Why write?

It is an overly simplistic question, yet it really does require deep discussion, especially in this era when text is more important than ever before. Note that text has always held a holy status, whether it is hieroglyphics or fancy cholo script. Why is writing true, any of it—the bible, the law, the contract? It is true because it is written!

These spider symbols tangle us all in a great sticky web. There is no escape. We were taught language, taught to curse, and we communicate in this cursing, so we must use language if we are in this world. There is no way to escape your reality as a writer, whether you want to be or like to be a writer or not. There is no way to escape words, these fleas jumping on this page.

Therefore, I invite you to this seven lesson seminar on Why Write. Read it, use it, refuse it, share it in any way you want. It is my gift and torture to you, to make you think and to, perhaps, help you liberate yourself beyond these words, these webs.

I write this as someone who has been a serious writer for over a quarter of a century. A published author, I write this as someone who has dedicated his life to writing and to learning from writing and to teaching writing (if that is even possible). I started teaching writing in 1998, at a high school I had been kicked out of a dozen years earlier. Today I am in my 20^th year as a frontline college critical thinking writing instructor. I have used my writing to learn things and to start lots of good shit.

I have used my writing to look into myself.

When you look into the mirror, you see your face, your eyes, your mouth, your teeth, but how can you look into your mind? How do you know what you know? Writing is a mirror to your mind. Writing tells you what you think and who you are, and it tells others what you think and who you are. Yes, of course, your actions speak louder than any words, but by the end of this seven lesson seminar, you will see how I propose to use your writing for Praxis purposes, so that when you write, you ultimately reflect deeply on your ideas, action on those ideas, and transform yourself and the world around you. 

Before we end for the evening, let me offer you a key to writing well: stealing. If you want to be the best writer you can be, you must steal substance. You must read words. Note that what you read, you will write. If you read kaka, you will write kaka. If you read real shit, you will write real shit 🙂 The more you read, the more you will be unable to help yourself from stealing style, substance, and spider symbols. Choose your reading wisely. Read every single day. Gift yourself thirty minutes in the morning. Contrary to conventional thinking, reading is not wasted time; it is an important action, for when you read, you expand your imagination. You learn patience, and you learn to listen to your own mind, even though it, the words, are really from someone else, some mystery inside of your mind. You will see how your ideas and life will be transformed. You choose the books, the articles. Think about what you are interested in, and research authors who have written deeply about that subject matter. Read all kinds of genres: fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, etc. Reading helps you to be at peace inside of the sticky web.

Reading and writing is stealing and sharing. Robin Hood, Homes.

That is the end of our first lesson.

Always in all ways all amor,

Benjamin Bac Sierra, M.A., J.D., SFC, SFM, 0331 USMC: Pura Neta

When you look into the mirror, you see your face, your eyes, your mouth, your teeth, but how can you look into your mind? How do you know what you know? Writing is a mirror to your mind. Writing tells you what you think and who you are, and it tells others what you think and who you are. Yes, of course, your actions speak louder than any words, but by the end of this seven lesson seminar, you will see how I propose to use your writing for Praxis purposes, so that when you write, you ultimately reflect deeply on your ideas, action on those ideas, and transform yourself and the world around you. 

Before we end for the evening, let me offer you a key to writing well: stealing. If you want to be the best writer you can be, you must steal substance. You must read words. Note that what you read, you will write. If you read kaka, you will write kaka. If you read real shit, you will write real shit 🙂 The more you read, the more you will be unable to help yourself from stealing style, substance, and spider symbols. Choose your reading wisely. Read every single day. Gift yourself thirty minutes in the morning. Contrary to conventional thinking, reading is not wasted time; it is an important action, for when you read, you expand your imagination. You learn patience, and you learn to listen to your own mind, even though it, the words, are really from someone else, some mystery inside of your mind. You will see how your ideas and life will be transformed. You choose the books, the articles. Think about what you are interested in, and research authors who have written deeply about that subject matter. Read all kinds of genres: fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, etc. Reading helps you to be at peace inside of the sticky web.

Reading and writing is stealing and sharing. Robin Hood, Homes.

That is the end of our first lesson.

Always in all ways all amor,

Benjamin Bac Sierra, M.A., J.D., SFC, SFM, 0331 USMC: Pura Neta