Writing has many uses, but not everyone associates it with feeling better about yourself.
But having written for many years, I continue returning to it for the emotional growth; the sense of daily satisfaction; the self-discovery.
In an AI-can-write-for-you world, it’s sad that many will miss this opportunity.
Let me break it down for you:
Writing is therapy.
When I write, I am extracting my frustrations, longings, and dreams from my skull and putting them on paper.
This process, when it goes through your own fingers, is satisfying. It’s like making something real that was previously lost in the dim chaos of your mind.
When I write out what I’m thinking and organise my thoughts on the page, I’m back in the driver’s seat. I think through things more logically and creatively. I find solutions to problems that were flapping around like a lost moth. This brings relief.
This is why I always feel lighter after I’ve written, especially when I give myself extra space to write stuff I know I’ll never publish.
Regular writing sharpens your discipline.
Doing the things that matter over and over is not easy for most people. And it’s getting harder in an overly stimulated and low-attention-span world.
If you can show up to your laptop, regardless of how you feel, because you promised to yourself you would, AND write something, anything, you win. Publishing, of course, is the cherry on top.
My daily writing discipline, around the same time each day, is my core habit. It can be yours too.
When I’m disciplined in one thing, I’m more effortlessly disciplined in others.
Writing mastery is really a journey of self-growth.
The more I write, the more I realise how self-mastery is central to writing mastery.
Writing is an extension of you. People feel you through your writing.
When you’re excited about something, they feel that too. When you aren’t sparked by an idea, they will be bored, just like you.
In that way, writing is one of the most powerful ways to create direct, emotional connections with people worldwide. You need to be someone worth listening to to connect well with anyone, whether through writing, speaking or videos.
You need to stand out and feel highly relevant to that person. This means you can’t hide, you can’t over-conceptualise, and you can’t sugar-coat.
Playing it safe only dims the connection.
If you want to write words that people fall in love with, you need courage. And most courage is being willing to be regarded a fool. Writing and publishing is the ideal space in which to play this game.
There’s an interesting dichotomy at play here.
If you hide behind boring writing, you’ll attract little. No one will blink twice.
But if you share something from the soul, you might expose yourself to the criticism or vulnerability we all want to avoid. But you also open yourself up to a powerful kind of connection.
When you take more courage and don’t just quit because someone said something mean, you can’t help but expand.
Consistent writing is far more enjoyable when you know exactly how to improve your craft a little every day, so more people connect and you multiply your confidence.
My Online Writing Alchemy course gives you the secrets I learned through 15 years of experimenting.
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Well said