What we achieve through writing.

The thing I don't like so much about writing is that it's a one-way street.  It needn't be a one-way street, obviously.  For instance, if I were to be part of a community of writers, then I'd "talk" to people through my writing and they'd talk back at me.  But I'm not part of a community, so writing's become a one-way street.

But I'm lying.  I like it.  I like it even when it's one-way.  Just the act of writing something down forces me to be accountable for what I think, whether or not I like what I'm thinking -- and that's an accomplishment.

Once written, I can't change the fact that I've voiced those thoughts.  They're there for posterity -- people can quote me, reproduce me, reference what I've said and spread it around, and throw those words back at my face twenty years down the road if they wanted to.  And nevermind other people.  More importantly, it allows me to reflect on my own thoughts and think, "Gee.  Is that what I really think?"

I think the best writing is that which reflects the issues that society, as a whole, is struggling with -- Leaves of Grass has elements of that, Tolstoy's family-oriented stories does that also.  They say Huckleberry Finn does that, though I haven't read it as an adult so I can't really say for myself that that's true.

More later.