Guest Post: Writing as a way of thinking

Written on January 19, 2010 by Srinivas in Uncategorized

Image Credit: websuccessdiva / Maria Reyes-McDavis

This is a guest post from Andrew Swenson at Wordpost. Stay tuned tomorrow for my interview with him.

Rarely, if ever, do I start a blog post knowing exactly where it will end. Some have told me this is a weakness. I tell them it’s writing.

For me writing is essential, not for my blog or for revenue or pageviews or recognition or even my “personal brand.” Writing is essential because it is a way of thinking, a mode of critical analysis, and one step closer to solving problems.

One paragraph, one page at a time

Before I was a marketer, I was a hopeless communication scholar. The year before I took the faithful leap from atop the ivory tower into the real world, a trusted colleague handed me an article he thought I would be interested in.

Five months later, I had written hundreds of pages and two research documents spurred from ideas in the article, both of which received top paper awards in their respective categories at the National Communication Association Convention. (They still host one of them online, if you’re having trouble sleeping).

The writing process I went through was one paragraph, one page at a time.

I had no idea what my final conclusions would be when I started writing.

Sure I made outlines of my argument. But, in the end what made the piece come together was filtering my thoughts through writing a few lines at a time.

Writing as a filter

The thoughts in your head are completely unfiltered. They dance with your emotions, changing directions whenever a something flashes across your field of vision.

Writing distills the language of thinking. It captures a moment of the dance into a portrait of thought.

Writing gives you the opportunity to examine your ideas.

Writing is the window into meta-cognition (thinking about thinking). It helps you to ask questions you wouldn’t have otherwise asked. It helps you to find associations between ideas that you wouldn’t have otherwise seen. It helps test the data that’s backing your argument.

From experience, however, I know that it’s easy not to take the opportunity. It’s easy to word-vomit a blog post and hit publish without a second glance.

Sometimes though, it’s worth the extra time and effort to critically examine your thoughts, especially if you aren’t sure where you stand on an issue.

Sometimes it’s necessary to slow down to make your thoughts more refined, more carefully worded, and ultimately, better.

Give yourself permission not to know where you’re going

Not having a clear vision of where you stand on an issue is, at times, an asset. When I was unsettled about personal branding, I wrote a post analyzing what one of its experts was saying.

Turns out that I have a hard time trusting personal branding experts, but I didn’t know that before I started writing.

Sometimes when you have a question, the most effective way to find an answer is to start writing. Pick a side, and start looking for support of the idea.

Argue toward a point, even if you aren’t sure you completely buy it.

Then stop and reread your written thoughts. If they’re convincing to you, keep them. If they aren’t, delete and try again.

Writing is not all about the product

Writing is about the process.

It’s about what you learn by carefully considering all sides of an argument.

And it’s about what you learn from others after you published your writing. The personal branding post of mine sparked a significant debate which brought to light several issues that I hadn’t previously considered.

Of course, all of this requires a commitment the extra time and work that critical examination requires.

So is it really worth it?

I think so. I believe in the process. I believe in exploring our thoughts through the filter of writing. I believe in learning from each other.

What do you think?

-Andrew

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Stacyann Forrester

Great post. Writing helps thinking. Through writing my ideas have become clearer. When you put something down on paper the internal becomes external. You tend to spend more time on challenging and find tuning an idea once it's out of your head. Writing also helps you when you want to express your ideas verbally.

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Mighty

Hey Andrew!

Nice post. Was it Francis Bacon who said writing makes the complete man. Not too sure now.

I usually bring out my notebook (the good old fashioned paper notebook) and pen to brainstorm something I've been thinking about. It's a great way to unload stuff I'm thinking and put some semblance of order to my confused mind.

Robby G

@Andrew: When I write my fiction novels, I allow my imagination go wild. When it comes to blogging, however, I have a little bit more structure because it is based on giving advice. I usually think things through more when I blog to give the best possible advice, but with novels it's all based on how far I can push the limits of my mind. And I love the contrast of style when I write for my blog as opposed to my fiction. The blog has definitely helped me improve the style of my writing.

Andrew Swenson

@Matt: I think that perhaps one of the hardest parts of the journey is recognizing when it's finished. I don't know about you, but I sometimes end up writing far more than I really need, then circling back and deleting.

@Scott: Wow, the Orwell connection brings me back to "Politics and the English Language," an important work in my formation of a writer which I had entirely forgotten about until just this moment. Thanks for reminding me. Maybe this post was channeling my subconscious, inner Orwell. I'm not sure whether that is a good or a bad thing...
.-= Andrew Swenson´s last blog ..Guest Post: Writing as a way of thinking =-.

srinirao

@Matt: Good to see you here at Skool of Life. I've noticed unfiltered writing is the way to go. So many people get caught up in how to get from point A to B. All that matters is that you enjoy the journey.

@Scott: I think that free writing idea is awesome. I have a public speaking client and I encourage him to do the same thing with speaking when we meet. It's been interesting to see him evolve.

Sam Scott

Enjoyed this post. It reminds me of some of George Orwell's ideas from his essays on the connection between writing and clear thinking. His premise was that it is easy to have mushy, fuzzy thoughts and to be unaware of just how unclear those thoughts are. But the process of writing forces the author to work through issues and to decide what they really think, much more coherently.

I write quite a bit and still occasionally use an exercise called "free writing" in which I just start spewing ink onto the paper for 5 minutes of continuous writing, without stopping. Just phrases, fragments and anything that comes to mind. After 5 minutes of transcribing a chaotic inner dialogue about a topic, I find it much easier to outline and compose.

Matt Cheuvront

Couldn't agree more my friend. When I set out to write something, I usually can think of how I'm going to start and where I generally want to end up - but the in between, the journey from start to finish - that's the beauty of the writing process. You may not know how you're doing to end up at the finish line, and that's OK - thinking out loud, in writing, is usually when the brilliant stuff comes out.

Looking forward to your interview. I'll have one of my own coming up soon.

@srinirao: thanks again for the opportunity and for responding to the comments!

@David: I think the key is to relax and experiment. It's not about having the answer right away, it's about working toward it.

@Robby: I have the same approach to writing poetry, short stories, research and blogs. The all present themselves as different types of thinking, but the process of writing for me is very much the same. Is your writing process different for your blog versus your short stories or novels?
.-= Andrew Swenson´s last blog ..Guest Post: Writing as a way of thinking =-.

@Andrew:First, thanks for guest posting here. Interesting ideas Andrew. I have definitely found the same experience. I often don't know where I'm going with an idea until I've finished it. I think to me the main take away from this is just to start writing and you'll surprise yourself with you where you end up.

@David: I think you'll find that you get there once you just start writing. Unfiltered as a great way to approach everything.

@Robby: IF you plan too much before you are writing, it doesn't leave room for imagination. So, I'm guessing in fiction writing you can benefit even more from Andrew's ideas.

You have a great point here. I write novels and short stories, and the most enticing pieces are when I have no clue where the characters will go next. When things are planned, I tend to write with as little detail as possible to just get the character where I want him to be, but when I myself don't know how the situation will unfold, it even surprises me sometimes that they do things they do even though I'm the one writing it. It's really crazy but it's as if each character takes a life of their own and they do things based on their personality that I have created for them. And plus it's more interested for the writer himself to not know what will end up happening in his own work. Sometimes I will plan a certain thing I want to happen but the way it gets to it is free for my imagination to figure out.
.-= Robby G´s last blog ..Shy Fuck Buddies Want Love Too =-.

David

This was a well-timed post to read for me.. considering I have no clue where I'm going with my writing. Thanks!