Writing gives us a chance to turn the tides on consumerism. Rather than consume more, we can make something.
The arts especially address the idea of aesthetic experience. An aesthetic experience is one in which your senses are operating at their peakHumans have a built in need to make our mark on the world. We want to bring new things to life, to mold things into the image we have in our imaginations, to subdue the earth.
We write not just to change the world, but to create a new world.
We write to make a name for ourselves.
Seriously though, why do we write? Why are all of us pursuing writing in the face of the increasingly limited attention spans of the broader public? It’s not like we’re making much money at it, if any.
What do you think? Why do you write, and why are there so many people writing today?
Writers are uniquely gifted to find meaning for themselves and to help others find meaning. In fact, this has always been the main task of storytellers. Every story matters to the person living it, and our job is to tell the universal stories, the stories that reveal the story of every person on the earth.
We write to be fully alive. Writing draws us into the moment. We see the blades of grass, hear the miniscule chirp of the morning cricket, watch the shade travel from one edge of the yard to the other, seemingly for the first time.
Everyone has their own method for drawing focus to a topic. A walk in the woods (or park), jotting down notes, the first draft of random thoughts before a piece starts to gel.
If you’re serious about writing you have to be all in. Or don’t bother. It’s too hard to be half-assed about it.
In a million years of practice, I’m pretty sure I’ll ever join the ranks of, say, Margaret Atwood. But I do know that I’ll be a better writer.
The pros, the charlatans hawking writing e-courses, they all say you’ve got to write practice, a lot. And post frequently, here on Medium or a platform of choice. Practice your craft, they all advise.
1. Writing requires focus
There is a fine line between your creativity, the fruit of your ideas, your communications skills and your self-importance.
There are days when you’re just humming along. “Oh, I’ve got this,” as the focus is crystal clear, the muse is bouncing on your shoulder spewing garlands of poetic prose. The sense of accomplishment may be a bit premature or it may be valid, but it is probably short lived.
Taking up the mental exercise of focus, gingerly attempting to practice with diligence until the practice is a practice, you’ve revealed something essential about yourself.
2. By encouraging someone else’s love of words and stories, you are cultivating an audience of more readers.
There’s a reason book clubs are so popular, and it’s not just that people want to have motivation to actually read the stuff on their wish lists. It’s that people want to have an excuse to get together, socialize for a few hours and talk about a common interest.
As a writer, you need an audience. As an aspiring writer, you’ll need future readers. People tell us everyday that the reading public is shrinking. Why not do your part to combat that? As bestseller Brad Meltzer is fond of saying: Ordinary people change the world.
Neither of my parents are writers, but both of them always supported my love of books—and words. When I had to stay home sick from school, my mom would play Boggle with me for hours on end. When we went to the store and my brother begged for baseball cards, I was allowed to pick out a Nancy Drew. When I was on summer vacation, they signed me up for a writing day camp (I still have the “I Heart Writing” button that used to adorn my jean jacket). And when I was old enough to volunteer at the library but not yet old enough to drive, they took me to and from my shifts manning the public library’s Summer Reading Program table.
1. In encouraging someone else to write—or read—you might just find that you encourage yourself.
And for those in the midst of NaNoWriMo, to learn more about how the support of the writing community can do wonders for your word count, don’t miss the November/December 2014 Writer’s Digest, all about Writing a Book in a Month, available online and on a newsstand near you.
How have others shared their love of reading or writing with you in memorable ways? How do you share it with the people in your life? How could you do more of that?
My 3-year-old is a ball of energy who almost never sits still—unless we’re reading a story. Every night, he gets to pick two. We snuggle up with his stuffed animals, and most nights, my baby girl listens in, too. It’s my favorite part of the day, and I think it’s theirs, too.
Once you’ve fallen out of the practice of practice, it’s much, much harder to write.It doesn’t sound hard, does it? Just a matter of the muse sitting on your shoulder, whispering in your ear… or not.
There is a fine line between your creativity, the fruit of your ideas, your communications skills and your self-importance.
It sounds simple, right? But here’s the first catch: topics don’t fall from trees. You have to think them up. And think them over. It’s one thing to say, “here’s a topic”….and quite another to say, “Here’s what I have to say about this topic that is interesting, fresh, and authentic.”
1. Writing requires focus
Everyone has their own method for drawing focus to a topic. A walk in the woods (or park), jotting down notes, the first draft of random thoughts before a piece starts to gel.
You may or may not publish. But I find, in a funny way, once the work is on the paper, or on the screen, confidence rises up. It grows with each revision, each word selection. Maybe ego surfaces.
To be good at writing is to take your ego out of the story, or at out of least the headline and certainly out of the lead. And that’s hard because at the same time, as confidence grows, the ego is encouraged as well.
These same concepts apply to becoming an author. Until you’ve ushered new creative life into the world you have no idea the incredible, myriad of ways writing a book can better your life – and even your business.
There are so many reasons to write a book but when you’re in the throws of the process, it can be hard to see that light.
The brilliant ideas you have kicking around in your head aren’t earning you any money. Only once you commit those ideas to paper and hit publish will you earn income from your thoughts.
No matter why you came up with the idea to write a book, there are reasons to consider in order to make your book the best it can be.
#2 – You’ll discover who you are.
Well, as difficult as it can be to keep going when you’re unclear as to why you started, there are reasons to write a book.
Thanks to the rise of self-publishing, any person with a story to tell can become a published author and sell their book. Self-publishing is now affordable, easy to implement, and requires only basic computer skills.
Even better, you get to retain more of the royalties if you self-publish. What’s not to like?
