How writing regularly can make you more confident in your thoughts

Yesterday, I published a post on how writing regularly changes how you think. I tried to highlight some of the beneficial cognitive changes I’ve noticed after months of publishing posts every day. One of the passages that stood out to a lot of readers? This line:

“You gain confidence in your own thoughts because now someone else besides yourself has read them.”

In this post, I’m going to talk more about how writing and publishing regularly can enhance your confidence.

Writing helps you better understand the ideas in your head

One common thread I’ve noticed in many writers is clarity of thought. The more you write, the clearer your own thoughts become. Why? Because writing has a way of getting at underlying concepts that are buried deep in our subconscious minds.

Consider the metaphor of a storm. When you start writing, it’s like rain begins to fall in your brain. You don’t know exactly what it is you’re wanting to say because you have so much in there. The more you write, the harder it falls. Soon, however — as the thoughts begin to pour out of your head — the big concepts rise up and are visible on the surface.

If you’ve ever had writer’s block, you know this feeling of not being able to figure out what it is you’re trying to say. This isn’t just because we’re unsure about a particular topic — it’s also because there are probably many thoughts swirling around in our heads and we can’t tell exactly which one we want to talk about.

After writing for a while, however, the rainfall gets lighter and the thoughts begin to organize themselves into major concepts. You go from not being able to figure out what it is you’re trying to say, to knowing exactly what you want — and need — to say. This is one of many reasons why I consider writing to be an incredibly powerful tool for self-discovery.

Writing helps you to better understand your beliefs

Another common theme I’ve noticed in the writers I meet is the enhanced confidence they have in their thoughts. Why? Because writing forces you to examine your own ideas and deeply consider why you hold them. You do this because once you start writing, you’ll realize that the first way of looking at an issue (that may have always seemed obvious to you) isn’t logically airtight.

I’m not saying every writer starts out by debating their own beliefs — not by any means — but most writers will find themselves amending or even changing some long-held ideas as they write about them. When you see your own thoughts on paper, it helps you to better understand why you think the way you do.

Writing helps you to better understand other people’s beliefs

Prominent writers grapple with difficult questions related to religion, politics, and society. Why do some people believe one thing and not another? Why do the moral values of a society change over time? These are challenging questions to wrestle with, but they also force you to question your own assumptions.

This is what’s called “metacognition” — taking a step back from an issue and thinking about how you think about it. If you want to understand why someone believes something, start by trying to write about it. You’ll immediately see the holes in your argument and will be forced to question your own assumptions.

Writing helps you recall complex information

One of my favorite benefits of writing is that it helps you recall events in greater detail. Why? Because when we’re asked to recall information, our brain automatically tries to simplify whatever it is we’re trying to remember. So if you’re asked to describe your first day at school, for example, and you simply think about what happened and how you felt while it was happening, you’ll remember a very basic version of the story.

Writing forces you to relive certain events so that you can recall them in great detail. The more often you write about something, the more examples and details your brain will remember. If you’re trying to recall a memory from years ago, writing about it over and over may just help bring the memory back into the light.

Readers help you become more confident in your own thoughts

This is the biggest benefit of writing regularly, I think. It’s one thing to bounce an idea off a friend or family member, but it’s another thing to have that same idea read by a lot of different people. Having this happen feels good because your thoughts are validated from time to time — I know what you’re thinking, and I agree!

Think about it this way: you gain confidence in your own thoughts because now someone else besides yourself has read them. Your ideas become considerably stronger when they’re read by others — they are no longer just “yours.” This is why writing helps you to examine your beliefs, but it also strengthens those beliefs.

The bottom line: thinking better by writing more

I think it’s safe to say that writing is an important part of the learning process — it forces us to consider ideas in new ways and helps us improve our internal thought processes. When you write well, you know what you’re thinking well. My guess is that, if you want to think better, you should start writing more (and better).

Conclusion

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