Why Write? (And 3 Other Critical Questions for Creative-types)

Box Cutter Co. Free Issue No. 66

Plotting the breadth and reach of a written story…

Writing is the most powerful technology ever created by humans.

It’s easy to forget this in the current age of social media and Internet use — with over 5 Billion people using both/either.

Writing is a powerful technology used for good (like self-help and support) and for bad (propaganda and hate) — and in many shades between and around those two poles.

The use of writing — the technology of writing — like everything in our world...changes, shifts, transforms.

Everything is in a certain stage of flow. Always changing.

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Writing Changes over Time

I’m of a generation who navigated a time pre-Internet.

I travelled a lot through my 20s and the Internet was but a fledgling technology most hadn’t heard about yet (early to mid-1990s). I used phone cards and sent postcards.

In my mid-20s, I read a lot — especially when travelling. I also started to read a lot about writing, becoming a writer, and publishing (mainly with a bent towards non-fiction).

At that time, if one wanted to become a ‘published’ writer, for the most part, you had to bust through the gatekeepers of publishing options. This often included query letters and article or book outlines. Self-publishing was an option, but largely poo-pooed.

Now, with well over 5 billion people accessing the Internet, becoming a ‘published’ writer is little more than some tap-tap-tapping on a “keyboard” and then pressing “publish”. 👇

From Sound to Sight-dominated Perception

The technology — devised by humans, that shifted us from predominantly sound-based (oral) to sight-based (text) — takes our thoughts in word form and broadcasts them to an astounding number of eyeballs and brains.

As with almost anything, this is a paradoxical gift and paradigmatic shift.

It’s reminiscent of physicist Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: we can never know the speed and position of a particle at the same time. It’s an eternal paradox.

(Keep in mind, sound is something we catch before its dead. A written word can live forever)

The forms, styles, use, and sheer reach of ‘writing’ is expanding faster than the overall human population. Raising for me, a piercing question:

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Why Write?

One of my all-time favourite books on ‘writing’ is Brenda Ueland’s “If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit”. It was first published in 1938 with a second edition released in 1987.

The first chapter is called: “Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say.”

It’s a fantastic title.

In that first chapter, she lays out a vitally important observation (that I’ll explore further below) based on her many years of writing and teaching writing.

She restates her chapter title, then: 👇

And it may comfort you to know that the only people you might suspect of not having talent are those who write very easily and glibly, and without inhibition or pain, skipping gaily through a novel in a week or so.

These are the only ones who did not seem to improve much, to go forward. You cannot get much out of them.

They give up working presently and drop out. But these, too, were talented underneath. I am sure of that.

It is just that they did not break through the shell of easy glibness to what is true and alive underneath,—just as most people must break through a shell of timidity and strain.

Ueland goes on to share that trust in self is one of the “very most important things in writing.”

She explains (with clear passion and emotion) how the various critics — schooling, family, friends, and others — kill off the desire for so many to express themselves through creative endeavours, such as writing.

“…But this is one of the results: that all people who try to write (and all people long to, which is natural and right) become anxious, timid, contracted, become perfectionists, so terribly afraid that they may put something down that is not as good as Shakespeare.”

She also suggests we thumb our noses at the critics and gatekeepers of the writing realms… “at least three or four times per day”.

Keep in mind, Ueland initially wrote this in the late 1930s, and yet it still holds today. ; )

Thumbing One’s Nose at the Critics

I was thinking of Ueland and her lively, supportive advice in her lovely book, as I was reading some recent feedback from an ‘editor’ at a Medium publication on one of the stories I submitted.

• “Don’t start sentences with ‘And’…”

• “This paragraph is too short…”

• “This shouldn’t be in brackets…”

• “You should…”

[and that’s where I decided enough was enough…🤬🤯]

Why many choose NOT to write

The sort of scratchy, nasally-delivered, snooty first-year college English-teacher-like critique that drives a stake into writing hearts of countless souls.

Not only did it seem like the classic high-brow literary-type editing commentary — for a not-so-high-brow publication — this editor then changed the headline of my story and published it.

The new headline was some glib, ridiculous, empty-vacuous bullshit click-bait title reminiscent of many on the Internet these days — and it didn’t even relate to the story.

I have no trouble producing my own glib, ridiculous, empty bullshit headlines, thus, I didn’t need someone else doing it for me, then pressing ‘publish’.

Thankfully, you can still go back and edit a story on Medium, even after it’s been published in a publication. I changed the headline back to what it was.

And…

(oh ghad, there it is… an “And” sentence starter)…

…I’ll most likely never submit to that Medium publication again, especially as it seems to have lost its way now anyway — losing its initial appeal (for me) through mass publishing almost anything submitted.

It’s also not because I don’t think my periodically shitty-writing doesn’t smell and could use some editing (it most definitely could). A good editor is worth 10x their weight in gold.

Don’t let Schooling (or Critics) Kill your Writing Spirit

I subjected myself to about 12 more years of schooling AFTER completing high school. I’ve seen enough red pen to colour in a city block.

It was frequently, doled out by some individuals who seemed to be projecting their broken and dashed literary dreams onto university students and boring soul-less term papers.

It’s that sense of those who self-deem themselves Gatekeepers of some ‘literary’ grammatical standard that…. well… is going the way of the dodo, the Ford Pinto, Dodge Neon, and otherwise.

The Internet (and Creator Economy) has opened a vast, mass arena of easy publishing.

[For those of you who don’t live in North America, the vehicle references (Pinto, Neon) are cheap, shitty cars that have gone out of production… for good reason.]

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What this has me thinking about…

… is the mass shift afoot in what it means to be a “writer”, the multitude of ways in which one can be a “published writer”, and the dizzying variety of ways and reasons for writing.

About two years into my current journey of heavy-duty digital (online) writing — and publishing (inc. Box Cutter Co.) — leaves me with many skipping and skittering thoughts.

Some of these are self-reflective and some are broader community and systems-like thinking.

Is Writing the "New Oil”?

This rapidly growing arena frequently called The Creator Economy is full of writing. Writing is the fuel within it. As a result, some refer to writing as the “New Oil”.

(curious metaphors)

Some may find this a grande generalization — or simplification — however, I find writing across the Internet — or at least in The Creator Economy arena — falls largely into two categories:

• Advertising (marketing-speak)

• Authentic (carrying meaning & meaning carrying)

I play a little in both realms.

And, what I have been noticing, is — keeping with the metaphor — is that when mixed and mingled these two types of writing become like oil and water.

• Only $199 (this week only) to Implement my Soul Writing Blueprint (Reveal Your True Inner Spirit and Guiding Light)

  • Build your 7-Figure Passion Project by Illuminating your Soul’s Secrets

Yes, we’ve all seen these…. Clickbaity, empty marketing jibber jabber.

Clickbait versus Soulcraft

… a rather dramatic way to put it, but fitting the bill?

Combining two of Humankind’s most powerful technologies — writing and the Internet — is a powerful (and potentially vicious) prospect.

As someone who publishes every week on multiple platforms, I’ve seen a lot of different types of digital writing. One person I’ve watched and read regularly for decades is Seth Godin.

His blog is called Seth’s Blog and has had a daily post for decades. Yes… decades! He’s published multiple books, most of which are a compilation of his short blog posts.

He has a powerful and scary saying: “Marketing is everything and everything is Marketing”.

Whether you are writing a cover letter, your resumé (CV), or your autobiography — it is a form of marketing.

Some may bristle at this (I do at times). However, if we, for example, take the definition of marketing, from say the American Marketing Association:

Marketing is the activity, institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value.

Then, yes, anything we write (e.g. move from thought to text form) is a form of ‘communicating’ and thus, anything we write is marketing.

But does all we write have to be Advertising?

I don’t want to hazard a percentage guess at it — but feel safe in saying so much of what’s published on social media these days is “Advertising—Marketing” speak.

• Buy my thing

• Subscribe to my thing

• Jump on my email list thing

And, thus I institute a 10-post scroll limit — and I often don’t even get that far before shutting down whatever platform and getting back to my writing (or a client’s).

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Advertising versus Authentic Writing?

I write to make a living, and spend a lot of my living time: writing.

The two messy categorizations of Advertising versus Authentic is not a judgment, a one-is-bad versus one-is-better call, or a criticism of either — especially as context is always key.

It’s more a personal challenge and challenge to you - What drives your Writing?

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Here are Four Questions to go a little deeper:

1. Why Do You Write?

Dig a little deeper into your motivations (intrinsic and extrinsic) behind your writing.

• Is it for self-expression, to inspire others, to create change, for personal fulfillment and discovery, or others?

Understanding, or at least reflecting upon the 'why(s)' can give a stronger purpose and clearer direction in your writing.

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2. Are You Writing Authentically?

Reflect on whether your writing is genuine to your voice, your experiences, and your soul.

• Are you being honest in your expression, or are you altering your voice to fit external expectations, to advertise and market, or because others say that’s “what you should do”?

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3. Does Writing Bring You Joy and Contentment?

• Is writing bringing you joy, contentment and fulfillment?

• Are you writing because it generates some happiness and supports your creativity?

• Or, has writing turned into simply a means to an end, a goal to be achieved?

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4. Are You Writing with Intention and Purpose?

Think about whether you approach your writing with clear intentions and purpose. What are they?

• Are you deliberate in your choice of topics, themes, and messages? How do these align with your values?

• Are you writing to explore your own meaning, or, are you writing to achieve someone else’s meaning (e.g. write to your audience, get more followers, etc.).

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Ueland wraps up her book (oh my good ghad editor types… with a paragraph that starts with “Because” and sentences starting with “And” 😱):

Why should we use our creative power and write or paint or play music, or whatever it tells us to do?

Because, there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money.

Because the best way to know the Truth or Beauty is to try and express it. And what is the purpose of existence Here or Yonder but to discover truth and beauty and express it, i.e., share it with others?

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We all face those various critics (especially the ones inside of us). It’s a freeing process to escape those and simply write.

Why do I write? (Here are some simple reasons that come to mind…):

• Inspiration

• Self-Discovery

• Legacy Creation

• Emotional Healing

• Personal Fulfillment

• Authentic Expression

• Mindfulness and Presence

• Creativity and Innovation

• Connection with Others

• Spiritual Growth

• Marketing 😉

👉 How about you?

Would love to hear some of your reasons - as well as thoughts on the 4 questions above. (Drop them in the comments, maybe even reshare as a Substack Note)

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Watch for the next free issue of The Soulpreneur Series.