On Writing

I have never considered writing a job—at least not the kind of hard work that requires sweat and struggle. Writing, perhaps, is a delightful daily ritual, much like enjoying a warm cup of tea in the afternoon or a slice of pizza on a rainy day. It’s something enjoyable when done often, yet it can become overwhelming if pursued relentlessly without pause.

Around mid-2007, I joined a student press organization and fell in love with the literary process. Perhaps it was a forbidden love, for writing led me to neglect my studies, wasting 3.5 years of college on seemingly unproductive pursuits—reading, traveling, and, of course, writing. Do I regret it? Not at all. Writing is a love I willingly embrace repeatedly, even knowing that the ending may be painful.

But enough about me. Today, a friend invited me to join an interesting campaign: seven days of writing. A bit cliché, honestly. There are countless similar campaigns, and unfortunately, only a few endure long enough to truly spread the spirit of literacy. But I always appreciate efforts like this, especially amid the chaotic state of Indonesia’s writing community after the social media boom. The emergence of new writers is like witnessing a beautiful sunset amid Jakarta’s congestion—a blessing in disguise.

I still remember what it felt like to write for the first time—nauseous, excited, passionate, fearful, and arrogant, all at once. The result? A two-page essay about the campus food stalls crammed with capitalist cigarette industry advertisements. Naïve and pretentious. And when it reached the editor’s desk, my painstakingly crafted piece was torn apart, crossed out, and criticized until only a single paragraph remained. And as the saying goes, the first cut is the deepest.

Years later, I watched an almost self-help-like movie about literary culture titled Finding Forrester. “The first rule of writing is to write, not to think,” Sean Connery’s character declares. There is something both comical and prophetic about that statement. A writer’s first duty is to pour their thoughts into the rhythm of sentences. From there, the text will generate meaning, which readers will then interpret—a never-ending cycle of relationships that, hopefully, will one day give birth to civilization.

A civilization built on words is a noble one. Writers, in this sense, play a central role in shaping both civilization and culture. I won’t start a debate over whether the words in holy scriptures are of human origin or not. Instead, I’ll share the stories of writers and their works that have helped shape modern civilization for the better. It might be boring, but it will be interesting if you love writing.

Of course, there must be limits. Excess of anything, in the end, only leads to folly—including in writing. Great writers are those who can inspire change, ignite polemics, and, most importantly, move people to action. Such writers are rare. Some of them are masterful agitators and propagandists (agprop), capable of producing seminal works that alter the course of world history.

Three thousand years before Christ, the Mesopotamians realized the importance of preserving messages. Perhaps this was when writing first emerged. But what, really, is so important about writing? After all, the oldest recorded texts were merely reports on food distribution. The Mesopotamians embraced order as the foundation of prosperity. Their records, later known as cuneiform, enabled them to create an organized society. Centuries later, this method was adopted by the Egyptian civilization with its hieroglyphic system.

For me, writing is an effort to develop oneself, preserve memories, and, if fortunate, sustain civilization. But before writing, we must recognize that to write well, we need to have good reading material. Reading classic works, especially those of high quality, will help. So, which classic book have you read?

Written by. Arman D.