LET'S TALK ABOUT WRITING

In Joan Didion's famous essay, "Why I Write," she explains her writing process as a way to discover her own thoughts and feelings. For Didion, writing was not merely a means of communicating ideas she had already fully formed; it was the very mechanism through which she came to understand what she believed. The blank page became her laboratory for thought, a place where vague intuitions could be tested, examined, and refined into clarity. This concept—that writing is thinking—challenges the common assumption that we must know exactly what we want to say before we begin.

Didion's idea, "I write to know what I think," reveals a fundamental truth about the writing process: it is inherently exploratory. When we put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, we engage in a dialogue with ourselves. We make connections we hadn't anticipated, discover contradictions in our reasoning, and uncover depths of feeling we didn't know existed. Writing forces us to slow down our racing thoughts and examine them one at a time, in sequence, with precision. In this way, writing becomes an act of discovery rather than mere transcription.

In today's fast-paced world and with the advance of technology, it is essential that we integrate writing into every subject area. Our students live in an era of instant communication, where thoughts are shared in seconds and information flows constantly. Yet this very speed makes the deliberate, reflective practice of writing more important than ever. When students write about mathematical concepts, they deepen their understanding of abstract principles. When they write about scientific processes, they clarify their grasp of cause and effect. When they write about historical events, they develop the ability to analyze multiple perspectives and construct coherent arguments. Writing is not simply a skill for English class—it is the foundation of critical thinking across all disciplines.

By embracing writing as a tool for discovery across the curriculum, we help students develop not only their ability to communicate but also their capacity to think deeply and critically. In a world saturated with information, the ability to write—to pause, reflect, and articulate one's thoughts with clarity—becomes an essential skill for making sense of complexity and finding meaning in the noise.