Earlier in the year, my wife and I signed up for a penpal program at a local bookstore. Every month we go to the bookstore to receive a letter from our penpals, and in two weeks’ time we have to bring our responses back, and the cycle repeats. During the course of this program, I realize how much I enjoy writing. I’ve always had a love for it and the written word. Even if I don’t write nearly enough. (This blog is my attempt to right that wrong!)
I’m the type of person to hear a “cool” word, look it up and make a mental note in order to build a wide vocabulary; the same way someone would collect stamps or coins. I love the way some words sound, how they’re pronounced. I love the delivery of lines in a play, movie or video game. I’ve always had that fascination even when I was a kid. It even stretches into different languages! Although I do merely “ok” in Spanish and not very good at all in Japanese.
Writing letters back and forth is an analog anomaly in 2026. No one ever does this. If you had to write a letter, you’d fire up Word, rattle off a document, print, mail and off it goes (or just send an email). However, the gamer in me likes working within a set or parameters and restrictions. For example, it’s hard to remember what you wrote 2-3 or more letters ago. I feel like I probably repeat some chains of thought, maybe… I make it a point to not take a photo of what I’ve written to my penpal. I’ll write it and send it off. Also, no communication outside of written letters. It would be all too easy to say “Hey, I saw this cool thing, text me at x and I’ll send you a link” but to me that doesn’t feel like it’s in the spirit of the program. I understand that I’m quite a stickler but in some things that’s how I’m wired. Writing the URL manually in the letter would be ridiculous also. So I tend to avoid anything that references the Internet in a specific way. My penpal and I get by just fine!
I also tend to write long, long letters and to do this the day I send it. So my letters are pretty freeform, and what I’m feeling at the moment, what I recollect at the time. I write and just let it flow. That’s usually how I do things. “Don’t overthink it… Just go” and it works itself out usually. Then with a cramping hand, I realize “Oh wow, I just wrote 9 pages…”I always say to myself to keep the next one shorter and more concise but it NEVER happens. There’s always something to write about. There’s always some story to tell, some thought to express.
It’s nice to turn that into a physical activity with pen and paper. I tend to be the kind of texter that can write a couple sentences with ease, which defeats the purpose of quick, instantaneous messaging. I just like being heard. Who doesn’t? At my job however, I am the master of succinct, terse sentences in emails and official communications. Kevin from The Office nailed it when he said “why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?” In reality however, everything has to move with urgency. So communication has to be quick, concise and with good grammar. (Sorry Kev!) Strong writing can be both long, and flowery, taking you on a journey and on the other side of the coin , be able to distill information in a way that’s easily communicated. Both are valuable gifts.
So there’s the through-line from penpals to blogging. Although, now that I think about it: when I produced content, script-writing was one of my favorite parts: to be able to create a snappy monologue. I’m no Aaron Sorkin of course, but I did enjoy how to best weave words in a way to communicate what i wanted to say effectively. To me, the writing is the core of the content. You mold everything around the writing and your narrative. Your video should serve the script not the other way around. The writing process takes a chunk of time as a solo content creator, but I found it to be satisfying when you got something good.
To wrap this up, I leave you with Rod Serling, creator of “The Twilight Zone” waxing philosophically with students on writing. I find his writing to be tremendous, and relevant even now, which is the hallmark of any great creative work.