In the exam room, student Xiao Ming overcame numerous challenges but was left scratching his head over a trivial essay topic. After racking his brains, he ultimately forced out 800 words, let out a long sigh, and cursed inwardly: “What’s the point of writing this nonsense?”
I wonder if this scene is familiar to everyone. From a young age, we have been taught to write more, yet many people, like me, have studied for many years without understanding why we should write, or even if they understand the value of writing, they cannot confidently complete an article that is presentable. Every time, whether it’s a grand ambition to create a masterpiece that moves the heavens and the earth, or the pressure of submitting a course report as the deadline approaches, we always find it hard to put pen to paper. It seems we have been suffering from the torment of writing since childhood. The purpose of this article is to help everyone break free from the shackles of the writing curse, overcome the anxiety of not daring to start, and write articles smoothly.
The Intrinsic Value of Writing#
To write a good article, we first need to know why we write, that is, what value writing holds for us. This article divides the value of writing into intrinsic and extrinsic values. As we learned in philosophy class, when encountering a problem, we first analyze the internal causes, and the same applies here; let’s first discuss the intrinsic value of writing.
Writing is a Process of Self-Reflection#
Writing is a process of dialogue with oneself and delving into one’s inner self. Through writing, we can visualize complex emotions and chaotic thoughts, gradually clarifying our inner world. In daily life, many of our emotions and thoughts are buried deep within, often unnoticed even by ourselves. However, during the writing process, these abstract feelings are transformed into concrete words, helping us organize our chaotic minds into an orderly manner. When learning a certain knowledge, writing a study note can help us organize the knowledge framework and identify key difficulties; when feeling anxious and confused, writing an essay to record our current perplexities can help uncover the root causes of our confusion; after a project concludes, writing a review document to record gains and losses can help us better derive experiences.
Writing is a Process of Thinking Training#
Writing is a deep cognitive activity and an effective way to train logic and exercise thinking. Through writing, we can organize our thoughts, clarify our viewpoints, cultivate critical thinking, and enhance overall cognitive abilities. Writing helps structure thoughts, breaking down complex problems into multiple levels, forming a logical chain, and enhancing the structure of knowledge; writing helps improve language expression skills; during the writing process, to ensure reader comprehension, we must choose more accurate and expressive words, strengthening our command of language; writing helps reinforce logical and critical thinking; when writing argumentative essays, we need to clearly express our viewpoints and provide evidence, exercising our reasoning abilities, while continuously evaluating whether our arguments have flaws, whether the evidence is insufficient, and whether the reasoning method is appropriate, thus training our critical thinking.
Writing is an Effective Means of Emotional Healing#
Writing is a tool for healing the soul, helping us release repressed emotions, sort through inner confusion, and gradually find the strength to grow from pain. Unlike other emotional healing methods, writing is completely private and free, without worrying about external evaluations, focusing entirely on self-healing and growth. By expressing accumulated emotions through writing, we can avoid emotional outbursts or the negative psychological effects of repression; by visualizing chaotic emotions and thoughts through writing, we can better understand our inner needs; by objectively recording our painful experiences, we can examine our past objectively and find the motivation to move forward.
The Extrinsic Value of Writing#
After discussing the intrinsic value of writing, let’s talk about its extrinsic value.
Writing is a Means of Communication#
Writing is the most efficient way to convey information. The efficiency of obtaining information through text is significantly higher than through graphics and sound. Additionally, the materials in writing undergo structured processing, making logical relationships clearer and eliminating redundant content, resulting in concise and refined content, further enhancing the efficiency of acquiring information through articles. In the information age, even as media forms continue to diversify, with images, videos, audio, and even virtual reality content occupying a large space in people’s information lives, people still need to read articles to efficiently learn content and acquire knowledge, whether it’s learning knowledge during study or communicating plans at work, relying on text and writing.
Writing is an Important Means of Gaining Influence#
In the internet age, writing is an important means of gaining influence. Through writing, individuals can widely disseminate their thoughts and viewpoints, influencing people from different backgrounds, cultures, and statuses. Writing can showcase personal knowledge and depth of thought, establishing emotional and intellectual connections with readers and expanding personal influence. In the era of traffic, mastering writing helps create resonance and appeal, shaping public discourse and strengthening the interaction between individuals and society. In the early days of the internet, authors who created quality knowledge content in forums gained fame and wealth; in the era of self-media, viral videos often propel newcomers to fame. Although video has replaced text as the mainstream medium, behind video content lies excellent copywriting, which also requires sufficient writing skills.
Reasons Writing is Difficult#
Recognizing the value of writing, we begin to write; however, writing is not easy. I believe most readers can relate—either struggling to squeeze out a word or starting with inspiration only to veer off-topic after a few sentences, or writing extensively only to feel it’s unsightly upon review, wishing to hit the backspace key and delete everything to rewrite. Why is writing so difficult?
Disorganized Thoughts, Hard to Find a Starting Point#
Writing requires organizing scattered thoughts in our minds into logically clear and well-structured content. However, in the early stages of writing, we often face the problem of disorganized thoughts, with many related or unrelated ideas flooding into our minds like a tide, making it hard to determine which is the most suitable starting point, leading to indecision and ultimately procrastination.
Insufficient Knowledge and Skills#
Writing requires language expression skills, logical thinking abilities, and relevant knowledge reserves. However, for many people, these abilities may be lacking, leading to difficulties in organizing content, wording, or structuring.
Perfectionism#
Many people pursue “perfection” in writing, hoping that every sentence can precisely express their ideas, with beautiful language and flawless structure. However, such high expectations often bring pressure, causing authors to feel fear when starting to write or to constantly overturn their work during the process, making it hard to progress.
Some Suggestions for Writing#
Break Down the Big into the Small#
When facing complex topics or large writing tasks, do not attempt to complete everything at once. Break down the big theme into multiple small questions or tasks and complete them step by step. By simplifying complexity, you can effectively reduce the difficulty of writing. For example, when writing this article, I first outlined the sections—“Background,” “Value of Writing,” “Reasons Writing is Difficult,” and “Some Suggestions for Writing”—and then expanded each section into sub-parts, thus dividing the entire article into chunks, writing one chunk each day, and finally connecting them into a complete article.
Read and Imitate#
Excellent writing skills are inseparable from extensive reading. By reading works of different styles and fields, you can absorb the language expression and thinking methods of outstanding writers. During the reading process, try to imitate the structure, expression methods, and even language styles of the articles.
Be Good at Accumulating#
Writing requires inspiration, and inspiration comes from life, observation, and accumulation. Pay attention to recording noteworthy events, impressive sentences, and sudden writing inspirations; these materials will become powerful aids when writing.
Accept Imperfection#
Writing is a process of continuous revision and improvement; it is impossible to achieve perfection from the start. If you overly pursue the perfection of the first draft, you may fall into procrastination or abandonment. Accepting the imperfection of the first draft can make writing more efficient. Do not set a goal of “writing a good article” at the beginning; instead, tell yourself “just write it out first, then revise.” After completing the first draft, optimize the content through revision and adjustment. Remember, “A good article is not written out; it is revised out.”
Practice Regularly#
Writing is a skill that can only be improved through continuous practice. Develop a habit of writing regularly, whether it’s keeping a diary, writing essays, or formal articles; this will help you accumulate experience and gradually enhance your writing ability.
Make Good Use of Tools#
The emergence of large language models, led by GPT, has greatly reduced the difficulty of writing. Whether you lack writing inspiration, have an outline but lack details, or need arguments, you can use these AI tools, just like this article, to help produce better articles.
“Feeling shallow when writing on paper, one must practice to truly understand.” To write a good article, the most important thing is to bravely take the first step. I hope this article can inspire readers and help everyone fasten the first button of writing.