On The Life Changing Effects Of Writing

There are some books that when read change a person. You can’t know which books they’ll be. You can only hope that you recognize them before you arrive at the last page.

Quindlen’s book, “Write For Your Life” is one such book.

Quindlen reminds her readers that to write for others is to write for ourselves and that one is not better than the other. In fact, they are the same.

In my youth, I wrote because I wanted to. There were no blogs or social media posts to crank out, no metrics to follow.

It didn’t matter if I had an audience or accolades. I wrote words because the words were in me and begged to be free.

Quindlen inspired me to remember this.

Writing is about expression, evocation and transformation. It’s about finding ourselves over and over again. It’s equal parts intimate and public and it has nothing to do with metrics.

As much as I love writing on line, it’s easy to get swept up in the “business” of writing and lose sight of the joy.

I’ve tottered on that line for nearly three years now and it wasn’t until I read Quindlen’s book that I was reminded why I started writing in the first place.

I write because words move people to tears, to action, to love. I write because words evoke this in me.

Across space and time there are countless examples of speeches and letters, books and poems, songs and movies that changed the way we thought about justice, war, resilience, god.

It’s not for the writer to decide when or how their writing will change the world, but it is their responsibility to put pen to paper, because without that act, no change is possible.

The last paragraph of Quindlen’s book is a call to action. It’s a proclamation that we can, and must, write our own histories.

It’s a reminder that, mundane as we may find our experiences, they are invaluable when put in the context of a life and individual experience.

Your words, my words, our words are more precious than you could ever know.

Read her book. Then get out a pen and a piece of paper and begin.

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