Reading & Writing

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.”

— Ernest Hemingway

Reading, Writing, & The Importance of Storytelling

Writing may be one of humanity’s greatest achievements. For more than 5,000 years, the written word has allowed us to pass down knowledge, entertain, inspire, and share with one another the depths of human experience. 

Today, we take reading and writing for granted. But for the vast majority of history, literacy was a precious skill. It wasn’t until the 1920s, when advancements in papermaking reduced the cost of books, that literacy became widespread in most countries. And as reading and writing spread, researchers discovered that our brains respond to stories as if they really happened. 

People who write about their experiences on a regular basis gradually gain more understanding of their own emotions. Similarly, children who read emotional stories become better at recognizing emotions in their peers, and adults who read literature develop greater empathy and social skills. Reading also improves cognitive function in healthy adults, and lifelong readers are less likely to develop dementia. 

Perhaps most importantly, reading and writing add depth to your life. They let you explore times and places (and even entire worlds) that are not your own, and allow you to share your thoughts with others (or keep them for yourself).

Here are a few simple ways we like to incorporate more reading and writing into our lives.

Read 10 Pages a Day

Mark Twain said, with his trademark biting wit, “The man who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.” 

Building a reading habit strengthens and expands the mind. We like to keep a good book nearby and find a few minutes in the day to read — over lunch, after work, or before bed. 

Keep a Journal

Another way to start a writing practice is to put a few thoughts on paper every night before bed. Keeping a journal could be as simple as recording what happened during the day, or it could delve into deeper musings and feelings. Either way, we find that taking five minutes to write offers perspective on daily life.

Write a Story

For more creative days, we also enjoy writing short stories. 

Writing a story is simpler than it seems. The first step is to choose a person and a place. It could be a young man in a cafe or a woman walking down the street. 

What kind of objects are there? Perhaps the man is drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, or drinking a cocktail and nervously tapping his briefcase. Perhaps the woman is carrying an umbrella and huddling to avoid the rain — or maybe she’s smoking a cigarette with the collar up on her wool coat. 

Who else is nearby? Maybe the man puts his newspaper down, turns to the woman at the table next to him, and tries to make conversation about something he read. Or maybe he orders a second cocktail and steels himself for a presentation to his boss. Maybe the woman steps into the local bakery, shakes off her umbrella, and begins chatting with the owner. Or maybe she stubs out her cigarette, turns to a friend, and tells her that it’s the last one — she’s really quitting this time. 

We like taking 500 words to tell a story. We set up a simple premise, and let ourselves get creative.

However we do it, we love to incorporate reading and writing into our daily routines. It’s a wonderful (and valuable) way to spend a few minutes of the day.