Writing to Think

Do we write in order to think well, or think in order to write well?

Which comes first—the chicken or the egg?

Must the answer be one or the other?

The point of blog posts

As you probably know, I’m a haphazard blogger. Sometimes I put out a blog post each week for a season, while at other times I can go for months without an entry.

In the academic part of my work, I read a lot and write a fair bit. Most of that writing is somewhat heavy and not suitable for this blog, Aussie Rambling Rose.

Yet I often encounter content that I want to chew over. I stumble across material that I think some of my peers would find helpful too. Writing helps me to think through these topics. It provides me with a platform from which to communicate. But without anyone reading my pontifications, I rarely write. Or even if I do, my scribble is messy and disordered, reflecting my thinking.

Which is why I intend to get back to regular, short blog posts.

Just knowing that you might read what I write gives me a sense of purpose. That motivates me to formulate what I think and why.

Thanks for reading along.

A master of thinking to write and writing to think

David McCullough was a prolific American prize-winning author. His speciality was history, which he narrated in a manner that enabled readers to immerse themselves in times and places long past.

Consider his words:

“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.”

David McCullough
(Interview with NEH chairman Bruce Cole, Humanities, July/Aug. 2002, Vol. 23/No. 4)
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/320581-writing-is-thinking-to-write-well-is-to-think-clearly

Writing is thinking? McCullough explained this concept by relating his process for writing.

First, he would research a particular event. Not only would he learn about what had actually happened, but he would also learn about other aspects of life in that place at that time. Fashion, architecture, language, food, modes of transportation, poetry, music, art and more—these were all relevant.

However, McCullough did not first research then write, one activity preceding the other. No, he first researched, and once he had a reasonable grasp of the content, he began to write. ‘Began’ is an important verb here. It was but a beginning. Through the process of writing, he realised what he didn’t know. And so, guided by the gaps in his knowledge, he would pick up the research again.

Such research included travel to places where significant events had unfolded. He explained, “I love to go to the places where things happen. I like to walk the walk and see how the light falls and what winter feels like.” (https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/david-mccullough-biography)

I wonder when he stopped researching and writing, and instead gave his work one final edit before submitting his manuscript?

Watch this space

August in my little world will be ‘abundant’ in activities and relationships. (I generally avoid the word ‘busy’ but each day will be full.) Will I make time to write in order to think, to think in order to write, and to post a short piece most weeks?

I hope so. Blogging provides me with a structure in which I can write in order to think well. If I am to upload a coherent, well-structured blog post, I have to think well so that I can write.

Again, thank you for reading along and providing me with motivation to think and write, to write and think. I appreciate you.