I just reread Paul Graham’s 2022 essay on writing (Putting Ideas Into Words). Here’s a couple of the money lines -
“no one who hasn't written about a topic has fully formed ideas about it.”
“Putting ideas into words is certainly no guarantee that they'll be right. Far from it. But though it's not a sufficient condition, it is a necessary one.”
This is one of my favourite PG essays. It articulates what I’ve long felt about writing - why I find it so valuable and why I often find it so hard to do. It hits home harder in an age of AI promising/threatening to do all our writing (and therefore thinking).
For me, the point of writing doesn’t lie in the transfer of information, persuasion, or the construction of a personal brand (shudder). It instead lies in the sometimes magical, sometimes frustrating, always iterative refinement of ideas and identity.
PG’s essay doesn’t touch on two other reasons I find writing so meaningful.
The first is the simple fact that writing can be deeply joyous, when the words come out in a crackling flow of electricity. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it leaves an afterglow of what I can only describe as writer’s high. Such pieces also tend to be the best, they sing with verve and humour, and often feel effortless to write. /0/ felt like that.
The second, and most compelling reason I write is the ability to reflexively surf what I like to call the experience-expectation (xp) loop. I’ve described this before in cosmic birthday gift. I’ve found surfing the xp loop to be one of the deepest sources of resonance and meaning. This is where writing can truly transcend the ‘mere’ refinement of thought and become something far more powerful. There’s a lot more to explore here and I know I’ve only scratched the surface. Erik Davis has written some potent stuff if you’d like a more experienced guide (see his book High Weirdness that delves into the writing of authors such as Phillip K Dick).
Anyways, not to jinx it but I’ve really been enjoying the little writing streak I’ve gotten going this week. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, simply committing to writing something everyday, but it somehow never got over the initial activation threshold. Now that I’ve got a spark, I’m hopeful I can keep it burning.
Keep the dragon energy alive,
Akash