An Act of Willed Understanding

In his notes at the back of his new short story collection Just After Sunset, Stephen King describes writing as “an act of willed understanding”. When I read those words, a great realization dawned on me: that’s one of the most compelling reasons I have for writing this blog!

A lot of people will never sit down and write anything for fear that others will call out their inexpertise on the topic being written about. And there are indeed many, many subjects that I feel relatively ignorant and unqualified to discuss. And yet, King’s statement comes back to me and refutes this inhibition to writing. As a matter of fact, it turns it on its head and transforms it to the idea that one SHOULD write about anything, and the less one understands the subject matter, the better! And, you know what, I think that I’ve already been doing this, although at a more “inhibited” level.

When I sit down to write an article, I often don’t know what I will write about until my word processor is turned on and I’m about to hit the keys. Even when I’ve chosen a subject, the simple act of writing some opening sentences may cause me to reexamine my entire viewpoint and to even adopt an opposing view. Or, I may discover that the subject that I had thought was so interesting or important was actually only secondary to another topic that I only discovered because I had first begun discussing my original topic.

It is too easy nowadays, with the omnipresent media-induced catch-phrases, clichés, and prepackaged talking points, to walk around thinking I’ve figured out everything. But once I begin to write things out, my viewpoints often appear shallow to me, and alternative directions to the discussion begin to make themselves known.

One of the rules of thumb that I write with is to imagine myself as someone like Larry King, and I am interviewing an expert in the topic that I’m writing about. In this role, I’d never presume my own expertise in the area, but I instead would be trained to ask pertinent and interesting questions. With this blog though, instead of an expert guest giving me feedback to my questions, I have the whole world to draw upon (if they're willing readers, that is)!

In sum, I do write in part to make myself think more about the topics I am interested in. It serves to increase my understanding, both in terms of what to believe and what to be skeptical of.