Why I like to Write

My writing still needs a lot more improvement but I can safely say that it has improved a lot over the years. Take a look at my first entries on my old blog and you will know I mean. I used to deplore writing. I found those essay writing lessons to be a chore. (To be a frank, if you ask me now, I will still say they are a chore – why would I want to be limited by the question on what I want to write?) It was only in recent years when I started to discover that I actually like writing. Writing has allowed me to discover more about myself and even rediscover facts about myself that I have forgotten.

Anyone who has been through the process of applying for scholarships or foreign universities (or pretty much a lot of stuff) will tell you that there is a great amount of writing involved. Topics can range from writing about interesting events in your life to asking you to use an adjective to describe yourself. The worst culprits are the ones that leave you to your own devices i.e. no topic. These topics force you to ponder about yourself in ways that you might not have consciously considered about. You have to look at yourself in the mirror and think of the things to write. It is this process that I discovered a lot more about myself – how my thought process works and my general paradigm in life etc. I also discovered through writing (a lot) my own writing style. This really beats people telling you what they think of you. (More on this later.)

I find writing an excellent way for me to organize my thoughts and opinion on matters. Unlike speech, writing gives the writer the luxury of going back and editing something that might have been an error. Writing usually offers me a chance to pen down my arguments and thoughts in a more cohesive, comprehensible and conclusive manner. I am not a fast thinker and I don’t really think that I can excel in a debate via speech; but on paper, I am more confident of presenting my arguments.

I am usually my worst critic. I am eternally dissatisfied with my work. I always think that there are more ways to improve upon myself. I usually feel that I have a bunch of good ideas at the start that generally devolves into a heap of incoherent text at the end of the writing. But because of the amount of time I had taken to write a post (usually half an hour or more!), I have decided against going for a rewrite. So imagine my surprise when people tell me that I have written well. It is the encouragement from people that has spurred me to constantly improve in my writing. I would like to thank my seven readers (I don’t really know where this line came from!) for their encouragement and comments.

—–
I used to read too much into the many types of personality tests on the internet, particularly the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator of which I am a ISTJ. While there are a lot of descriptions on what an ISTJ is like, I find that reading these kind of descriptions is not the best way to discover more about yourself.

These sixteen types (or other counts for other kinds of tests) are not really what you are. They are just, to put it bluntly, stereotypes of people who answered the questions in a certain pattern and manner. They describe what you could be and not what you necessary are. Sure, you can read these descriptions with a pinch a salt and then decide on what is applicable for you but do note that just by reading them, you might have already distorted your view on what you are really like. Reading these personality descriptions is analogous to asking people to describe you. While I am not saying that you should not ask people about how they view about you, I think that this is not the best way to discover yourself.

The best way is still to reflect about yourself. How would you do that? I don’t have a clear and definite answer to that. Personally, I take to writing to discover myself. Through penning my thoughts, I can learn more about myself.

In fact, I feel that writing also helps to develop your own opinions about matters at large. Without writing things down, what you think of is simply a mashup of all the things that you have read or heard about in the media. Writing them down truly helps to develop your point of view. You will want to appear coherent to your readers and you will organize your thoughts into something more solid.

These are, of course, my own opinions. Do feel free to disagree and comment.