“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.” —Stephen King
January 1st, 2019 marks the day of my journal entry, where I pivot to pursuing writing as a lifestyle. I experimented with branding and web design and was curious whether it would be a career or business, but the honeymoon phase did not last. In addition, my career in information technology does not fill the creative expression I gain from writing literature. And all these years later, with my first written book, The Cool and Warmth of Hearts, I found proof that writing fulfills me unlike anything before.
Being a writer in some capacity, these humble beginnings were not so apparent at first. I had to look deeply… into my history—where I spent identifying patterns and paying attention to the existential angst that loomed over me. What values I wanted to live by and produce for the world. Then it revealed to me the essence of something that was missed in the noise of life:
- Creative expression
- Telling a story that brings entertainment and—or wisdom to myself or a reader.
- Intellectual curiosity
- Topics around human nature by reading and studying different disciplines to offer some insight, improvement, and wisdom in my life or how characters in fictional worlds would confront issues.
- Live a lifestyle as an author
- Yes, I love to transition into the lifestyle of a full-time author and sustain my living through words that provide value.
- Satiate the demon within and our better angels
- Writing is meditation, a philosophical one at that. To think deeply and assess where I’m at, how to navigate in reality, which means confronting inner-monologue, ego, and fleeting emotions. While weighing decisions and gratitude for seeing the beauty all around us.
- Also, sharing information with others
- Whatever I consume, whether it’s books, articles, or documentaries. Even immersing myself in a meaningful story whether it’s a movie or video game. I want to share what lessons I learned from these sources plus my research, insights, and more. Instead of keeping it all locked in my private notebooks, I want to participate in the contribution of human knowledge.
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” —George Bernard Shaw
The benefits of writing
Writing has more advantages than most other activities. You can develop your thinking, raise your emotional intelligence, and sharpen your communication skills by picking up a pen or sitting down at your computer and writing.
You can process and comprehend the world around you by writing. You can better understand your thoughts when you take the time to write them down. Greater clarity and mental tranquility may result from this.
The power of writing
You can increase your creativity and problem-solving abilities by writing. Putting your ideas down on paper can help you see things from a fresh angle and generate new ideas when you’re stuck in a rut.
Therefore, pick up a pen and paper and try writing if you’re looking for a way to boost your creativity, take a break from the screen, or improve your mental health. You might be surprised by what it is capable of for you.
Show up every day to write because writing forces you to think and make it a habit of writing regularly, even when that first time feels like an impossible obstacle.
Writing for self-improvement
The journey toward self-improvement calls for effort, patience, and dedication. It is not something that can be done quickly or with shortcuts. Writing allows you to reflect on your thoughts and feelings and monitor your progress, making it a valuable tool for self-improvement.
Clarifying your goals, spotting obstacles, and coming up with solutions can all be aided by writing for self-improvement. Additionally, it can keep you inspired and committed to your mission. Regular writing will allow you to reflect on your progress and see how much you’ve improved. This can help you feel accomplished and motivate you to keep going even when difficulties arise.
Writing for enjoyment
Many factors can make writing enjoyable. It serves as a means of self-expression for some people, allowing them to share their ideas and emotions. Others use it to preserve memories or stories. Others still use it to escape reality and discover new worlds.
Whatever the motivation, there are numerous advantages to writing for fun. It can enhance your mental health, increase your mood and sense of self-worth, and even lessen stress. Writing can be a great way to meet people who have similar interests to your own.
Writers are readers; readers are writers. Like a reader, when you read a chapter, you interpret the meaning and symbolism of the story in different ways and how it resonates in your life. Like a writer, you revise actions in alignment with your values and goals. There is joy in making that discovery and connection with something surreal.
Why do I write?
“We’re the authors and narrators of our own stories.”
In my first post, The Origin Story Why I Write, I write at length the intent of why I write and the purpose it will serve but too quickly summarize from that post:
- Writing slows down thinking to sift through a labyrinth of ideas, memories, and a fragmented pit of knowledge to help construct strategies when setting goals or reaching for insights; basically, it allows us to move forward in life rather than idly.
- By challenging arguments, ideas, information, and opinions.
- Also, craft narratives in our life or in fictional worlds by taking a character on a journey and watch them develop under challenges and conflicts.
- The ability to write poetry which takes raw ideas and emotions and condenses them into words that speak volumes and meaning.
- To write is to give ideas substance when deciding or communicating an idea, pitching for book reviews, book blurbs, author bios, and more.
- Because writing allows us to slow down, we get to appreciate life, count our blessings, and know that tomorrow isn’t promised, and writing can make that more visible.
Life can be complex, and we do an excellent job of complicating it on what seems like a simple thing on the surface. Writing creates clarity and guides action through many forms like journaling, blogs, fiction, and poetry.
For instance, philosophical meditation is journaling within philosophical principles. Writing is the foundation to manifest meaning in our thinking, beliefs, and emotions, and, according to Jordan B. Peterson on writing:
- The primary reason to write is so that the writer can plan and organize an informed, coherent and sophisticated set of ideas about something important
- “Why is it important to bother with developing sophisticated ideas? It’s because there is no difference between doing so and thinking, for starters,
- It is important to think because action based on thinking is likely to be far less painful and more productive than action based upon ignorance
- So, if you want to have a life characterized by competence, productivity, security, originality, and engagement rather than one that is nasty, brutish, and short, you need to think carefully about important issues
- There is no better way to do so than to write. This is because writing extends your memory, facilitates editing, and clarifies your thinking.
“Writing clarifies thinking”
Writing fictional stories convey themes about the human condition, such as the struggle between society and technology, in addition to providing enjoyment. Characters from many walks of life and with all sorts of motivations, quirks, and backstories are thrust into an universe where they must overcome a technological obstacle (such a robot, a machine, or a mechanical malfunction) in order to progress. Existential conflicts thrive in this setting because it forces us to confront our own hubris and the possibility that our own creations may ultimately bring about our demise. Watch as they cooperate to achieve their goals while facing challenges.
“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.” —Lloyd Alexander
The Gist
These are the many reasons you should write, and it’s up to you if writing can serve as a tool to enrich your life in creative, practical ways unlike before. Developing a daily writing habit will get easier, with each writing offering a fresh perspective on thinking through situations. New ideas come quickly, but the best ideas take more work to grasp.
People who write regularly will be surprised by what they discover from their own written word reveals in their psyche about themselves and the world around them. So start writing, and even self-publish your work and have conversations with others because the world moves in a constructive direction when we engage with our words deeply.
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” – William Wordsworth
- Writing clarifies thinking and facilitates the process of taking unorganized, fragmented, abstract ideas and constructing from that stirred pot results from better-informed ideas, manifestations of thinking into action.
- Writing started as a passing down of sacred stories through songs as poetry to be memorable enough until society inscribed words. With those words through writing, we shaped societies through stories, laws, ethics, morality, scientific method, and much more.
- Writing is a powerful tool to understand more about ourselves, others, and the objective world. We can craft fictional characters and drop them in a setting with conflict that challenges their beliefs alongside a supporting cast and an antagonist that conflicts with their desired goals.
- Writing helps us become more effective communicators.
- Writing helps us take ideas we read from various literature to help construct an improved worldview, develop compassion, and assess our behavior and emotions.
- Writing helps us immerse ourselves in the art of living by allowing us to revisit the map we used to find our way through life and iterate what needs to be updated, where the terrain, paths, and obstacles along the way are seen anew.
In my next post, I will cover what reading means to me and how it helped open my mind beyond the everyday noise of life. Reading provides shortcuts or motifs for the journey in our stories, which helps us live many lives.
“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream by night.” – Edgar Allan Poe
