How to write something meaningful
If you’re anything like me (and you’re not because I’m a unique snowflake)…
We were standing in a dimly lit high school hallway. My 11th grade English teacher was holding my paper in hand. She glanced at it and then back at me.
‘Look’, she said, ‘it’s a shame you’ve waited till now to start applying yourself. You’re a smart guy, but you’ve got a lot of catching up to do.’
I stared at my feet and said, ‘I know.’
To say I wasn’t the greatest student would be an understatement. For a host of reasons I lacked confidence and didn’t apply myself.
I’d hit a make-or-break moment. I decided that flunking out of school wasn’t cool. It was time to show up. I had visualized my failure and didn’t want that.
I can’t say that this moment in the hallway with my teacher was a Damascus Road U-turn for me, but it was definitely an incremental step toward trying.
I left high school and completed two further degrees that were primarily about reading, thinking, and writing. And while I’m not a writer, per se, I have swung from one side of the pendulum to the other. Here’s a few things I’ve learned along the way about creating something meaningful with my words.
(Hint: it’s less about the the subject matter and more about you.)
I’m going to do my best to say this and not sound like I’m telling you that you’re beautiful on the inside or something equally presumptuous (for all I know, you’re fugly on the inside).
So, here it goes: You‘re a unique snowflake :) Tell the world.
You’ve heard it before, but here’s why it matters. As a human being your experience of life overlaps with the experience of others, which means as you write or describe those experiences others can relate to them.
That being said, your perspective on those experiences is unique to you (hence your snowflakeness).
There isn’t another person on the planet who brings together the sum total of your thoughts and experiences.
Think about that. No one on earth has lived the same life with the same experiences, the same thoughts, and the same emotional responses as you. All those things come together to form a one-of-a-kind pair of glasses; lenses with which you see the world. That means that no-one has your exact vantage point for viewing the world. You are the only you (share it).
When you write you’re taking that pair of glasses and putting them on the eyes of another. You’re showing them what you see.
Take Aristotle’s advice and know thyself.
As you live life, examine yourself. Take note of the things that impact you (like, literally, take note of them). It can be anything- a gesture of kindness, the shape of a tree, a night out, a political issue, the behavior of a loved one, the taste for a particular dish, a current event, a stupid tweet, anything.
When you have a moment look at the note. What was it? Why did it make you feel or think the way you did? Consider how your lenses are informing your opinion. This is a rich resource that no other person has access to, so use it to your advantage.
After you’ve analysed it, with all the honesty you can muster, write it. Apply your perspective and convince me of it. If you need a structure start with this one: 1. what happened? 2. what was your response? 3. What is the appropriate response?
Here’s an example: 1. My teacher was blunt about my need to progress 2. It stung. I had mixed feelings, but part of that was motivation. 3. the appropriate response to well-meaning, honest feedback is self-reflection and change.
When you do this, others can both identify with your experience and at the same time see it from your unique vantage point.
That’s it. Don’t be shy, I know you can do it.
