe until you release the pot of creative gold waiting at the end of the pipe. Ed Sheeran has described the process like this and Seth Godin too in his book The Practice. Writing is no different from painting, drawing, or speaking; it's a creative process and you have to shovel the shit out first and be comfortable bathing in your horrendous stinkfest for a while.
There's a well-known illustrator on Twitter called Jack Butcher who creates simple and powerful diagrams. There's also a movement at the moment for people to stop talking and start making, start doing. He encouraged people to start to write and produce. We're all unique in our own weird ways and yes we do have common thoughts. However, these thoughts will be articulated in different ways. So write, create, publish, and see what how it feels for you.
In the end, the writing must be for you. You are writing to articulate the point for you. Then, at the same time, a cool byproduct is that the writing could help others rationalise related thoughts. First and foremost though it needs to be for you, and it needs to be fun.
So go, articulate away. Do it for you, especially if you find yourself overthinking. Keep it public or private (e.g. journalling), and realise it's a quick task because the time slot can be determined by you.
The point of this post has already been thought of by many others.
So what's the point to make a point over and over and over again?
Many people have thought what I'm writing now, but have they written it? No.
Is that important? Probably not.
However, I'd argue the articulation of a point is the point of writing. For yourself and for the slim chance that it will chime with the swirling thoughts of others.
Thoughts are fuzzy, ephemeral, and transient. They only last for 90 seconds. So writing is a way to crystalise and provide clarity to the foggy cloud circulating upstairs.
There's a reason people love writing. We think we can figure things out in our heads, and make sense of the medley of thoughts we have daily. In fact, they say we have more than 6,000 thoughts a day. Some of those will return tomorrow, and the next day. Some will taunt us, some will make us laugh. With any luck, you will have done enough work on yourself to realise the separation of you and those thoughts. You will have done enough work to be able to view them objectively and decide how they affect you emotionally.
However, writing not only puts those thoughts down on paper, but it also converts them from nothing into something tangible. Writing pulls out many more connected thoughts whilst you type. This is what I'm doing now. I didn't expect to write these words today. My first thought was only "writing helps you articulate, I'd like to write about that".
Writing as an articulation and development of the day-to-day thought process is pretty remarkable. It's also shit scary to do because it's a window into our thought process and teeters on the edge sounding like complete nonsense.
It is also a creative process. Many successful people have described the creative process as a big waste pipe full of, for want of a better word, turd. Your job in the creative process is to let that turd run through the pipe until you release the pot of creative gold waiting at the end of the pipe. Ed Sheeran has described the process like this and Seth Godin too in his book The Practice. Writing is no different from painting, drawing, or speaking; it's a creative process and you have to shovel the shit out first and be comfortable bathing in your horrendous stinkfest for a while.
There's a well-known illustrator on Twitter called Jack Butcher who creates simple and powerful diagrams. There's also a movement at the moment for people to stop talking and start making, start doing. He encouraged people to start to write and produce. We're all unique in our own weird ways and yes we do have common thoughts. However, these thoughts will be articulated in different ways. So write, create, publish, and see what how it feels for you.
In the end, the writing must be for you. You are writing to articulate the point for you. Then, at the same time, a cool byproduct is that the writing could help others rationalise related thoughts. First and foremost though it needs to be for you, and it needs to be fun.
So go, articulate away. Do it for you, especially if you find yourself overthinking. Keep it public or private (e.g. journalling), and realise it's a quick task because the time slot can be determined by you.