Some Thoughts On Writing

- Writing is obviously horrendous for several reasons, most notably for its inflexibility. I change what I think so often it feels ridiculous to write it down. What am I doing now then? I have decided to write as a form of self-discipline, to force myself to think more, and to preserve previous mistakes so I can more easily learn from them.

- I can only write meaningfully about my own experience, and by extension maybe the experiences of those vaguely similar to me. I write from the an educated Western perspective, comfortable in the global North, so if I use 'we' or 'us' (I will try to avoid it) that is who I am referring to.

- Academic writing often takes an instructive or paternalistic stance. The author presumes they have greater understanding than the reader, writing in order to bestow knowledge from on high. To avoid this I am trying to view what I am writing as a simple sharing of research and current thinking, being open to response and criticism. Feedback is a key element in a generous writing scenario as it immediately allows for debate rather than one-sided lecturing. Part of the appeal of using this website is its plasticity; in a purely hypothetical scenario where someone reads something on here and decides to respond, I could add critiques directly to the essays as links.

- I usually want to write speculatively about the future. This is dodgy territory for a multitude of reasons, but one that particularly troubles me (and is something I often identify in myself) is a desire to own the future. I think that if I were to be the first to write about a specific topic, take a particular stance, or come up with a name for something new that catches on, then I have laid claim to it. Hopefully, since I recognise this, I will avoid falling prey to my ego.

- Consistency in writing annoys me. Sometimes I feel like writing an academic essay, sometimes conversational rambling. I don't want to pretend to be an impersonal and objective observer, or to be a one-dimensional person always in perfect control. I don't want to limit myself at all so there shall be no consistency here.

- These short essays will hopefully be precisely that, short. I am aiming to write concisely, each piece of writing should fit onto a computer screen (not really very compatible with mobiles unfortunately) and still be legible. This places this website in the position of a blog, albeit an endlessly sprawling one. I think this is the ideal position for this project, and one that should be taken by more writers as it is inconclusive, flexible, open-ended, generous. It does not assume superiority and it reflects the fact that people are (or perhaps, should be) malleable. Opinions, as well as facts, change. Better to be open, accept mistakes and move on.

(Not directly related, but nice bit about owning the future).

'In a way, people like her, those who wield a pen, can be dangerous. At once a suspicion of fakery springs to mind – that such a Person is not him or herself, but an eye that’s constantly watching, and whatever it sees it changes into sentences; in the process it strips reality of its most essential quality – its inexpressibility.'

Olga Torkarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead.