People don’t always want to listen to you, but when you write there is physical proof that

your words matter.

Not to mention that seeing words uses more senses than just hearing them. When you read writing, you see the letters, feel the paper beneath your fingers, and hear the voice in your head. The more senses, the more

Emphasis.

Writing allows people to collect their thoughts in one place. To hold in their hands forever. To look back at and examine their mind. To wave in someone’s face exclaiming,

pay attention!

Writing is important because it does something that speaking can’t. It allows you to converse deeply with yourself. Writing gives you a chance to calmly position yourself, like a pause mid-argument— a suspension of time. A way to halt the earth in an effort to say,

now listen, this is important.

 

~Akili Echols, Ann Arbor, MI