Why do you write all this stuff?

“Why do you write all this stuff?” She asked.

Fair question and a simple answer.

I get clearer when I write my thoughts down.

I’m not writing to persuade you.
I’m writing to persuade myself.
I’m writing to see things differently.

Sometimes when the writing seems useful enough I’ll share it publicly. But, just so you know, there’s a lot I don’t share. That’s because I’m not always persuaded by what I’ve written.

When that’s the case I’ll sometimes take a contrarian point of view and argue against myself. Surprisingly that often helps.

Or I’ll step into the shoes of someone I know, or have studied, and think about the topic from their perspective. It’s akin to asking “what would Jesus do” although my exemplars are somewhat different.

I used to do all of this ‘in my head’. I now find it’s more effective to write. That way I can track my perspective and shifting thoughts.

The whole process usually starts with a question. So far, this week, you’ve seen:

• Which book do I recommend for trusted experts who need to sell consultatively?
• How does consultative selling work with clients who aren’t profit driven?
• Why do you write all this stuff? (The question that prompted this post.)

Of course, there are always more questions that I have time to answer. So I try to maintain a list, then pick carefully before starting to write.

Sometimes I find an answer I’m persuaded by. Sometimes I get to see things differently. Sometimes I just get clearer about what I think, what I don’t know, and what I’m still wrestling with.

Perhaps there are questions you’ve been carrying around, not quite knowing what to do with them. What if you started writing to find out what you really think?

💢 Back in August 22 I enrolled for #ship30for30 the online digital writing course. Since then I’ve done several sprints, publishing an atomic essay each day for 30 days.

This article is the 3/30 for November 2026.