Skip to main content

WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE



WARNING: "AVENGERS: ENDGAME" SPOILERS AHEAD. SKIP THE FIRST TWO PARAGRAPHS TO AVOID IT

 IT HAS BEEN a long while since my last post about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Well, I was knocked sideways by the death of Tony Stark. I had binge-watched the series and had gone through dozens of articles about MCU to write my previous post. These two acts of mine got me attached to the characters on a level deeper than I imagined was possible.

I would be lying if I said the death of Tony Stark was the only reason for my delayed post. I had other pressing issues going on in my life. However, Tony’s death did have an impact on me. He is one of those characters whom I looked up to as a child. And knowing that I won’t get to see him anymore disturbs me - even though I have moved on.

Anyway, forget it. Let’s talk about the importance of writing.

A few days ago, I happened to come across Jordan Peterson’s video in which he enlightens his audience about the best way to teach people critical thinking. And, as you guessed, he opines the best way to teach people critical thinking is to teach them to write.

Watching that video I realized I have been overlooking a topic of prime importance all this while. I believe the importance of writing is not something that can be stressed enough in a single post or a 5 mins video. But let me share the crux of the matter with you.

If you were to ask someone what the importance of writing is, they would probably say that it helps you communicate with others. But, writing is more about refining your thoughts than just letting others know what you have to say. No sensible writer ever publishes their first draft. In fact, no one dares to. And according to Peterson, “Writing is formalized thinking.” But, schools or universities never taught us why we really write stuff. And most of us were under the impression that we wrote stuff so that we could get good grades. But NO! That is not the reason why we were made to write dozens of assignments. We were made to write them so that we would hopefully learn how to organize our thoughts.

Let me explain it by walking you through the process I undergo when writing a novel. The process which I did not realize I underwent until I came across Peterson's aforementioned video. First, I try to identify a problem that is prevalent in the society that needs to be addressed. And since I will be having only a few lines to say about the problem, I investigate it to widen the keyhole through which I look at it. So I end up reading multiple books and articles on the subject matter. And once I know a bunch of things that an average person wouldn’t be aware of, I pen down my thoughts. Then I go through each line to see whether I have to rephrase any of the sentences or not. During this editing process, I ensure my choice of words leaves no room for ambiguity and that my sentences are pristine, and I rearrange the paragraphs - at times delete or replace them - to deliver a coherent comprehensible message to my readers. Then I set aside my work for a few weeks and won’t think about it. After my cool off time, I will go through my manuscript from the beginning; I analyze the points from the viewpoint of my ideal reader. Errors and inconsistencies I overlooked the last time suddenly pops up magically. In short, I end up spending thousands of hours refining my thoughts before I convey it to my audience. 

 Do you see the stark contrast between talking (spontaneous speech synthesis) and writing even though they both are meant to help us communicate with one another? When you talk you don’t necessarily get time to think and reflect on your thoughts, which is why writing is the best way to learn to think critically.

One of the reasons why some people were phenomenally successful was because they were extremely good at articulating their thoughts in a pristine manner. There is nothing in this world that could stop you if you can structure your thoughts and convey them by the right use of words.

……………………………………..
“The pen is mightier than the sword”
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton
……………………………………..
FOR MORE:
●     Jordan Peterson's 10-step process for stronger writing


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IMPORTANCE OF STORYTELLERS IN 21st CENTURY

Pic Source: https://thejobsauce.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Storytelling-Blog-Image.jpg As a being driven by emotions, we are inclined to do things that are meaningful to us. Despite the role mathematics and statistics have played in expanding our reach as a species far beyond the horizon, we never learned to think in numbers or equations. Contrary to the general notion, progress never was driven by numbers. Rather it was stories that each civilization chose to believe in and narrate that drove progress. The majority of us like to identify ourselves as rational decision-makers. For some reason, we feel it is a loss of face to admit that our decisions are the echoes of doctrines instilled in us as a child. Consequently, we overlook the fact that we use our rationality merely to rationalize our decisions, so that guilt of succumbing to our biases doesn't haunt us. And like an illusionist, our biases trick our mind's eye and make the irrational look rational.  For instance,...
Post a Comment
Read more

CLIFFHANGER

C liff-hanger, simply put, is when you end your story on a dramatic and exciting incident at the end of a chapter or book. For instance, in 'Sherlock: The Lying Detective', it was the moment when Eurus Holmes pointed a gun at Watson and squeezed the trigger. It drove us nuts for a week. We were desperate for the next episode. As you can see, cliffhanger is one of the most powerful literary tools. However, what writers often forget is that it is a double edged sword. Ending each chapter on a cliff-hanger will eliminate the possibility of your book being replaced in the shelf. Right? Let's see. There's no doubt cliff-hanger leaves your audience in suspense and anxious not to miss the next chapter or book. But like every other tool, it too becomes blunt when improperly used. Imagine this. You are lying on your back after a muscle tearing and lungs squashing trek. You reach for your bottle and have a sip. How do you feel? On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highe...
Post a Comment
Read more

HOW TO WRITE WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO

We love writing. Indeed, we might not even be able to think about a life devoid of writing. Nevertheless, we too are humans and won’t be able to perform a routine task on a daily basis like a computer. At times our emotions thwart our desire to pursue our dreams. In this post, I will be sharing with you a few simple steps that’ll help you write when you don’t want to. 1.    Break down your work In case you are feeling overwhelmed the first thing you must do is to break down your work and formulate a plan. Thinking about the volume of work, before even starting it, will discourage you from starting the work itself. Even after formulating a plan and you’re still feeling overwhelmed, you just have to take it one step at a time. If you isolate your problems and tackle them separately, then it’s a lot easier to digest what you have to do. 2.    Ask yourself why you’re dreading the writing Often the reason for not wanting to write is when you don’t real...
Post a Comment
Read more