writing Archive - This Moment Counts

Wait, you write daily?

Yes, I write every day. Not because I have something profound to say every morning. I write because my thinking is messy.

And thinking more often doesn’t help.

Thoughts tend to stay fuzzy. They can “feel” right, but somehow you’re never really able to precisely capture them.

Writing is different. The moment you write a thought down in words, you have to commit to one way of articulating the thought. You can’t hide behind a vague feeling that “it somehow makes sense.” It’s this specific way of saying it.

And it either works or it doesn’t.

When it works. Bingo.

When it doesn’t. Well, that’s actually even better. Because now you can wrestle with it. What exactly doesn’t work? Is the logic flawed? Or the tone a bit off? Does it make sense but feel wrong. Or vice versa?

That’s why to me, writing daily is a very selfish practice.

It’s how I make sense of things.

The public part comes second. The feedback helps, of course. When someone pushes back, I get to test the idea again. Is there a flaw? Did I oversimplify? Did I miss something important?

But even without that, the act of writing is already the work.

Many leaders think writing is something you do for others. A mail. A strategy statement. A speech. And when they sit down to write these pieces, it feels hard, the words are never quite right, and they conclude, they’re not “eloquent”.

In my experience, that’s simply not true. They just postponed the hard part until it became public. That moment when you try to articulate what you really think and realize you’re not quite there yet.

When you treat it as a selfish practice, that changes. Writing for others will be the easy part.

Keep lighting the path,
Michael

Why I write daily

Any medium has their merits.

For example, conversations happen in the moment and you can instantly react to the situation. Or videos capture your whole expression, not just the words.

But if you care for precision, saying exactly what you mean, then the written word is hard to beat.

Finding precise words.
Getting the nuances right.
Giving them rhythm.

Writing lets me do that.

I’ll often start with something I’ve said.
In a conversation. On a podcast. Or even just in my mind.

These are all situations where I “simply said it” (like with this post which originated from my podcast conversation with Eric Dillman).

But later, when I write it down, I can refine it.
And craft it into exactly what I want it to be.
Something sharper, clearer, and (hopefully) better.

In that sense, writing – for me – is as much a thinking tool as it is a means for communication.

How about you?
Do you write regularly?
What purpose does it serve for you?

Keep lighting the path!

How I wrote my first book

When my Physics course in (the german equivalent of) high school started, my teacher made us an offer: “For every single topic that we cover over the course of the next three years, you can hand me in a text covering what we learnt in your own words. I promise that I will meticulously proofread every text and give you feedback on how well you understand the material, how well it’s argued and how well it’s written.”

Three classmates took the offer, including me. Of those three, I was the only one to do this for every single topic. When I finished school, I had basically written a textbook on school physics, mercilessly edited by my teacher.

That practice has served me well ever since. I’m thankful for this opportunity and for the generosity that my teacher has shown.

I’m also baffled at how often people will just pass on opportunities to grow.

AI writing tools

AI writing assistants are all over the place. Although their writing is often bad.

But so is yours when you write the first draft of your text.

The first draft is a huge hurdle for many non-professional writers (and also for quite some professionals, actually). Writing a first draft takes time and (often) way too much over-thinking.

Here’s the thing: You never publish your first draft, do you? It’s what gets your writing started. You edit it. You restructure it. Sometimes you even re-write the whole piece.

The first draft is what made the final piece happen. It’s what triggered your thinking to go deeper and find a way to express what you actually wanted to say.

This is one way how AI writing apps can help people who struggle to come up with the first draft. To get to that first draft more quickly and find out what you actually want to say. You don’t publish the text that the AI produced. You use it to trigger your own writing.

Have you tried AI tools, yet? How? And what for? I would love to hear about your experience.

Writing things down

Writing things down is among the most powerful tools to refine your thinking.

Because it makes your thinking specific. By writing it down you commit to one specific way of saying what you want to say.

And then you can review that. Criticise it. Is that what I meant to say?

You can discuss it with others. Do they get what I mean?

You can focus it. Is that the shortest version I can come up with?

You can make it more concrete. Is there a way to make that easier to understand? Not committing to a specific wording is the number one reason I see among clients who struggle with making their story more tangible.

And also: Does it feel right? Can I make it more elaborate? Or more creative?

We’ve got to start somewhere. Writing your thinking down often is a great place to start refining it.

Posts in Tag: writing

Wait, you write daily?

Why I write daily

How I wrote my first book

AI writing tools

Writing things down