I am in habit of writing. The discipline of notation helps me to organize my thoughts. This is how I keep a record of the ideas that drift in and out of my mind throughout the day. Here’s thought: perhaps I will become more articulate and be able to express myself in words with greater finesse because of the practice I get by writing often.
One of my deepest desires is to be heard. I have a specific purpose for all this daily transcribing. I want to communicate with other people and find the common threads that connect us as human beings.
The reason I wrote this piece is to share one main point. That point is: since I have the desire to be heard, I should make the best of my writing public.
One of the major advantages of the 21st century is the ease of access we have to other people through the Internet. It is also a serious hindrance to human interaction because of the inherent disconnectedness of writing verses talking, yet it still allows us to reach out and share. I choose to focus on the benefits of digital communication and allow the pitfalls to resolve themselves over time.
The first step toward being intentional about publishing is to read what I have written. I have an issue with people posting prior to proofreading (say that 5 times quickly!) I concede that I cannot change others bad habits, so I resolve to be the best example I can be in the hope that others may follow my lead. I just consider it a kindness to be certain that you are not sending people down a rabbit hole of confusion by sending out incomplete or ill formed messages.
I am in the habit of reading. I also re-read. I read (and re-read) what others have written as well as what I write. Whether it is a tweet, an email, a blog post or a 300+ page book. I read because I wish to understand and be understood. I re-read because I desire clarity.
Sometimes I miss the mark and fail to understand or be understood. This is a tragedy, however, it is a temporary tragedy. One major plus of being able to interact through the Internet is the back and forth nature of Social Media. Anyone can post and often times, anyone reading a post can comment, reply and share.
This interactivity can lead to greater understanding, clarification and expanded relationships between readers and writers.
Out of respect for others, and ourselves, I suggest we take the time to read (out loud, whenever possible) what we have written prior to publishing. This will greatly increase the chances of our writing having the effect of sharing our ideas with the impact we intend. To post without double (or triple, or quadruple, etc…) checking is reckless.
Although recklessness has its place in the world, it often causes more harm than good when applied to the discipline of communication. By no means am I suggesting that we analyze to the point of paralysis. I just mean that by taking a breath and reviewing our content we will save our readers unnecessary labor. They might even choose to read our next post.
Who knows what can come from publishing? I just write because I want to let these pesky thoughts get some air and reach a state of maturity before I release them into the wild.
What do you think?