Why should I write?

Life has been busy lately. Being a husband, a son, a father, and a full-time worker takes time. Despite all this, the idea of starting a Substack has been on my mind for a while. A constant voice in my head that keeps saying, “Why don’t you start writing on Substack?” I would like to answer this question. 

So, why start writing on Substack? 

Primarily, because I like writing. At some point in my life I’d like to dedicate myself full time to it. Given everything that’s going on around me it’s not a possibility right now, but I aspire to do it at some point. 

One reason I like writing is how it clarifies your thinking. There is no tool better than writing that highlights unclear thinking. It’s hard to write a clear and crisp argument. But it’s easy to spot a bad one in writing. That’s the power of writing. 

If something is powerful, it’s valuable. Writing has indeed been valuable to me. In the past, writing forced me to see how unconvincing some of my arguments were. And, on occasion, writing also enabled me to see how my opinions had some merit. Writing can strip your thoughts of all ornaments and make them stand naked in light of truth. If finding truth is your goal, then it’s in the crucible of writing that you separate truth from falsehood.  

Apart from seeking truth, what other motives drive people to write? George Orwell tried to answer this in one of his essays, titled “Why I Write.” For why people write he gave four reasons, namely: sheer egoism (desire to seem clever), aesthetic enthusiasm (pleasure of prose), historic impulse (feeling of responsibility to preserve truth), and political purpose (desire to push for societal or political change). Well, I don’t think the first two motives exist in me for I am not clever; I am not saying this out of false modesty but I know some really smart people and I know how far I am from being one. Of aesthetic enthusiasm I’m also not a fan. It’s not to say that I don’t think prose and style don’t matter, they do; in fact, of prose and style I’m a student, but they aren’t my ultimate reason to write. Duty to truth is important to me and so is societal change.

 I will briefly say a few words about these two. First about duty to truth. 

What’s a better aim for life than pursuing truth? Truth ought to be the ultimate goal. I don’t claim to know the truth in every instance, but to strive for it, I’d like. When Juvenal once said “dedicate one’s life to truth” he couldn’t utter better words. There is no better aim for oneself than dedicating one’s life to truth. In search of truth, fewer tools can be more helpful than writing. 

Second as for societal change, if we see injustices it’s our duty to speak. For injustices I see in my society, I have been writing op-eds in local daily newspapers. One thing not clear to me right now is whether a lot of people on Substack would like to hear my thoughts or stories about Pakistan society. So depending on what I find out in the next few months, I’ll either write those thoughts here, or I’ll keep them in local daily newspapers.  

For why I write, there is one more reason. Often I jot down things to help answer questions that my elder son raises and for which I have no good answers on the spot. In those cases, to bring order to my thinking, writing helps.

Moreover, as I navigate the passage of life, writing has also become an introspective tool, especially as I get older and I have people close to me either passing away or moving away (due to jobs or better opportunities). This gives me more space, and solace. What better use of solitude can I find than writing down my thoughts, publishing them, and then through my writing I might be able to find like-minded folks? 

The best thing about writing is that you can converse with people not just in the present but also from the past. One great mind I recently conversed with through writing was Michel de Montaigne. And my God, what a fine writer he was. I would like to end this by echoing some of his thoughts. He says to the reader on the first page of his book containing his essays:

“This book was written in good faith, reader. It warns you from the outset that in it I have set myself no goal but a domestic and private one. I have had no thought of serving either you or my own glory. My powers are inadequate for such a purpose. I have dedicated it to the private convenience of my relatives and friends, so that when they have lost me (as soon they must), they may recover here some features of my habits and temperament, and by this means keep the knowledge they have of me more complete and alive.”

I also write this in good faith, reader. To serve you I would love but I have no thought of serving my own glory as my powers are inadequate for such a purpose. I have dedicated it to the private convenience of my family and my solitude so my family and friends may have the knowledge of me more complete and alive. 

Montaigne warns his readers by saying:

“Thus, reader, I am myself the matter of my book; you would be unreasonable to spend your leisure on so frivolous and vain subject.”

This I fear. I wouldn’t like to waste your time, my dear reader. I might fail but I will at least try to make sure I give it my best just as Montaigne did his best, and whenever I read him I never feel I have spent my time on a vain subject. And so I hope to leave you, reader, having found some value in my words.