Writing is hard work, even for good writers. Some people who write well say that it’s easy. Maybe it is, for a lucky few. However, most people who write well say that they struggle to transfer their thoughts from mind to paper. They have to think hard to sort out their ideas and organize them so that a reader will be able to ride the same train of thought. Just because writing is hard work doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun. The work of writing can be rewarding in much the same way as gardening, putting together a puzzle, planning a sports strategy, building a birdhouse, or doing any number of other activities that draw on creative energies.

Writing also has practical rewards that make it well worth the effort. For instance, friends and relatives may treasure the cards and letters you send, for they can be held in the hands and reread—unlike phone calls or emails. Whether you have a complaint, a request, or something else to say, a carefully worded business letter may get better results than a phone call. On the phone, it’s easy to get off-track and forget what you wanted to say. If you’ve made your point in writing, the person on the receiving end is less likely to misinterpret or forget what you said. Finally, the ability to write effectively is one of the most sought-after job skills. People who write well have more career options and opportunities for promotion than people who can’t or won’t write.

There's More Than One Way to Write
There are many effective ways to write. Writers are not all alike and thus, they have different ways of writing. You may share the common misconception that good writers always use an outline and stick to it. Actually, few writers are able to organize their thoughts so quickly and efficiently. Although outlining can be an effective way to approach a writing project, other ways are also effective.

For instance, Philip gets started by freewriting. He sits down with some paper and a pen and writes whatever comes to mind about his subject. He doesn’t worry about his writing hanging together or making sense, because this isn’t going to be the final piece of writing. Once he has filled a page or two with these random thoughts, he reads through what he has written, searching for his most specific and interesting ideas on the subject. Those are the ideas Philip focuses on when he begins writing.

Freewriting is a prewriting exercise in which a person writes continuously for a set amount of time without regard to spelling, grammar, or structure. It's often used as a warm-up practice to generate new ideas.

Liz is what might be called an intuitive writer. She doesn’t use an outline and doesn’t freewrite to get ideas. Instead, she thinks about a writing project in ways that might not seem obvious to others. Sometimes she even thinks right until the last possible minute and finds herself working through the night to meet her deadline.

When Liz is asked to write something about censorship, she quickly realizes that she is against it, but doesn’t know much more than that. Now that she has to write about it, she begins noticing relevant details all around her. For instance, she notices a copy of The Catcher in the Rye on her bookshelf and recalls that it was the object of many censorship attempts. However, she likes the book and thinks it’s honest, so it makes her angry that anyone would ban it just because the main character swears and criticizes adults for being phony. Later, when she is listening to music, she thinks about record labeling and how some parents object to kids having easy access to age-inappropriate song lyrics and music videos. Maybe those parents have a point, she thinks. She begins to wonder about who should decide issues like that. Then, flipping through the cable TV channels, Liz notes the frequency of sex and violence in television shows. Are those shows and their content really appropriate for all ages? By now, Liz wonders if perhaps censorship is sometimes necessary.