Why Writing Matters

Recently, I was invited to join the Writers Council of the National Writing Project, and for this I was asked to state why I believe writing is important. It’s a worthy question, and I chewed it over.

As I see it, three facets of writing matter: the original act of getting down a first draft, the revising puzzle, and the chance that a final result might move a reader. They’re intertwined, of course, but the real power lies in those first two stages. When we create and deepen our ideas on paper, we discover who we are. We fine-tune our thinking and prove we deserve to exist. Such endeavor is bedrock for saving the world.

When I speak of saving the world, I mean preserving and liberating it for our children and grandchildren. I fully believe that writing will help get us there.