Why I Write

Mon, 15 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Nobody asks you write to anything and it is probably because nobody cares what you think.

That was hyperbolic and cynical. Of course, some people care what you think but they don’t require you to express it to them in one thousand spell-checked words. So, why would anyone who is not paid to write bother doing it?

I didn’t have a desire to write until I was midway through my PhD thesis. I’m embarrassed to mention that I did a PhD as I think it makes me (one?) seem pretentious, but it is relevant to mention my degree here since it is the only time I’ve had to write a book. When I set out to write my thesis, I saw writing up as a means to an end, but as I was working through it, I found that I was enjoying the process of writing. Putting your thoughts into a coherent order is satisfying because it replaces a vague sense of how things are with some clarity. By the time I had finished writing up, I genuinely cared about what made a piece of writing well-formed. I felt, though, that I didn’t get to write in the way I wanted; instead, I had to write in a formal, neutral voice and there wasn’t space for personal flair or meandering thoughts. So while I had enjoyed writing with the goal of precision and clarity, I felt that the process of writing up had ultimately taught me some mechanical tricks about writing and editing.

Essay on Writing

Why I Write