Pick Up The Pen

The Case For Writing

I wrote my first essay in 5th grade.

My teacher taught us the five paragraph format: Intro, 1st Body, 2nd Body, 3rd Body, and Conclusion. It took over a month to complete and felt like a nightmare.

Fast forward to my college years, it still feels like a nightmare. Sitting down, staring at a blank Google Doc, and punching away on my keyboard for an assignment feels soul-crushing.

But recently, I started to develop this new relationship with writing.

In an age of AI slop, there’s something comforting about sitting down before a blank Google Doc and just typing: letting my thoughts unfold, watching them take shape, playing with ideas until they feel right.

It’s exactly why I’ve been writing more than ever. I believe human thoughts, ones that have been truly thought out and battled out on a Google Doc, will receive a premium in an AI world.

I implore you to pick up the pen and write. Or if you’re like me, start smashing away on your keyboard.

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For the rest of this short essay, I want to concretely articulate my view on writing.

I - Why writing is hard

Let’s admit it: writing is really effing hard.

What’s the thesis? Do I use jargon? What tone do I go for?

These are all questions that we have to simultaneously ask ourselves as we begin the process. Even the introduction to this essay took me a few minutes to figure out. I just started typing away, but didn’t have a format or thesis until it hit. In which, I went back to cut out what was irrelevant to the thesis.

The point is -- we tend to think writing is easy.

But, it’s not.

This is because when we start writing, we get stuck.

Our thoughts were underdeveloped, we didn’t have enough supporting evidence, we hit writer’s block. We complete 25% of the paper and end up quitting.

Do not quit! The beauty of writing is to struggle, to unblock obstacles, to figure out the latter 75% of the paper.

Treat it as a gym lift. You’re unlikely to see gains unless you train to failure.

Same logic applies here, keep pushing and strengthen your neuroplasticity.

I was a terrible writer growing up, and I still have a ton of room to improve. However, consistently writing for the last year in the form of Substacks, X posts, and IC memos has helped me improve my writing tremendously.

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II - Why publishing is hard

Most people write to publish. And it’s hard because we’re human.

And humans are afraid of being judged.

When I first started posting on Instagram and started hitting millions of views on my videos, I was jumping up and down. But, I was also scared. What would my peers think of me?

And there’s no way around this, but to just do it scared.

Over time, and I promise, the numbness starts to go away.

Last thing that I’ll say about publishing is to rewire our brains to think of each piece not as one standalone product. Instead, writing is a journey and a practice.

Cliche, but it’s a way of living. Each written piece is like a workout completed. Each written piece is a simple thought in our head at a given time that can change.

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III - Why you should write

There’s truly a lot -- like a lot -- of reasons to write. And the truth is, I can’t tell you why you should write, or what the benefits you’d get out of it.

Everyone’s circumstances are different.

I’ll tell you my reasons and I encourage you to consider your own.

A Google Doc to me is a battlefield. It’s the place where I go because I have disparate thoughts that don’t seem to connect. I tend to think a lot about AI, life, technology. And a lot of times I don’t have fully fleshed out ideas because there’s not enough space, or context window, in my head to flesh out these thoughts (see what I did there haha).

I take these thoughts to a Google Doc to battle and flesh it out.

And through this process, I work on connecting everything I read and think about, creating a knowledge graph in my head.

How many times do you read something and forget about it? That happens to me quite often, but the act of thinking and writing about it solidifies what you just read.

It creates an arsenal of talking points and thoughts that you can easily pull out when needed.

Let me paint an example.

I’ve written so much about AI, software and technology that I can confidently connect any tech-adjacent topic to something that I’ve written about before. Frankly, it’s a cheat code.

Lastly, and a slightly off-topic reason, it’s a way to build legitimacy. It demonstrates your passion for the space. As such, if I was a freshman in college, I’d start writing immediately.

Not only does it hone your neuroplasticity (making you smarter and learn faster), it also builds your credibility in the space.

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IV - Start writing, don’t wait

Unlike making TikToks where you might need to wait for the sun to come out for lighting, anyone and everyone can start writing today. Don’t be afraid of the judgement or the unfinished thoughts. Writing short paragraphs is better than writing nothing.

Get in the habit of writing. Don’t wait for perfect, just start.