Ernest Hemingway once said, “there is nothing to writing. all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
That quote has stayed with me. There’s something raw and beautiful about it. Writing, at its core, is an act of opening up – sometimes in ways we didn’t expect or even intend. It’s easy to forget that. AI tools have made us faster at writing to instruct, automate, and inform. We can craft emails, proposals, and reports in record time. But what about writing for the love of it?
As we start this new year, I want to invite you to think about writing in a different way. Not as a task to complete or a skill to sharpen, but as something to enjoy. A gift to yourself.
Write for you
Forget about the audience. Forget about perfection. Just write. Scribble in the margins of notebooks, jot down thoughts on napkins, or open that empty document and see where your mind takes you. Write without expectation.
You’re not writing to be read.
You’re not writing for recognition or accolades.
You’re not writing to break through creatively.
You’re not writing for anyone else.
You’re writing to write.
To express yourself.
To capture the good, the bad, and the mundane moments of life.
To be honest with yourself, even when honesty feels uncomfortable.
Writing is a way to sit with your thoughts, to make sense of your experiences, or simply to put something out into the world that wasn’t there before. It’s a moment of stillness in an otherwise noisy life.
The power of paper
I’ve found something grounding about writing things down by hand. A physical notebook. A pen that scratches across the page. There’s a certain intimacy in it – a connection between thought and action that digital tools sometimes lack.
Try writing on paper. See how it feels. Let the words flow. Messy, imperfect, full of crossings-out and scribbles. That’s part of the joy.
Trust the process
Writing isn’t always easy. Some days the words come effortlessly, and other days they don’t come at all. That’s okay. Trust the process. Show up anyway.
Write when you’re inspired, but also write when you’re not. Write about the ordinary things – your morning coffee, the people you see on your commute, the weather outside your window. Sometimes the most mundane topics reveal the most unexpected insights.
An invitation
As you head into this year, I encourage you to carve out a little time to write. Not for work. Not for productivity. But for the sheer joy of it. Let writing become a small act of self-care, a space where you can reflect, dream, and simply be.
And if nothing else, remember this: you don’t need to write for anyone else. You just need to write for you.
Happy writing.
