Why I Write - ERIC KIM

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Dear friend,

I want to write you a letter about why I write:

1. Orwell x Huxley

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Today morning while brushing my teeth at my apartment in Hanoi, I thought about George Orwell’s essay: “Why I write.” Orwell wrote 1984, one of the books that had the most influences on me. Orwell foretold a world where a dictatorial government would be watching your every move— where your privacy didn’t exist (kind of like today’s digital world with Google/Facebook/Government spying), and how humans would lose individual freedom.

George Orwell mixed with Aldous Huxley (who wrote ‘Brave New World’ — a world where people have ‘freedom’ — but are just entertaining themselves to death with mindless entertainment and taking ‘soma’ (a drug that makes them feel good) are the two authors who had the strongest impact on me as a high schooler— and shaped my world-view. I was always skeptical of technology, and the influence on the human soul.

2. Writing for social change

Portrait by Neil Ta

What I love about both Orwell and Huxley is they didn’t write for creating entertainment. They were both social critics— who wanted to enact social change through their writing. They believed in the human soul, spirit, and freedom. And I know certainly they have inspired me to write about things which are important to society and being a human being.

3. I want to empower others

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For me, I write to empower others. I know there is a lot of pain and suffering in the world, so I endeavor to write a few lines, blog posts, books, and poems to uplift your soul. Even as you’re reading these words— I’m not sure if you’re reading it on your phone, your laptop, tablet, or where you are — whether you are in a bus, at work, waiting in line at the grocery store, or in the subway — but I write to help motivate you to become the best artist you can be.

I think you have a gift. A gift that already exists in you. It is like a little ball of white energy— you just need to realize it is already in you, and it is for you to unlock it. I just want to help aid you in the process of self-discovery.

4. I write for myself

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I also write for selfish reasons. When I write, I better flesh out my thoughts. I write as a form of self-meditation. And I feel that writing is more ‘productive’ than other forms of information-creation. For example, the good thing about writing is that text is a lot easier to archive, store, and transmit than big video files.

I also know for myself— I prefer reading text instead of watching videos. I can quickly scan text, and extract interesting information— and quickly skip what I find uninteresting or boring.

So even when you read the blog, skip anything you find boring, and feel free to skim. Only extract things that you find personally interesting or relevant to you.

5. I like to write what I like to read

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I also like to write blog posts in list format (10 tips, etc) because I prefer to read blog posts like this. For me, it is an easier way to process, digest, and organize information.

For writing, a piece of advice I would give you: write like how you like to read. Or write for yourself. Think of yourself as your own ideal reader.

Of course you cannot please 100% of the people who read your stuff. But you certainly can write to please yourself.

6. How did I start blogging?

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When I was in high school, I somehow stumbled upon the blog of ‘Maddox’ at around age 14-16. I remember how refreshing and hilarious his no-bullshit, non-politically correct writing was. I aspired to write something like him.

So my early days of blogging on Xanga, I wrote about things that pissed me off, but also tried to be encouraging at the same time. I blogged about how not to complain in life, and actually make changes in life. I built an alter-ego (EKIZZ) as my ‘blogging self.’ It was a lot of fun, and I just did it out of pure entertainment for myself— even hand-coding my own blogging platform in HTML.

The main purpose of blogging for me is to encourage, empower and motivate others. I know that I personally deal with a lot of problems, and inner-demons myself. And I know there are (some) people out there with the same pains as myself. Also other friends out there seeking the same answers that I am seeking in life.

So even as you read these words — I feel some sort of connection with you. That when I write, I like to write in letter-format. Because it feels more personal. More real. Less fake. More authentic, and easier to connect.

7. Write only if you want to

Photo by Cindy A. Nguyen

So friend, don’t feel like you need to write all the time. I think the whole 1,000 words a day challenge is pretty dumb. I think you should only write if you want to write. And if you have something on your mind, that you want to share.

Never force yourself to write if you don’t want to. Writing is just another form of self-expression and communication. You can communicate and express yourself through photography, through making videos, through emoticons, through drawing, sculpture, and dance. Don’t limit yourself.

For more tips on writing, read these articles on how to become a more prolific writer:

And also these articles on blogging:

Be strong,
Eric

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