Why I Love Writing

I love writing.  

Each time I face an empty page, it’s an opportunity to exercise a creative muscle. The process of taking an idea, impulse, or feeling and finding the words for it, and forming it into phrases and sentences is fascinating. Sometimes the words come quickly, often they don’t, but it always feels rewarding when the words feel right, when you read on the page words for feelings that you previously could not articulate. It makes all that inside feels more valid and more real.  

Most of the communication in our life happens through speaking. Being able to be understood in the world requires that you can find words quickly and accurately convey your idea, feelings, and experiences. Spending time writing in solitude is a way to practice and develop my skills as a speaker.  

When you write, you have the time to focus on a feeling and write and edit in a way that you can’t when you speak. The process of writing and retrieving the right words to express your thoughts is the same “muscle” you use when you are speaking extemporaneously in conversation. Leaning into the moment when you can’t find the right words when you are writing makes that feeling in conversation feel more normal. Through working through the challenges of a blank page, you learn how to see the pause in a conversation as more of an opportunity than a failure.  

Writing down a thought forces you to work it out, to see it for what it is. Flaws in logic that were unseen in your mind become clear as sentence fragments on a page search for completion, and as you struggle to make incomplete thoughts cohesive. This process stimulates further development of ideas as clarity and connections become apparent on the page.  

One of the things I love the most about writing is that it connects me to writers of the past, the present, and the future. I’m engaging in an activity that defines what it means to be human, and is central to the human experience. While writing has led to pain and trauma, writing is also an activity that has changed the world for the better, make our society more equitable and save lives.  

To write, to sit with your own thoughts, to find the words, and craft phrase, sentences, and paragraphs is a wonderful thing. The writing process can change the way that you see the world and see yourself.  

There have been a couple moments when writing where the process is so emotional and cathartic it has brought me tears. When the words flow without any kind of barrier and your heart opens on the page, the feeling you are expressing in that moment is everything. As the intensity passes what you are left with on the page is so much more words.

1000

On November 11th, 2008, I published my first blog post.  It was a simple 250 word introduction.

Six years later, after writing more than 450,000 words, here I am with my 1000th blog post.

It all started as a way to keep my mind active when I was a teacher assistant with the mission of writing about pop music. I loved my work but that job wasn’t as intellectually challenging as my previous job or my years in academia. I started with a post on “Since U Been Gone,”  a song I still hold up as one of the greatest pop songs ever and have gone to places in my writing that I never imagined when starting this blog.

The blog followed the twists and turns of my life and leapt outside the world of music. The first major departure was Buffy, then my life as a teacher, and finally parenthood.  I am proud that in 1000 posts, I have stayed positive and not added to the negativity and darkness of the Internet.

I’ve written this blog on my last three personal desktops, my iPhone, my iPad, on construction paper, napkins, post-it notes, in margins of newspapers, and on the back of student worksheets. I’ve written in our beloved condo, this new house, in the middle of a forest, in hotel rooms, while riding on airplanes and in hospital waiting rooms. And I’ve written during wedding receptions, while pumping gas, watching The Sopranos, walking Buffy and while cooking.

Why?

Part of it is habit, and a desire to keep a journal.  More than all of that is that writing this blog has helped me find meaning in my life through self-exploration and the connections I’ve made with people through my writing.

Thank you for reading.

If it’s every post, only the posts about Springsteen, or just the parenting post, I appreciate your time and attention. I have no plans on stopping any time soon, so let’s see where else this road takes us.

Jeff Tietz At The Heart Of Rolling Stone

I’ve been reading Rolling Stone magazine for almost a decade. While I enjoy the entertainment reviews and news, what keeps me coming back is the long form journalism that is featured in every issue.

Like a good documentary, long form journalism has a depth of meaning that most news articles lack because of length and time allotted to research and write these articles. As the news is filled with underdeveloped stories about events that aren’t truly newsworthy, the art of long form journalism remains a unique and vital part of our culture.
The Fallen by Jeff Tietz featured in the most recent Rolling Stone is an amazing example of the power of long form journalism and what is truly at the heart of this great magazine.

This article is apolitical. There’s no mention of the upcoming presidential election or any political party. Instead of using this story of people who live in their cars to make a political argument, he  lets these people speak for themselves and gives voice to an important part of our population.

This is an article about how the economy has effected people negatively and profiles people doing everything right to get out of their situation. These are stories of hope, perseverance and what it means for many people to live in America today.

Tietz tells three stories: Janis Adkins, the Cateses family a wife and husband with three children and Sean Kennan a single dad with two sons. He skillfully interweaves these stories without creating confusion in the story. Knowing when to leave one person to tell another person’s story and come back to it is a passing issue that when done well gives you time away to reflect and motivates you to continue reading.

Great writers don’t describe everything in detail. Instead they pick certain senses that are powerful and memorable to feature.

As we climb in, I realize the van smells faintly of slept-on sheets. Adkins is a clean person – she showers and does laundry regularly – but vehicle dwellers live in spaces too small to easily dissipate quotidian odors.

Tietz doesn’t go into detail about what the van looks like or Adkins appearance herself. Instead of using senses to simply give people an idea of what he is talking about he uses descriptions to tell a story.

The hook at the beginning of the article is effective but what’s really powerful is the ending. When you are done reading the last sentence, it forces you to take a moment to reflect. It’s like the end of a great piece of music. You need that silence after a great song to take in the emotional experience and Tietz creates that same feeling with this article.

I understand people’s reservations about Rolling Stone. This magazine seems to express an unapologetic liberal stance.  There are some writers who have clear liberal viewpoints and republican perspectives are rarely given in the political section of the magazine.  Outside of this section however you find the heart of Rolling Stone with articles like Tietz's.  Like rock music itself, Rolling Stone is not about politics but rather this magazine is about hope, trials and liberation.  

There is a difference between a journalist and a blogger. There is a difference between a great journalist and mediocre ones and there is a difference between journalism that is frivolous with work that is important.  Take the time to read this article and you'll understand what I'm talking about.  I don't have a great ending to this post like Tietz's has for his article.  Just take this post as an introduction to The Fallen and you won't regret it.   


Jeff Tietz's website