writing

Pause for Creativity's Sake

The cool air was rushing down my shirt as I leaned to the left and then to the right feeling the vespa below match the curves along the mountainside. It was at this moment I got a glimpse of the view of Santa Barbara. The morning fog and chill was still hanging over the city on what was once again a beautiful November day.

This morning, rather than go about my normal routine, I decided to mix it up to see if it could spark new creative ideas.

I came around the corner, made a hard left turn and found myself in one of my favorite parks overlooking the entire downtown. I shook my hair out of the helmet, grabbed my bag with notebook and pen inside and made my way to the picnic table with the view.

As soon as I sat on the cold surface, opened my notebook and finally put the pen to paper, the words overflowed.

And guess what?!

In about an hour, the change of routine had worked it’s magic. I had defeated the nemesis. I overcame writer's block. In that time I scripted four pages of content, including this blog post in a rough hand written form. And that's a win from what I can tell!

The act of being somewhere alone, with a beautiful view to boot, and a pen and notebook had allowed for an overflow of creativity to come rushing from my mind.

This naturally begs the question, how does our normal routine keep us stuck? And how can we break free from our self imposed limitations? How much more may be possible if we allow for something different to happen, if we allow for a pause or a shake up - away from the daily pressures and temptations.

Maybe these conscious pauses and change are exactly what we all need to remind us why we’re here, why we exist and give any kind of creative block a kick.

Does Writing Even Matter Anymore?

Everyday there are news stories about technology.

Statistics about how much time kids spend on screens. How much time parents spend on their phones. How much time social media "steals” from us. How technology, our phones, videos, podcasts, etc… are the new future.

I don’t want to get into the argument about whether technology is good or bad. Everything has two sides and can be taken to extremes.

So with our ever shrinking attention spans, does writing matter?

I’m going to argue that yes it does. And it always will.

When you think about how humans communicate, writing is just one of those forms.

So will writing die? No.

Writing is essential when mapping out a video script, formulating ideas, passing notes when you have no battery life. Writing, pen to paper, can also force more creativity since it is harder to edit immediately.

Your writing is often your first impression. Especially in a digital world.

Blogs, emails, text messages, Facebook ads, dating profiles are all populated with written words. They also give your reader an impression about you. Your intelligence, attention to detail, creativity and more can all be judged.

I’m not arguing that you have to have perfect grammar or write in a formal tone. In fact, I tend to write in very conversational tones because it feels more relatable. And I continue to make mistakes. I will even purposefully misspell words if it communicates an idea clearly.

Rather, I’m arguing that spelling and clear communication matters.

If you want to share your ideas, others need to be able to comprehend what you’re writing to make their judgements.

A glaring misspelling can mean that a potential audience member discredits you and your ideas. Even if you’re a YouTube star and rarely write any content. A misspelled word in your video title can hurt your chances of building an audience. So yes it matters.

And if you’re in the tech industry don’t forget to simplify your complicated ideas for the average consumer.

For all these reasons writing and writers matter.

It may be an "old” art form, but it is not going anywhere anytime soon. And I think we all understand that.

So if you have a message to share and struggle to communicate your ideas don’t you think it’s time to hire a writer to help?

I do.