I recently saw an old lecture surface online. You may have seen it.
It’s a lecture by Larry McEnerney from the University of Chicago.
He explains how to write effectively, but more importantly, he points at the writing process.
Great writing isn’t about ink on paper. It’s the meaning and value behind the words. A written text is only the embodiment of careful thought.
Expert writers (professionals that are well-versed in complex ideas and skills) often write to think.
They are like a blacksmith. They hammer away until their argument is sound.
Once they’ve developed clear thought, it is not written on paper. It’s a text.
From that text, they can abandon it or rewrite and refine it.
The difference between a writer and an author comes next.
The writer writes.
The author writes and publishes.
When it’s published, readers get access to this condensed, high-value idea.
And the purpose of all writing should be to change a reader’s perspective– to have them think differently about the world or a topic.
Because writing should promote change.
It might be to provide a product that helps a business or change a common perception about a topic– writing should move readers.
So, we should all write regardless of whether we consider ourselves professional writers.
We write to think and then to share, so we can make a difference.
