Don't Write for the Sake of Writing

“Empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieve any human suffering.” 

Epicurus

If you aren't interested in a subject why write about it? If it's about human suffering and you don't offer any relief whatsoever, I no longer see the point. Why give someone a long article (or book) to read about their problems, unless your goal is to let them know that there is someone else in the same boat as them? Other than that, a writer should give the reader insight, even if it's just a few things he or she has learned along the way. If Anne Frank can do it with the circumstances surrounding her, we all can.

If you want to blog about a miserable break up, by all means, go for it - but don't expect a lot of people to read it unless it adds something to their lives. People are selfish that way. The only service you'd be offering is emotional voyeurism to those that get off on that kind of thing. These aren't the kind of readers you want. They will tune out as soon as things get better for you. Why would they continue to read your blog when Facebook is full of people bragging? But...at least you're not writing for the sake of writing.

If you are writing a paper for a class, that's one thing, but why subject yourself to the process of writing in your free time unless it's something that you find meaningful. Who wants to spend their free time feeling like they're working on an assignment they dread? That's pointless and you will soon give up.  I know that Epicurus is a philosopher and that his point pertains to philosophy, but each of us has a philosophy about something. It's all around us.

Even fiction can have moments of inspiration; the hero's journey or some other insight into human nature that can be worth writing or reading about. Film, in some regard, can have the same effect because it had to be written before it was put on the screen. There are movies like Winter's Bone and Frozen River that are well made and the acting is great - but so very depressing. I just can't watch them anymore. Life can be hard enough. Why invite more pain and darkness in?

As far as writing - if I don't have something I really want to talk about or something (that I really don't want to talk about) from my past that might help one person that can relate - then it isn't worth the time and effort. Other than having something to say, it's just trying too hard and becomes pretentious at some point.  Don't write to write just so you can tell your buddies you're a writer. Write because it's something that you've got to get out there, it's something that can help others, something humorous, or entertaining - even sad.  Even in our darkest moments there is the human will to pull out of the mire. Don't leave that part out.

Keep in mind, there is no perfect writer - there are good reads and bad reads. Your main goal is for someone to enjoy reading your stuff. My major was English literature and I don't even follow all of the rules. I do my best to make things readable and entertaining, but I've stopped getting wrapped up in punctuation and the like. It makes the process a mere process and not a statement from a human perspective. Some of the greatest writers have long run on sentences like Kerouac and even Stephen King has an editor. I would rather read something good and from the heart of someone who has a 5th grade education than something boring and dry from someone with a doctorate.

So you want to be a writer? That's mistake #1 - another good article on this subject by Ryan Holiday