In “Why I Continue To Write: Thirty-five years after Last Exit to Brooklyn,” Hubert Selby Jr. says of his youth,
I went into the hospital in 1946, with advanced tuberculosis, and altogether I spent three and a half years in the hospital. By the time I got out I had had 10 ribs removed, one lung collapsed, a piece of the other one removed, and there were some severe complications from an experimental drug that was used to keep me alive. During these years I was given up for dead several times. . . . Anyway, I was sitting at home and had a profound experience. I experienced, in all of my Being, that someday I was going to die, and it wouldn’t be like it had been happening, almost dying but somehow staying alive, but I would just die! And two things would happen right before I died: I would regret my entire life; I would want to live it over again. This terrified me. The thought that I would live my entire life, look at it and realize I blew it forced me to do something with my life. This did not make me a writer, but provided the incentive to discover that I am a writer.
Selby is now remembered as one of the most impactful American authors of the 20th century. His desire to accomplish something meaningful left a riveting legacy. Writing came to define him. In turn, he helped define American culture by painting a sobering picture of the human condition. Here are ten reasons to write regularly.
- When you write regularly, your mind commits to a stronger work ethic. Practice builds confidence. As a result, you’re less afraid to take on larger challenges. You can easily manage a proposal, school paper, legal report, letter of recommendation, or detailed email asking for a raise.
- Writing refines your sense of purpose and audience. Since it’s cyclical and reciprocal, it illuminates intention. We generate a concept, write it down, and recreate meaning from words that talk back to us from the page. In the process, we consider how those words will affect others.
- Writing allows you to chronicle your life experience. Revisiting text you wrote many years ago reminds you of who you were at the time. Those words from the past show you how you’ve changed, for better or worse. This leads to a clearer understanding of the present.
- Since writing is introspective, it’s revealing. You can place otherwise ignored insights on display with every sentence. Writing is a powerful reflection of hidden identity. It inspires thoughts that can’t be easily accessed through other mediums. These thoughts hint at who you really are.
- Writing is a good way to channel your emotions. It’s liberating and comparatively safe. You can rage, despair, or stand in awe of the universe at your own discretion. In the process, you actualize your greatest passions and purge your inner demons.
- Writing allows you to explain difficult concepts to a confused world. Far too many written communications read like crude, poorly reasoned ransom notes. You can combat this problem by sharing sensible reflections that matter to you. Your readers will appreciate your efforts.
- Through writing, you can examine multiple perceptions. For instance, visionary science fiction writing sometimes becomes science fact. The mind imagines alternative realities and gives them life. Antiquated belief systems surrender to new possibilities that better define the world around us. This spells innovation, and revolutionary technologies are born.
- Studying the writing process is gratifying. Quicksilver thoughts race through your neural pathways and onto the printed page, shaping you into a clearer image of the person you are becoming. Your life, like your writing, grows richer with each passing moment, with each click of the keyboard. Everything you compose is a chronicled movement from uncertainty to self-assertion.
- Writing protects us from surrounding chaos. The world can be a hurricane of confusion. When this is the case, we look for chances to gauge the situation and calm our nerves. Writing is the ideal opportunity. It shelters us from the storm.
- Writing keeps the computer warm for the cat.
