Editorial Op-Ed | Of Reading & Writing
To Write is to Build a Skillset You Will Never Regret
Writing is a skill set that follows us wherever we go and will stick with us through thick and thin.
“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”
Reading is enjoyable. Your eyes perform the heavy lifting while your mind engages with the unbelievable.
Writing is hard work. Tremendous effort is required to give birth to the words nestling in your head. We hit the backspace button more than we press enter or spacebar.
Why so?
Because it takes effort to craft our message with precision.
Why so?
Because we want to put our ideas into the heads of others. A well-written message convinces. A badly crafted message confuses. To build allies or enemies, you need to write.
To write is to live.
Writing is Tough Business
Writing is incredibly tough for the following reasons:
- Good today is not good enough tomorrow.
- It takes a long time to develop signature styles in our writing, and we need to have our own style to differentiate ourselves from the pack.
- What is good writing to A is terrible writing to B.
And then, there is the following.
“Sometimes the ideas just come to me. Other times I have to sweat and almost bleed to make ideas come. It’s a mysterious process, but I hope I never find out exactly how it works. I like a mystery, as you may have noticed.”
Writing requires us to engage our minds and emotions. I will go as far as to say we need to include our gut feel to form a tripartite.
And our performance in writing fluctuates from day to day. I may write well today because I happen to be in a smooth state, where the words in my mind can be directly extracted from my brain to the Word Document without pruning.
If my brain tangles up, my keyboard suffers from unnecessary pounding.
Sorry, backspace button!
So, yes. Writing is one tough business. Even if you are an avid reader.
Why Bother?
Firstly, writing is a skill set that follows us around. Till death do us part.
We get better with time as our minds and fingers become one. Practice is king. And nothing in this world escapes writing.
Want to monetize a newsletter? You need to write.
Want to send an email to your boss? You got to write.
Want to get your spouse to get groceries before heading home? You have to write (or type).
Diction is the currency for mutual understanding. Millions, billions of words are produced and thrown around for the purposes of communication. When we are not good at it, we have to write more to explain.
With time, we write less to deliver a higher impact. With time, we turn alphabets to digits behind the dollar sign.
But, before that. We need to start.
Writing is a practitioner sport.
You cannot think about basketball. You practice.
You cannot think about reading too. You read. You got to start getting your eyes to consume words on a page.
You cannot think about writing.
You write to write.
Readers Hope — Call for Submission
We want to help you to write.
If you have been itching to start writing, Readers Hope is for you.
The young need a safe practicing ground before a level-playing field. Building confidence through practice is what Readers Hope aspires to do.
Send us your work, and keep writing to improve.
You will touch your stars one day.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz Liam Ireland Maria Rattray Carol Price Tree Langdon Karen Madej Britni Pepper Agnes Laurens Claire Kelly Dr. Preeti Singh Josh Balerite Acol Noorain Hassan, BMS Zen Chan Dew Langrial Technology Hits JS Adam Regi Brittain John Cunningham Lawson Wallace
Resources from Previous Editorial Op-Eds:
If you find this editorial op-ed helpful to your writing journey, you may uncover more gems in the previous op-eds written for the benefit of ILLUMINATION’s contributors and readers.
- Illuminating the Editor’s Dilemma: What We (Really) Do and How We Can Do Better
- Illuminating the Way to Overcome the Writer’s Silent Disappointment
- Illuminating A Potential Structure for an Effective Writing Week
- Illuminating the Need for a Writing Downtime
- Inside the Minds of Editors: What We Look Forward to and Look Out for
- The Future of Reading is in Writing
- Illuminating How We Can Find Ourselves (Again) When We are Lost
About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
