To write or not to write (and so much more)

Do you write? Do you like to read writing?

Some days I answer "yes" to both, and some it's neither. There's a certain back-and-forth; a rolling with the punches, if you will (either figuratively or literally sometimes).

Here is some of what's been whirling in my brain:

WRITING IS A SUPERPOWER

James Clear sends out a weekly email. Last week he included this piece, and it was so motivating! I want to remember it:

"Writing is the superpower of humankind. It is our truest form of magic.

Writing allows you to conjure up something of value where nothing previously existed. It costs little for you to write down the lessons of your life and yet those few minutes spent writing can be life-altering for the right reader. As I once saw it put: "there is someone out there with a wound in the exact shape of your words."

Furthermore, writing is the foundation of nearly every technology and innovation because we have to record what we know before we can build upon it. And these innovations are passed down from generation to generation, allowing our children to inherit a richer intellectual fortune than what we were born into. The world is richer because we write and nobody is made poorer in the process."

This is especially true in the new world of AI... and it makes me want to write even the lamest, silliest, most mundane of thoughts or happenings (which is what most of my posts are). It's the grand "what if?" What if it helped one person? What if it made one person think, get out of bed, smile, or perhaps even change the trajectory of a life? Wouldn't that be not only worth it, but true magic...to be able to have a positive impact on another human being!?! Yes, by all means, that motivates me to write!

WRITING IS STRESSFUL

Karen Swallow Prior writes in her Substack entry 'My Writing Life: What I Write' about a couple realities that most writers face - regardless of how good or bad they may be. I feel it. She shares this:

“What do you do?”

I was at a small Christmas gathering last week, talking with someone I’d just met when the question that always comes up in these conversations did.

“I’m a writer,” I said.

My interlocuter’s eyes widened, and so did her friend’s.

“What’s that like?” she asked excitedly.

“Well,” I said, pausing for a few beats. “It’s stressful.”

I could tell that was not the answer she and her friend were expecting. They both responded by saying they thought of being a writer as romantic and exciting and cool.

My husband, seated next to me, hastened to chime in, “I can confirm. It is stressful.”

I’ve been thinking ever since about why I answered that way—and why I would give the same answer again.

Some years ago—while teaching was still my full-time calling, but I was beginning to write and publish a lot more—my friend Nick asked me if I wanted to write full-time. I said no. Nick asked why not, and I gave two reasons. First, I loved teaching and couldn’t imagine not being in the classroom. (That’s something I no longer have to imagine, and it’s still hard to process.) The second answer was that I feared having to spend that much time in my head.

So, here I am. I spend a lot of time in my head. And it’s stressful.1

Why is writing so stressful?

Well, I think writing is always stressful, to some degree, for writers who are serious about the craft. No matter how good (or poor) you are at it, you can always be better. And you are never really done writing anything. Instead of perfection, you have deadlines.

Every writer has a different part of the process that causes the most stress. For me it’s generally the first 80% or even 90% of the process. The part I love most is the last part: searching for the best word, moving the parts of sentences, refining, polishing, exacting.2 Until I get to that point, I am generally despairing that I have the ability to do the project at all. I berate myself for agreeing to do it in the first place. What was I thinking? How did I get myself into this mess again??? Until I’m at those final steps of revision (which I love so much), it feels like I will never get there. I can’t see the end at all. I would completely despair if I hadn’t gone through the process so many times that I know I will get there regardless of how I feel. I have learned to trust the process. But still, in the process, what I feel is stress.

So the first thing that’s stressful about being a writer is, in short, writing.

But the more I think about the stress, the more I realize that the second source is even greater—and that’s the economics of it. Yep, the money...

 Yes (or is it "no"?), even for me who has no deadline, writing is stressful. If you've read here any length of time you know how often I have removed posts, or edited. Have I offended someone? Did I stretch the truth too far? Was that just totally stupid or what? And the list could go on... It's a stepping into the unknown each and every time I open the writing page.

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT WRITING

Within days of reading the previous two articles came this gem from Josh Spector: "40 One-Sentence Blogging Tips." I've read it before, and need to re-read it more often. Here are just a few of the tips he shares (that have meaning for me)...

1. Writing a blog creates value for you even if no one reads it.

6. The ability to reach the world with a blog is an opportunity generations of people would have killed to have.

18. Publishing a blog post is a generous act.

22. The post you publish tomorrow may change your life, but there’s only one way to find out.

You could literally replace the words "write, publish, post" with just about anything you do and the list would be helpful (imho). I really do hope my writing has meaning to someone else, but even if it doesn't, it usually gives meaning to my life - it helps me process, learn, release steam, or otherwise jostle things 'round in my head to make me feel better (eventually anyway).

---

And there you have it. This is a little of what goes on in my head. I imagine it may go on in your head - whether about writing, or some other way you add your unique spice to the world.

How 'bout we do that? Let's spice it up! Each in our own way. What's yours???