What do you love about writing? What do you hate about it?

Once I read that writing can be considered the highest form of thinking. It demands a great deal of effort for us to produce a piece of writing when we are careful about the effect we want it to have on the reader. So, to me, this idea makes sense: writing is the highest form of thinking. And if you ask me, it doesn't get more fascinating than that. The sheer (?) challenge we face when we start the process of choosing what to write about is both daunting and stimulating. 
I don't think there is anything in particular that I hate about writing. I'd say that our assumptions regarding writing get my goat. The idea that good writers are born with some sort of gift that enables them to put pen to paper and produce captivating pieces is, in my opinion, nothing short of an excuse not to commit to developing the skill. This romanticized idea of an innate talent for writing generates anxiety whenever we 'have to' write a text.
If you're interested in architecture, I'd suggest thinking of a good piece of writing as a beautiful building. We look at the finished product and admire its beauty and complexity, but we usually forget it was built brick by brick, one step at a time. There’s a process behind the construction. By breaking down this process into small, manageable steps, the overwhelming anxiety can be reduced.

Leandro, I like the architecture analogy, in part because there’s such a wide range of architectural styles and subjective preferences. I love brutalist buildings, for instance, but I’m aware that many people will just see an eyesore where I see beauty. When we learn to write we’re often taught in a “paint by numbers” style that keeps us from embracing our idiosyncrasies.

Thanks for getting the conversation started! 🙏

“For me, the word ‘writing’ is the exact opposite of the word ‘waiting.’ Instead of waiting, there is writing.” Roberto Bolaño

When I was a child a won a writing contest. That was the worst thing that could happen to my writing career. I believed that I deserved it. My parents played an important role in this. They praised my short stories and kept them in special places (a wallet, a folder, a drawer).

Then I came across Cortazar, Borges, Calvino…and little by little I realised something was missing in my writings.

I started a blog. I had 2 followers. Not really a success, isn´t it?

I stopped writing.

When my son was born my lifestyle changed dramatically, I stopped travelling and I had more time for self-reflection. I realised I didn´t know myself. I took up writing again.

No expectations. Just for me. Random notes on shabby notebooks. Just for fun. Playing with words. Just to learn. Analysing my thoughts, my beliefs, my tendencies, my fears, my reactions, and the root of all this.

I don´t think I write well anymore. I just write and feel good about it.

David, it's interesting how your life story illustrates the impact of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation and how you've come to see getting recognition as something negative. I often wonder what kind of person I'd be if I hadn't been praised so much for being a bright, precocious child and teenager. I think a lot of my decisions as an adult were at least partly conditioned by this persona that had been built up by others. As a result I think my creative, emotional - dare I say spiritual? - needs were left underexplored and underdeveloped. 

I wanted to disagree with you and ask if you really can be sure that you don't write well. But then I thought better of it. There's something so vital about caring more about how something makes you feel than trying to evaluate how good you are at it. (Which doesn't take away from my view that we might actually be able to get better once we detach from the need to be better. I think this is related to the Daoist concept of wu wei.) 

What I like about writing is that it helps me refine my thoughts. Simultaneously, it enables me to detach from them, as I come to realise that I am not my thoughts. Writing can be liberating, especially when you have something to express and there’s no immediate interlocutor to address.

What I hate about writing is that sometimes I find it hard, and when I read my sentences I find them convoluted, thus realising that I wasn’t able to convey the idea as I had wished.