I'm not a very organized person - not when it comes to my thoughts. So it doesn't come as much of a surprise, that I'm lost for words most of the times. To put all of the thoughts flitting in and out of my head into one coherent sentence verbally, is somewhat of a mammoth task and I'm happy if I can manage finishing a sentence without stuttering. Most people mistake it for awkwardness and reticence, but it is just a case of my brain - well,
Multitasking.
Which is why, I find writing to be a pleasant change from talking. It gives me the kind of freedom to express, that talking never did. I know I'm not even close to Shakespeare, but I'm more comfortable jotting down my thoughts on a piece of paper than having them spoken out loud. Writing gives me a sense of firmness- the finality that comes with the idea being actually visible in a coherent form on paper or on a computer screen. I know there are many, who feel that the written form is insensitive and cold. With the range of punctuations that we have, (almost, always used unnecessarily) I feel what we write can and does influence a lot of people across the world. Take the web and the print media as examples. I agree that there is a large section of people who tune into the 9'o clock news, but a majority of them will also pick up the newspaper with their morning cup of tea, the next day. For people of my generation, content on the web is influencing us majorly - right from buying books on Amazon to buying high-end electronics after reading reviews. Word-of-mouth has now become Word-on-Facebook or Word-on-Twitter and everything we write is going to have "
The Butterfly Effect" somewhere down the line. Besides finding it as an effective medium to express myself, I really find it the best way to get things out of my system after a long day. Trust me when I say, it's way better than shouting. And the best part? The paper or the laptop you're writing on doesn't judge you.
Above all, there's one more reason - I simply love the elaborate long form of written content like everyone else. In our fast-paced lives, we often don't have the patience to listen to what a sales person has to say. But we'd willingly peruse a product specification brochure, that is 3 pages long, on the internet. Although, we claim we're leaping into the future - from written to audio-visual, I think we've already made the leap from written to audio-visual and back to written content supplemented with visuals.
Like I said, I could be biased because I haven't been much of a spontaneous talker as a child. What are your reasons for writing? I would love to hear some of your views.
Till next time,
Divya
