COVER STORY
Carl Sagan, the great American astronomer and scientist, in his famous book Cosmos (1980) states: “Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another.” Dr. Sagan’s beautiful quote perhaps portrays an eloquent aspect of writing, being that of the sweet connection amongst the different human generations, races, nationalities and cultures who are otherwise separated by the vast expanses of time and space.
This magical binding ability of the words has long been realized by authors, philosophers and influencers. They have used the written word to encourage the masses to log experiences, to carry on traditions and establish nuanced thinking. For instance, the cuneiform script—which was originally created in Mesopotamia, i.e. present-day Iraq—is the oldest ever writing system recorded in history; it was first used around 3200-3400 BC. Initially, it was developed in order to record valuable information like the temple activities; besides this, it was of paramount importance in respect to trading and various businesses as means of the long-distance communication system. Moreover, in reality, reading allows us to discover what we perhaps already know as a tool to streamline our own thoughts; a transition that begins in our minds and is channelled via the pen to the page.
In today’s digital world, writing is still more than just the encoding of words and characters. Through the blessing of writing, an individual can share his/her thoughts, ideas, feelings, experiences and much more. Moreover, written words have a much stronger and broader impact on the human conscience than the spoken words we oftentimes use in our regular speech. But, why is it so? Perhaps, because the words—of any language—written on a paper have a clearer, enduring and direct message, when compared to spoken words. Therefore, writing is a gift, which can influence, inspire and educate numerous others on a massive-scale. As made evident by numerous research studies, it also propagates positive vibes in spreading messages regarding various topics. Undoubtedly, no other means are more influential to spread knowledge and passion than writing itself (Volpato, 2012).
After several case studies on the subject matter itself, a fundamental approach can be drawn towards writing: words have power! For centuries, intellectuals, writers and influencers have portrayed their ideas through the ‘blessing of writing’. For decades, writing—or more precisely, self-expressive writing—is used as a therapy. Furthermore, writers use words to process and refine different emotions to express their feelings and thoughts (Mills and DMello, 2014). Through writing, people can record events and pass down traditions, which has helped us in developing complex-reasoning and our thought-process. Moreover, highly intellectual and educated people around the world are keen to write their ideas on paper, rather than delivering them in speeches; although, it is not a consistent finding. Another noteworthy aspect of writing is that it is a powerful source for individuals like introverts by giving them a chance to shine through writing (McVey, 2008).
In an article written by Jenn Granneman called “Here’s Why Introverts Make The Best Writers”, the author in the lead states that “many introverts see the world in terms of story and symbol, making them naturally gifted writers.” Thus, oftentimes introverts are recognized as great authors, who channel their thoughts to paper which is, perhaps, otherwise impossible; some famous examples include John Greene and J.K. Rowling.
Moving ahead, the influence and authority of words are enormous even today; no one should argue for the superiority of words. For decades, writing has overturned empires, won numerous hearts, and eased shattered minds. Writing has been used not only for literature but also for economic and political purposes. But the greatest power of writing is how it influences an individual. You don’t have to be the best-selling author; the sheer reality of jotting down and writing will make everyone wonder.
It is an inarguable fact that writing gives you more confidence and enhances your speech. In reality, highly intelligent individuals are more apt to note down their thoughts than convey them in speeches. It is by writing that you are not hampered by some sort of doubt in voicing what you believe and what you wish to convey to others.
Further, it is in writing where some people who are insecure meeting people are the most successful authors. That’s why they write – when they’re expressing what they want in words. Writing does not have any obstacles as compared to speaking. The writer is freer to express and argue in his own style. It is easier to crush your doubts and concerns; unlike other communication mediums, writing makes you more reserved.
Additionally, writing is considered a powerful tool to improve emotional as well as spiritual well-being. James W. Pennebakerr has introduced therapy-writing and instructed people to write about their past trauma and things that surrounded them. Further, according to James W. Pennebakerr et al., “writing about a trauma or a painful event allows people to resolve and deal with a situation in an efficient way” (Barclay and Skarlicki, 2009). In a 1997 paper—published in the Psychological Science—a research was conducted by Jamie Pennebaker; and, he proposed a technique in which he asked several trauma-affected people to write about their on-going situation(s) associated with traumatic events for three consecutive days. Although it was quite a burdensome task for them, the later findings were astonishing: those people had improved in terms of behaviour, visited the doctors less frequently, and had had fewer illnesses thereafter. Moreover, they became more active in work as they became immensely focused. Additionally, according to another scientific study, two decades of research have led to “substantial findings that translating emotional events into words leads to profound social, psychological, and neural changes.” (Niederhoffer and Pennebaker, 2009). Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), the renowned American fiction writer, had also deeply suffered from traumatic events from his early childhood; however, he was deeply inspired by other authors like Mark Twain and Charles Dickens (who had been in similar situations, in anguish), and he took to writing. Eventually, writing relieved all of his anxieties and stresses. Therefore, writing is not only a way to express our thoughts or feelings, but it is also a tremendously great way to reduce stress. One of the major problems with thoughts and worries is that they are uninform and look much bigger when they are in our minds. There is no doubt that writing facilitates solving problems if they are clearly stated and allows a person to confront them in a more tangible way (Jablonka, Ginsburg and Dor, 2012). Such an example of this can be of Malala Yousafzai, the Swat-born activist for female education—additionally, a former BBC blogger—who won the Nobel Peace Prize at just the age of seventeen, the youngest ever! Through the ‘power’ of writing, she depicted her bravery and vision for education. She was the one who, while addressing the United Nations, famously said: “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
Many famous people around the world had also acknowledged the importance of writing in the human race, like the great English playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616)—or the ‘Bard of Avon’—who once wrote: “Write till your ink be dry, and with your tears moist it again, and frame some feeling line that may discover such integrity.” Similarly, another English philosopher and statesman, Francis Bacon, (1561-1626), also expressed his view on writing—as well as reading—in the following words: “Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man; and, therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confers little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not.” Furthermore, the philosopher tends to urge that both writing and reading are most critical for humans to develop and mature as a ‘ready’ and ‘exact’ man respectively.
Therefore, writing has a large impact on an individual basis and has grown exponentially in the modern era. According to a research study, it is said that, “one of the most important developments of the modern era, according to Philippe Aries, was the advent of written culture in Western society” (Chartier, 1989). The influence of writing, thereafter, has remained vast. Perhaps the biggest strength in writing is the potential to impress people with your words. Written content is louder and has a great deal of focus relative to the spoken words. Why, now? It is because words are more direct when written in simpler messages. Compared to spoken words, the influence may be caused by several variables, such as the communicator – body language and tone of voice, etc. Successful writing depends just on words. However, the impact is greater.
Since written words are not influenced by the sound and intensity of the speaker’s speech, writing offers more discreet yet strong messages. Moreover, writing is a talent for teaching, motivating, and encouraging others; it has an optimistic vibe of sharing messages on a different topic. There is no other way to express your experience and enthusiasm than blogging—another great platform for penning your literary works on a broad scale! With the advent of technologies in the 21st century, various social media platforms, blogs and e-books have been helping people channel their thoughts in an immensely cost-effective and efficient manner. Therefore, nowadays conveying your thoughts and/or ideas has become ever easier than before. Naturally, people are more inclined to “listen” if you write them down. They say that people invest less time reading but relative to speech, written words are more influential, and people react more to them. Use your writing to let someone realise that they are not alone with everything they believe in; let people know that everyone has the same passions and hobbies; convert and convince someone with your words.
Let your writing go straight to the heart of your reader. Submit and execute your messages more efficiently through writing. No one should neglect the boundless power of writing. Lastly, I would end with a quote written by the novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in the year 1839 in a historical play called Cardinal Richelieu: “The pen is mightier than the sword.”
References
Volpato, Gilson. (2012). The power of scientific writing and publication. 5. 1-3. Mills, C. and DMello, S. (2014). On the validity of the autobiographical emotional memory task for emotion induction, PLoS ONE. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095837. McVey, D. (2008). Why all writing is creative writing, in Innovations in Education and Teaching International. doi: 10.1080/14703290802176204. Jenn Granneman, 2021: Here’s Why Introverts Make The Best Writers. https://introvertdear.com/news/whyintroverts-are-drawn-to-writing/ Barclay, Laurie & Skarlicki, Daniel. (2009). Healing the Wounds of Organizational Injustice: Examining the Benefits of Expressive Writing. The Journal of applied psychology. 94. 511- 23. 10.1037/a0013451. Jablonka, E., Ginsburg, S. and Dor, D. (2012). The co-evolution of language and emotions, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0117. Niederhoffer, K.G. and Pennebaker, J.W., 2009. Sharing one’s story: On the benefits of writing or talking about emotional experience. Chartier, R., 1989. The practical impact of writing (p. 111). Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
