Should Everyone Write?

I spent 10 long minutes, staring at a blank Microsoft Office Word document. What should I write? And then a little voice inside my head yelled, Oh for God’s sake! Start, will you?

Truth be told, this is a struggle for every person, who makes an effort to write.

The question is, should everyone write? Yes.

Humans are the most intelligent species to have walked this planet. Designed intricately, with unconditional attention to detail, and a fundamental glitch! The human brain which has the sophisticated task of controlling all our sensory organs, balancing analytical and emotional intelligence and hosting a multiverse of thoughts and facts, is more like the RAM in a smartphone or computer. Fast to access, with limited retention capacity. The problem is, we cannot afford an internal hard drive. Well, not yet. Hence, we must build a system to constantly transfer internal knowledge to an external medium, which can be a physical notebook or digital diary. Options are multiple to choose from and they may suit differently to different users.

We are inherently creative, and constantly bursting with innovations. However, due to a lack of effort to note down our ideas and explore them further, we tend to settle on being oblivious. It happens so, that when we start to write, we research. As a result, our brain receives new data to process, resubmits to the existing sketches and adds fineness to our theories. So, writing can be considered to be a swing door, that creates a logical flow of information between the internal and external systems. The more frequently one writes the better one can learn about how their own mind behaves in different circumstances and perceives various particulars.

Writing can be therapeutic; the activity can help steer resourcefulness and discover passions. Consider beginning to write just for yourself. It does not have to be neat or elegant. It should be a conversation between you and the medium you choose. Be honest and once you pick up the pace and find it difficult to stop, you know that you have got the thinker into motion. Fantastic! This is just the beginning, and you have far to go.

I have been writing for years and made very occasional attempts to share my work, out of fear and self-criticism. I have remained afraid of being ridiculed and being perceived as silly. I always felt I am not good enough to publicize my journalism and the truth is, probably I will never be. Identity crisis is not restricted to amateurs and neither is censure. The notion most of us dwell in is, that every first draft of any literary giant or artist was a masterpiece. This is a lie! Celebrated novelist, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee who wrote the magnum opus Devdas, is said to have remained so displeased with the literature that although he wrote the fiction in 1901, it was only published in 1917. The following unprecedented popularity of the novel led to the story being adopted in several regional languages and the making of multiple movies at different times. Also let us not forget, even Shakespeare had a fair share of his critics and was called both clichéd and artless.

Therefore, the best advice I can give anyone today is, to write. Make a start, it is the most liberating exercise one can pursue.