Have you ever sat in front of a blank page convinced you knew exactly what you wanted to say, only to discover that the words wouldn’t come? The longer you stared at the screen, the fuzzier your thoughts became. It’s tempting to conclude that you’re simply not a good writer. But what if the struggle has nothing to do with writing ability?
Many of us tend to think of writing as a sort of internal dictation process: “Think a thought. Write it down.” But it’s not that rote. There’s a lot going on in that noggin of yours as you form thoughts, make connections and refine your arguments. It takes effort to do this–and that’s a good thing, because in the space between thinking and getting something written down, you are making sense of your world.
But it’s difficult to do this and it requires the one thing that so few of us feel we have: time. But it’s difficult to do this and it requires the one thing that so few of us feel we have: time. Yet time is exactly what you need in order to experience the payoff writing brings.
Walter J. Ong, a historian and Jesuit priest, famously observed, “More than any other single invention, writing has transformed human consciousness.” When we write, our thoughts have time to catch up. We notice patterns, contradictions, emotions, and insights that are easy to miss when ideas are racing through our minds. That’s one reason writing often feels slower—and harder—than talking.
Modern psychology echoes this observation. Researchers have found that writing isn’t simply a way to record our thinking; it’s one of the ways thinking becomes more organized in the first place. Psychologists who study expressive writing have found that people often gain clarity not because writing magically solves problems, but because putting experience into words helps organize thoughts and emotions. Narrative psychologists have reached a similar conclusion from a different direction: people develop a stronger sense of identity when they shape life’s events into a coherent story. The page isn’t just where we express understanding; it’s often where understanding begins.
This struggle often shows up during the first few sessions of my Guided Life Stories workshops. Participants will text me saying, “I don’t have anything to write about this week’s theme!” I text them back, suggesting they sleep on it and see what transpires the next day. And sure enough, they always find a path forward. Nothing about their lives has changed overnight. What changes is that they’ve given their minds time to sift, connect, and discover what mattered all along. The stories and memories are there, but we need to be able to sit with the difficult task of sorting it out.
“We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little”
~ Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Professional writers know this struggle, too. In her classic book on writing, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott observes that even her most eager writing students eventually face the challenge of organizing their thoughts. She reminds aspiring authors that, “Telling the truth in an interesting way turns out to be about as easy and pleasurable as bathing a cat.”
If writing feels difficult, don’t assume you’re a bad writer. You’re most likely experiencing the productive tension that comes before vague impressions become clear ideas. The blank page asks more of us than we realize. It asks us to slow down, make connections, and make meaning. That’s why writing is hard. It’s also why it’s worth doing.
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