Writing is more than words

Writing is easy. All you do is string together a bunch of words.

Or so some would have you think. Never mind the fact that so many of us are terrible at saying what we mean.

Writing is much harder than some give credit.

Because writing is more than words.

Writing is research

Finding the right words is much harder when you don’t know what you want to say.

The words flow more easily if you’ve researched your topic. If you’ve read up and immersed yourself in related matters. If you’ve taken notes in your own words.

You gotta make deposits before you make withdrawals. And in writing, those deposits come in the form or research.

Writing is empathy

Readers are more likely to remember writing that speaks to them. That speaks to their struggles and fears. That speaks to where they’ve been, where they are, and where hoping to end up.

Writing is more powerful when it comes from a writer who is human. Someone with empathy.

🗒️ Note: The advantage of empathy is one of many reasons AI writers like ChatGPT won’t replace quality content writers.

Writing is visual

Most writers don’t think of themselves as visual artists. But the visual aspects of writing still matter.

There’s a reason we break our text into paragraphs or lines rather than crapping our words into one big block.

There’s a reason bloggers use headers in their posts to join related sentences.

And there’s a reason we should use title case only when absolutely necessary.

The reason? Writing is visual.

So, the next someone asks why you’re making such a big deal about writing. That it’s just the act of putting a bunch of words together, one after the other. Just send them this post and tell them to STFU.