I have been writing for as long as I can remember. Even as a boy growing up in the suburbs of Bombay, I used to maintain a notebook where I would write poems and essays - outside of assigned homework.
In fact I used to consider myself a good writer. In school my essays were graded well and I received a lot of encouragement from my teachers. At the time, I would tell anyone who asked that my goal was to be a journalist and writer.
This bubble burst when I started junior college - my very first essay assignment came back with lots of red ink. Thinking back, I might have honed my writing skills and become a real writer with the thoughtful feedback provided by teachers who cared. I took it to mean I wasn’t very good and put my focus on doing well in the sciences. After all, like most of my peers, I had already decided I was going to be an engineer.
I did not do any writing during my years in engineering school - except occasionally contributing a piece, mostly angry satire, to a campus publication. I did contribute to the scripting of plays and sketches - but they were few and far between.
The professional years - 25 years of working in the oil and gas industry - were dry creatively. I did a lot of business writing, and a lot of papers and assignments while pursuing my MBA, but I don’t recall writing anything for fun, or for expressing myself. I did read a lot though.
I launched my coaching practice in 2015, and started a journaling habit shortly thereafter. My primary reason for writing is to process and clarify my own thinking.
The human mind is a funny thing. If your only means of clarifying your thoughts is within your own head, your mind is good at making you think you have it all figured out - that your ideas are coherent, complete, and connected.It only when you attempt to put your thoughts on paper and string them together that you see they don’t make as much sense as you were convinced they did. So writing is a key part of how I make sense.
However writing for yourself, as in journaling, is still a conversation with yourself. The process of writing makes your thinking more legible, but your mind with all its tricks, still lets you get away with gaps and fallacies you don’t even notice.
That’s where publishing comes in. When you publish, even if no one reads it, you are more critical and are likely to find more opportunities to refine your thinking. And if you’re lucky to find an audience, even an audience of one, and they are kind enough to give you feedback, your thinking and learning improves by leaps and bounds.
It took a couple of years for writing to become a habit, and I have been writing everyday (almost) for over 3 years now. What’s been missing has been consistency in publishing. I’ve done it in fits and starts, but never long enough to get the benefits of building an audience and receiving feedback.
That’s what I seek to change in 2021.
After a slow start, I started publishing one essay every day and have been doing so without a break since January 25 this year. It’s by no means a unique or extraordinary feat - I know several people who have been doing this consistently for years. However, for me it feels special. It’s the longest streak of publishing I’ve done - ever.
I know however that these habits are fragile. And I understand the value that accountability and community support brings. So I am now a member of two communities where I and other aspiring writers share, discuss, provide feedback, and celebrate each others’ wins.
That’s why I write and publish.
In fact I used to consider myself a good writer. In school my essays were graded well and I received a lot of encouragement from my teachers. At the time, I would tell anyone who asked that my goal was to be a journalist and writer.
This bubble burst when I started junior college - my very first essay assignment came back with lots of red ink. Thinking back, I might have honed my writing skills and become a real writer with the thoughtful feedback provided by teachers who cared. I took it to mean I wasn’t very good and put my focus on doing well in the sciences. After all, like most of my peers, I had already decided I was going to be an engineer.
I did not do any writing during my years in engineering school - except occasionally contributing a piece, mostly angry satire, to a campus publication. I did contribute to the scripting of plays and sketches - but they were few and far between.
The professional years - 25 years of working in the oil and gas industry - were dry creatively. I did a lot of business writing, and a lot of papers and assignments while pursuing my MBA, but I don’t recall writing anything for fun, or for expressing myself. I did read a lot though.
I launched my coaching practice in 2015, and started a journaling habit shortly thereafter. My primary reason for writing is to process and clarify my own thinking.
The human mind is a funny thing. If your only means of clarifying your thoughts is within your own head, your mind is good at making you think you have it all figured out - that your ideas are coherent, complete, and connected.It only when you attempt to put your thoughts on paper and string them together that you see they don’t make as much sense as you were convinced they did. So writing is a key part of how I make sense.
However writing for yourself, as in journaling, is still a conversation with yourself. The process of writing makes your thinking more legible, but your mind with all its tricks, still lets you get away with gaps and fallacies you don’t even notice.
That’s where publishing comes in. When you publish, even if no one reads it, you are more critical and are likely to find more opportunities to refine your thinking. And if you’re lucky to find an audience, even an audience of one, and they are kind enough to give you feedback, your thinking and learning improves by leaps and bounds.
It took a couple of years for writing to become a habit, and I have been writing everyday (almost) for over 3 years now. What’s been missing has been consistency in publishing. I’ve done it in fits and starts, but never long enough to get the benefits of building an audience and receiving feedback.
That’s what I seek to change in 2021.
After a slow start, I started publishing one essay every day and have been doing so without a break since January 25 this year. It’s by no means a unique or extraordinary feat - I know several people who have been doing this consistently for years. However, for me it feels special. It’s the longest streak of publishing I’ve done - ever.
I know however that these habits are fragile. And I understand the value that accountability and community support brings. So I am now a member of two communities where I and other aspiring writers share, discuss, provide feedback, and celebrate each others’ wins.
That’s why I write and publish.