Why should we write??

My work these days is more focused on thinking and understanding than the writing. Similar to the other habits that become obsolete when less or no attention is paid to them, writing too fails to come out easily if less and less time is spent on practicing it.  As lazy as I am in doing almost all the required things, writing is one thing I keep doing even if that means putting down some random thoughts and then later binding them together. Here are my top reasons for writing:

1. Our minds are exceptional storage machines but they don’t work like memory cards. The old information is often pushed back by the tons of new information we accumulate everyday. In the present day world, there is so much information that passes through our senses(all…visual, tactile, auditory,olfactory etc.) every day. In order to keep the experiences safe for future reference, one must write them down.

2. I have experienced that the clarity of my thoughts improves when I write more. A sentence can be written in several ways and selecting the best candidate out of those numerous options is not an easy task. I, usually,  find myself changing the structure of sentences more often than I would like but that is the way I get new ideas for saying the  boring things in different manner.

3. Every article provides me an opportunity to learn and use new words. If I would just learn a word without using it, I would have wasted my time in learning it because that word will surely sneak out of my memory next day. But when I use it in my sentences, not only do I get to keep it in my mind for a longer time, I also learn in which context this word would suite most.

4. Writing makes communication easier. Thinking about my own case, I would die of boredom without communicating with people. Yes, phones are good but it is difficult to say whatever you want on a long distance call. Moreover, while talking we often are driven by the spontaneous responses from both ends and hence, we forget what we wanted to say in the beginning. On the other hand, writing provides a much more calm and relaxed mode of conveying your views and experiences. It also precludes the urgency of immediate response. People can read the mails or letters whenever they are free to do so. There is no compulsion and no urgency to reply immediately.

5. Last but not the least, writing is required to enhance the quality of whatever work we do. In my case, I am a research student and hence, I am required to learn, create and document a lot of things. The work I do may be good, great or awesome but it will definitely be ignored if the explanation is ambiguous, indecipherable and incongruous. A good description can make ordinary work look good and a good work extremely pathetic!!

This post was triggered by an interesting article over here: The value of writing well.