Many of the people in my circle are either scientists, or people that otherwise use writing as part of their jobs. What surprises me is how few of these people actually write outside of their profession. Or at least share it.
Why not?
Don’t we all have stories to tell? Half of the above people have things to say on Twitter. Why not expand on the 280 characters with a blog post? Possibilities are endless!
I can come up with various explanations for why people don’t write. Perhaps people are lazy. Perhaps people don’t have time to write. Or worse. Perhaps people dislike writing. I think none of them are really true.
Sure. People are lazy. I’m the laziest person I know. You can ask my wife. Yet, I write every day. I think being lazy shouldn’t limit writing per se. You can write from your bed, or use speech recognition software, if you’re too lazy to even type. Nah. That can’t be it.
Time. Nobody has time. Everybody has time. I have a baby and a toddler. I don’t have time. I can write. Everybody can make time. Fifteen minutes less scrolling down Twitter, and there you have it. Time to write. Time cannot be the reason.
I don’t believe for a second that people dislike writing. People have written diaries for as long as written languages exist. Perhaps not everyone is good at writing, but skill comes with practice. If you write about what you like, how can you dislike writing. Nope. Don’t believe it.
I think the only reason why people don’t write, is because they’re scared. They’re perfectionists and scared what people think. I’m also scared. I still shit my pants – okay maybe not literally – every time I click the submit button. All these thoughts go through my head. What if people think I write stupid things? What if people will ridicule it? Yes. What if? If anything, I have received compliments, recognition for some of the stories I have posted. To be honest, the most negative thing someone has told me was that I was brutally honest. I don’t take that as a negative, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meant that way either. I write honestly because I think honest writing makes for more interesting reading material.
Yes, you’re scared. It’s totally normal to be scared.
It gets better with time…
You’ll likely get more positive than negative feedback.
I find it quite interesting to see that half the world shares their daily lives on Instagram and Facebook, through pictures, open for everyone to see (albeit through a pretty filter), but writing is somehow too scary. At least writing is raw, and whatever you write, that really is you on the page.
Today a former colleague also started a blog. I was really happy to see this. Keep it up!
I really wish more people would pick up writing. Polishing your writing, vocabulary, storytelling, it all will be beneficial to whatever you write professionally.
Tell me a story! (Let me know in the comments below where I can read it!)
Robin Heinen 
Robin! Loved it! I also think that fear is behind many of us not writing. Or not doing as much as we’d want. In the end, many scientists were “good” students. We were not used to failing! For me, being (more or less) consistent has helped improve my confidence. Some days I am really scared of pressing the “send”, others, I don’t give a sh**. It’s part of the process! sending hugs!
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Thanks Ana!
You’re right! The consistency helps me, too. It’s become part of my daily routine. It was tricky when I was traveling, especially when internet was sketchy. But I managed.
Somehow, my travel stories I didn’t care so much. I mean. Who cares. It’s my trip… I noticed that readership dropped quite massively, probably becaustof that.
Now that I’m back on the grind, I will write again on things that I find important. Sometimes maybe controversial to some? In any case, it makes me more nervous. Sharing this very post made me more nervous, because it was the first post with a message in a long time… Glad you liked it 🙂
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