"Writing matters because it gives a voice to those who have been silenced."
My writing has filled the backs of envelopes, both sides of paper napkins and even my left arm up to my elbow to catch ideas dropping through the ethers into my brain. Writing matters because it is the medium through which we all filter our thoughts before pouring them into the world.
Humans have always written, whether in pictographs, syllabics, or letters. If the bible is to be believed, Moses was so intent on writing that he chiselled words into a stone tablet because he thought it mattered.
The Essenes put their words on rolls of parchment and hid them in a desert cave because it was important to them. When they were found, they became the Dead Sea Scrolls.
I, on the other hand, first put pencil to paper at age two or three while my siblings did their homework at the kitchen table. I was probably afraid I would miss something.
Reading makes one a better writer. I remember when I decided to read all the books in our house. I had made the mistake of telling my mother I was bored, and the next thing I knew, I was dusting both books and shelves. Did she know that by cleaning them, I'd end up reading them? Of course, she did.
Our elementary school teachers taught us cursive writing by copying poems. Then, I was introduced to the writings of Mohawk poet Pauline Johnson in the fifth grade. A visiting music teacher taught us to sing Lullaby of the Iroquois, and I fell in love with words, music and rhyming.
Somewhere out there float my childish songs, stories, and poems, read only by the birds that sang over my head while writing in the shade of a pear tree.
By my early teens, I was writing earnestly and found stories that fueled my desire to write. While exploring the high school library, I remember reading Far from the Madding Crowd and Jamaica Inn long before they ever made it to television.
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham was my first great awakening into the world of fantasy storytelling. Since I was becoming quite an obnoxious teen, I read and wrote to expel hormonal ravings, resulting in yards of pathetic songs and poetry.
To this day, The Chrysalids is still a favourite because of the line "If you run away from a thing just because you don't like it, you won't like what you find either." It was a literary intervention when I was at my worst.
Journaling naturally teaches us how to write
As an adolescent, I learned about journaling from my best friend, who wrote letters to God and kept them rolled inside a Black Velvet whiskey case in her closet.
After that, journaling became a way of life for me. To have a method of purging thoughts and feelings while growing up was cathartic. The purge doesn't always present a great story idea, but it clears the mind. New ideas can find room to squeeze their way in.
Whiskey, on the other hand, does not, but makes for great drinking songs.
Initially, most of my writing was emotional. It still can be. Now, it is a tool through which I can give voice to characters with stories to tell. These stories are sometimes based on truth and couched in fiction. Allowing them to grow and expand beyond their origins gives a chance to create resolutions that never happened, express pain on behalf of the wounded, and joy on behalf of the survivor.
Writing matters because it gives a voice to those who have been silenced. It reveals truth and lies simultaneously and allows us to build vocabulary while learning discernment. Ultimately, it creates a space for everyone with both believable and unbelievable stories to tell.
Writing matters
Writing matters because we want to remember the words of those whose message or story moves us emotionally or pushes our thinking beyond our current intellectual state.
Reading opens the mind; writing activates our creativity and connection to the universe, where the seeds of story ideas lie waiting.
Once the thought occurs, if I don't write it, someone else will.
Originally published April 20, 2025 on elizabethhillwriter.medium.com