More People Should Write

You should write because when you know that you’re  going  to write, it changes the way you live. I’m thinking about a book I read called  Field Notes on Science & Nature , a collection of essays by scientists about their notes. It’s hard to imagine a more tedious concept — a book of essays about  notes ? — but in execution

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But that’s not why you should write.

You should write because when you know that you’re going to write, it changes the way you live.

Writing needn’t be a formal enterprise to have this effect. You don’t have to write well . You don’t even have to “write,” exactly — you can just talk onto the page.

I suggest writing emails to your friends. Writing with an audience in mind makes the writing better, and writing to a friend means you won’t get hung up on how you sound. You’ll become ... See more