Journey & Discover With Me: My Aversion to the Written Word
The answer? Probably more questions—but they’ll be good ones.
How can I balance creativity, clarity, and confidence to communicate effectively through writing?
I always struggle to put something down on paper (or e-paper). Give me a notebook and a pen and you will find my brain is a messy place and my handwriting illegible. This has always been a fear of mine when it comes to an entirely written medium. I am concerned that I will not make any semblance of sense. If you sit down with me and have coffee, I can talk about nearly anything until I am sore in the throat and need a nap. I truly am fascinated by the world, its workings, and how people interact with it. But writing it down seems to just not work for me in the same way, and I think that is an uncomfortably valuable exercise. During a conversation, I can jump from thread to thread like a monkey, the words given and received merely vehicles communicating how much fun we are having while playing with the concepts and ideas that arise, an pure autotelic joy.
Why do I then choose a medium which forces me to communicate with the sharp clarity of the written word? Because, for it to make sense to the world and have a further reaching impact, I feel it needs to be something that is organised such that it can be understandable and consumable by more than just a singular person in my conversation. For it to do that, I must decide where to start, figure out what is of value to say, determine the tone and authority with which to communicate the ideas, then deliver it in as few words as possible. A common anxiety of mine is that I will relay information with the precision of a rambling madman, providing little to no value.
For something to be of value in this medium it must be understandable by the people who read it. Understanding itself is not universal. It would be silly for me to state such a thing as all people start from different places and come to understand the world in different ways. I think the core of the discussion comes down to a single thought - Someone who wants to learn, should be able to and if it cannot meet that criteria then the mission of communication has failed.
As we go deeper on my writing journey I will do my best to keep things short and sweet. Trying to keep the flair and prowess of a close up magician, while retaining to curiosity of a child and scepticism of a scientist. It is a skill I hope to master one post at a time, I hope you will follow me.
Other Creations: