30 April 2019
Edit on 18 Jan 2024:
I did a double take just now when I saw the title. Yes, I wrote about this twice :) You can tell how important the topic is to me. At least, it seems I got a little better at formatting.
Writing involves taking ideas from your mind and encoding them as letters, words and phrases. The result has to make sense. It has to have logic and coherence. That means also what you have inside your head has to make sense. Writing reveals inconsistencies and holes in your understanding. As a result, it helps you understand better.
I like to compare writing with building a house. You take the design that you imagined and make it a reality. In the process, you reveal the places where the design breaks down when it comes in contact with reality. This forces you to update the design.
Through writing you build a voice, a persona, an image that you broadcast to the world. Some people will like it, some will hate it. If you're lucky, some of the people who like it will say "hi" and you'll start a conversation. You'll find people who share your values and you'll develop friendships. Even the people who hate it, might say so in a nice and thoughtful way. It might lead to fun conversations and you might discover that you like each other.
Through writing you can show your competency. For example, I like programming, mathematics, psychology, systems thinking, coffee. I like them so much that I want to use them to make a living (I'm already doing that with programming). Writing about these topics can show the readers how much I know about them. If I know enough, it will convince others that I can solve their problems, so they will hire me.
Writing transfers information from one head to others. The more effective the writing, the more efficient the transfer. Teaching can change someone's life. You teach them a valuable skill and that will open a world of enough money to live a decent life. Or more. Teaching programming is one example of changing someone's life for the better. It was for me and for other people I know.
That's why I want to teach what I know. If I open a door to a better life for someone, that will make me happy.
All the previous reasons sound functional. They increase my intellectual (and financial) ROI. They give me an edge. But writing can be fun too. I can start to play with the way I string words into sentences. I can play with the way the words sound. I can play with the images. Fun alone can be a reason to write. And not only for my sake. If I'm having fun writing, so will my readers. It can spur my creativity which can create more memorable images.
I still find it difficult to write. I'm still afraid, but I've accepted that and I have patience with myself. I will gain more confidence with time and find more enjoyment in writing. The fear will fade away. I believe this.
Later Edit: I had the feeling I had written something like this before. I only had to look on the first page to see that I did. I'll leave this here just to see how my thoughts have changed.