I have always been a mediocre writer at best. Although I have spent nearly four years studying at university, my writing style has been tailored to writing evidence-based essays on the topic of psychology. This kind of writing mainly stuck to the facts and lacked any flare…even of the academic sort.

I recently stumbled across Medium, and after some days of careful consideration, decided I would make the grand investment of $5 a month to access this vast community. I have considered doing something like this for around a year but only now have I decided to take it on writing as a real hobby.

My beliefs about my ability held me back from beginning this process a year ago. The main belief being that I thought I had nothing useful to say, and even if I did, someone had probably already said it way better…so why waste my time? This may have been true, but it’s not a reason not to start writing anyway.

In this story I share a list of reasons why I started writing and so should everyone else, even if you think you suck.

Writing Organises Your Mind

Our thinking is organised linguistically. We think discursively using words. We have conversations with ourselves all day about all sorts of subjects. For this reason, I believe writing is the best way to organise our thoughts.

I have had several experiences where a nagging thought has stubbornly lingered without any sign of reprieve. Intrusive and repetitive thoughts about a previous failure, embarrassment, or anxiety about the future are a common part of the human experience.

A tool I have used for addressing these thoughts is writing about them. Every time I did this the thoughts seemed to lose their power. Sometimes they still lingered, but they seemed to release their tight grip and were not as intrusive.

I never really understood why this was, and I’m not sure I understand it completely now, but I suspect that writing allows one’s mind to organise its thoughts and accommodate them somehow. Even if you are a poor writer, you can start to do this and notice how your thinking becomes clearer and less intrusive.

2. Writing Makes You More Articulate

Another experience I have often had is being unable to articulate my thoughts on a subject. Due to what I would term ‘intellectual arrogance’ I let myself off the hook. I would tell myself that I did have plenty of knowledge and thoughts about a subject but just struggled to put it into words.

Your speech reflects your thought process and the truth was I had no idea a lot of the time. I had no real opinion formed on the subject and even if I knew a thing or two about it, I hadn’t organised the information at a high enough resolution that would allow me to express it clearly. I’ve found that writing teaches me to pick the right words, put them in the right place, and convey a message about what you really think and know.

I find that the more I write, the more clearly I think, the more I have to say, and the more people want to listen.

3. Writing Makes You A Better Communicator

Our world is becoming increasingly reliant on the knowledge economy. The number of jobs where careful thought and well articulated communication is becoming more imperative all the time.

Given this, there might be nothing more useful you can do than organise your thoughts and your speech as precisely as possible.

Because writing makes you a better thinker, you will almost inevitably become a better communicator. If you can communicate what you think, and what you want, and why things should be a certain way you become a powerhouse of influence.

4. Writing Is The Best Kind Of Game

I first tried writing in my spare time around a year ago. I would simply write in a Word Doc and save it to my computer. No one ever saw these pieces. It wasn’t until I started writing on a platform like Medium that I really got engaged.

People were now reading what I wrote which raised the stakes and put more pressure on me to increase the quality of my work. Furthermore, posting an article and seeing how many views it gets became a bit of a thrill. Every time I checked my stats and saw my views go up I got a little rush of dopamine.

This reminded me of my Facebook days when I would post a picture with some friends and the likes would start flooding in. At least with this dopaminergic reward cycle I am improving a useful and transferable skill (not to say that the skill of timing your Facebook posts for optimal likes isn’t useful…it requires a bit of pattern recognition).

Writing is the best kind of game because when you win, everyone else wins too. When you write a great story, people read it and they get inspiration, motivation, a new idea, or maybe even just a feeling of solidarity. You’re improving and so are others - it’s a win-win.

Getting started is easy. Pay your $5 (if you’re looking where to get the money just buy 2 less coffees a month). Start by writing things you have an interest in. I’ve started with stories that combine my interest in psychology and (without a sufficiently descriptive word at my disposable) ‘figuring out how to live properly’. Even if you start by doing it badly you will start to notice the benefits I’ve mentioned above. When you start getting a few views and maybe even a read or two you might just find yourself hooked like me.

Good luck!