Why Writers Write: Dealing with Popular Misconceptions

Introduction

Despite the popularity of written pieces and publications, many people go on to ask why writers write. This is because there are so many misconceptions about writing that make it a difficult task for some people to understand why people should put down their ideas for other people to feed on. Sometimes, this question begins from a process of personal questioning about your own capability or worthiness to put out your ideas to other people in writing.

From questions regarding yourself, you move out to the sphere of questioning the capacity or worthiness of other people to put out their ideas in writing for other people to consume. As much as it continues in this manner, the ‘battle’ continues as several reasons come up to point out the reasons why one is underqualified to put down anything in writing.

Why Writers Write: 5 Reasons You Should Write too

There are various reasons each writer can give for writing as it affects the writer’s circumstances. However, we can think of general reasons that cut across several writers. They include;

#1 To gain Clarity of Ideas

Every writer notices that writing is a way of organizing the bunch of ideas that are upstairs and making them coherent, first to the self and then to other people. When a writer sets out to write, the ideas are not yet clear in his head. As he begins to put down the ideas into writing and does a series of editing, he is able to produce the final piece and gain clarity. This clarity is addictive and every writer falls back to writing each time as a way of organizing the thoughts within.

#2 A sure way of expression

Writing has been confirmed by psychologists as one of the best methods of expressing emotions and feelings. This includes positive and negative emotions that demand expression. Instead of letting them eat you up, writing is a good way to let them out. In writing, the writer feels like he is telling the whole world how he feels within or his take on a particular issue at hand.

#3 Overcoming the self

Naturally, most people have the initial instinct of keeping totally to themselves due to a fear of criticism. Writing is one of the primary means of dealing with this fear of criticism. Through writing, it is possible to overcome the shortcomings of the self as regards remaining in an enclosed state. Writing is thus a means of taking up the challenge to put out your ideas despite the possibility of getting criticisms for them. This connotes overcoming the challenges of the self.

#4 Connecting with like minds

Writing can be a way of connecting with people who resonate with your ideas and share similar thoughts and ideas about a particular issue. Since readers are able to connect with the writer’s intention when writing, then it is possible for ideas to be communicated from one person to the other. As such, writers seize the opportunity of writing to connect with people who share similar ideologies with them.

#5  Personal development and value creation

Writers know that with every new piece of writing comes development in the skill of writing. This makes writing all the more attractive as it helps writers to keep developing themselves through the experience of writing. Having an archive of ideas written down also creates a sense of accomplishment in the heart of the writer who adds value to other people through the instrumentality of the written work.

Dealing with the misconceptions of writing

The misconceptions that arise from the written works or published works by authors is also related to the reasons why writers write. In the first place, it is impossible to totally understand any writer when you have not attempted writing yourself. Being in the circle of writers (published or unpublished authors) means you may have gone through the processes that have helped you to overgrow the misconceptions.

The chasm that exists between the writers and ‘non-writers is that of perspectivity. This may not be general, but on a large scale, everything about the act of writing comes out negative to the latter group who only see the writer as one claiming to ‘know all’ or claiming to ‘know right’ and then imposing the knowledge on others through writing.

This perspective has kept people perpetually in the dark. Some people refuse to write with the excuse that they are waiting to gain more knowledge or waiting for the right time when they can stand against all criticisms that will come. The hard truth is that, for one who thinks this way, that time never comes.

Conclusion

It is necessary to keep talking about why writers write because the world is progressing daily and there are so many secrets that have been put down through writing. The way we perceive some of these writings that have been left for us may determine how much we utilize the secrets that have been put down and in turn, determine the rate of progress. From experience, the fear of criticism leads nowhere. Whether you write or not, people will criticize. The earlier you get used to it through writing, the better for you.