Why Write?
Four reasons why writing can help find your voice.
Hello Friends,
As summer shifts into fall here in New York City, the changing of seasons prompts me to leave behind stale habits, projects, and routines for new ones. This coincides with a desire to minimize, to let go, which manifests as cleaning and re-organizing my office. As Van Neistat says “When you don't know what to do next, organize.”
On the other side of that process I can re-focus on unfinished work and how to complete it. Maybe, like me, you struggle with managing projects, with setting deadlines for work, then blowing the deadlines and failing to complete the project.
So with unfinished work and the desire to start new work looming over me, I’m reminding myself why I write.
Below you’ll find my four-step process on how writing can help you learn, process, understand and grow.
Why Write?
To Learn.
To truly learn something, seeing, reading, and hearing is not enough (at least for me anyway). You must put what you’ve learned in your own words. By doing this, you’ll review what you learned by teaching the information to yourself.
This goes for your own thoughts and ideas, too. Sometimes you just have to start writing to learn what you’re trying to say.
For me this works best when I revisit the thing over time, gathering up new information I might’ve missed before to understand it in a new light (ie the Circles In Space ethos). I do this by taking notes, putting what I’ve read in my own words and internalizing the information. This helps me break what I’ve read into digestible chunks. (More on How I Take Notes.)
To Process.
Writing can help you process your thoughts, views and opinions. Dive deeper into the things that occupy your mind, whether they make you happy, confused, angry, or excited. There’s no forms to follow, no structure. Write a short bullet list, a multi-page essay, or fictional short story.
Explore your thoughts and emotions in your writing to process what you’re experiencing.
Each morning I take some time to journal about what’s going on, what I’m thinking, what I’m trying to figure out or anxious about. Journaling centers and grounds me before the day begins. Sometimes it’ll be a simple entry of ‘this happened, then that happened’ and other times I’ll segue into writing an essay exploring something in depth. My journaling practice is the bedrock of my writing goals. This newsletter and any of the writing I do wouldn’t be possible without journaling, where I feel safe to explore any topic I want.
More on writing & creativity here:
To Understand.
Have you ever met someone who when you ask them a question they’ll launch into a diatribe filled with tangents and completely lose their point?
Writing can be like that. First it’s a struggle to order your thoughts but the more you practice it becomes simpler, until you understand what you want to say, and, better yet, how to say it.
Effectively communicating your thoughts into words is a skill like any other and like anything worth doing, it takes practice.
I used to be that person who rambled on and on with no underlying structure to what I said because I didn’t know what I wanted to say. Writing helps me practice this, to know when I can or can’t speak on a topic, and when I don’t know enough or need to do some more research. When I’ve had the time to learn and process, I understand what I want to say.
To Grow.
Writing has a myriad of benefits and uses far outside blogging, newsletter writing, or fiction. Think of all the times when you had to write about yourself, or describe an experience you had, like writing a resume or cover letter. Maybe at work you were tasked with drafting an office-wide email detailing the results of a project you managed while highlighting areas for growth and improvement. Or maybe you’ve been asked to give a speech at your friend’s wedding.
Writing helps you learn what you want to say, process and understand it, then communicate it to the rest of the world.
I can honestly say that writing has greatly improved my life. While my writing falls short of my expectations at times, I can see that practicing this skill has led to growth in both my personal and professional life. My thinking and speaking has improved. My work is more concise. I can read, research, interpret, and summarize information into words I can understand. I can more clearly say what I want to say.
Writing can help you find your voice.
When I began writing, I just jumped into it without any goals or expectations. I found this process which I’m still following. I realize this may not work for everyone so you’ll have to follow you own instincts and develop your process. My writing has improved and I’ve grown as a person because I’ve found my voice and that’s worth more than any number of likes or followers.
I hope this four-step process serves as a reminder to keep working and that writing anything, in any form, is its own reward.
Thanks for reading Circles In Space!
Looking for inspiration for your writing practice? Check out my free zine.
Each Friday I publish a weekly roundup of what’s capturing my attention.