A few days ago I published a post about writing with clarity.
The main point was, “Clarity in thought precedes clarity in writing, but clarity in writing cannot precede clarity in thought.”
In response to the post, I received a thoughtful message from Rohan that helped me identify a blind spot. I was over-indexing on 1) the finished product, and 2) recent pieces of writing I had seen in the workplace.
Rohan reminded me that “much of the act of writing is an exercise in getting to more clarity of thought,” and how there’s a reason why the word essay comes from the French word essayer, which means to try.
We don’t need to share the first words that we put on paper, nor do we need to keep them in our second, third, or fourth drafts. But we can—and should—use them to externalise what’s in our minds, and ultimately clarify our thinking.
Thanks Rohan! For this, and much more!