Why I Write

“I think it's far more important to write well than most people realize,” writes Paul Graham. He's a tech guy who founded a company called Viaweb, acquired by Yahoo.

“Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them,” Paul says. “If you're bad at writing and don't like to do it, you'll miss out on most of the ideas writing would have generated.”

The sound you hear is me high-fiving Paul virtually and everyone on the flight from Boston to Detroit last week, which is where I was when I read that. (Thanks to David Sawyer of Zude PR for the link.)

I write for a bunch of reasons. Well, four. And they all begin with the letter C.

None of the words are dirty.

And none of the words are “content,” either.

I write to...

1. Create—to germinate—new ideas.

Similar to Paul, I write to help my own thinking evolve. I write to discover offshoots growing out of my ideas.

And I write to fertilize the tiny plants and to add mulch to the fragile web of roots so my ideas grow upright as they seek the light of day.

2. Communicate my ideas to other people in a way they can understand, internalize, and maybe (nirvana!) shape as their own.

Ideas, like knock-knock jokes, work better when there are others to share them with.

Ideas, like knock-knock jokes, work better when there are others to share them with.

So I write to communicate my thoughts and ideas so that others can grok them easily.

If they like my ideas and rally behind them—awesome! (See #4.) But if they reject them... that's cool, too. But at least they'll understand what I'm trying to say before they reject them. Much better than being rejected AND misunderstood! 

We humans can be bad at empathy. So, post-writing, swap places with your reader to see if what you're trying to communicate can be easily grasped. Because that's a great way to hone the kind of empathy our world needs.

3. Have the Confidence to express my ideas in public, which helps me grow as a professional and as a person. 

It's scary to put your ideas out there. Sharing your ideas makes you vulnerable: People might criticize or disagree with you.

But writing down your thoughts and sharing them publicly is the only way I know to boost your confidence to do it. In other words, the only way past what scares you is to run straight through it.

"Leaders are readers," as Harry S. Truman said.

I'd add that leaders are writers, too.

“Leaders are readers,” as Harry S. Truman said. I'd add that leaders are writers, too. 

I like what my friend Sean Lydon says about this. We don't have to be good writers, he says. But "we have to be willing to engage in the writing process if we genuinely want to improve the quality of our thinking and ideas."

4. Help me Connect with others who share a mindset. In other words, people like you—who are here right now reading this.

 Ultimately, I write to feel less alone. To attract and connect with others who share even a fragment of my mindset. I write to find my squad. 

* * *

There you have it. The four reasons I write: Creation, Communication, Confidence, Connection.

How about you? Why do you write?

Or, conversely, why don't you write?