While doing some work on the social media channels, I noticed a hashtag on Twitter that was appearing on my timeline. The hashtag was “#ASDay” or better known as Autistics Speaking Day. The goal of ASDay is to share the works of many people who are on the autism spectrum. To be fair, I had no idea a day such as this existed, but apparently every first of November is ASDay, though you’re apparently allowed to participate on the second of November as well. So in the spirit of this newly-discovered day, I feel like it’s necessary for me to write about something, so I’m going to talk about why I enjoy writing.

Writing is an art, in the sense that how one crafts their writing can illustrate a story for the reader. An example of this can be traced back to my days in high school when I would participate in something called “E-Feds.” These E-Feds were professional wrestling “leagues” that were online, usually on a message board. You would create a character, give him or her a backstory, and then write out segments that everyone could see. I was in about two of these in high school and remember the time I invested in writing out segments that described the setting, the actions and the dialogue.

I don’t participate in E-Feds anymore because of the loss of interest, but the impact it had on me remains to this day. Without that experience, I probably would not care so much as to get in depth about things, which in turn illustrates something to the readers who read what I write. It’s because of this moment in my life that I appreciate the English language, written. It helped me developed an affinity for breaking things down and using written words to describe things into much deeper detail, allowing readers to get a more vibrant image illustrated to them when reading my work.

While writing is an art, I see writing as my preferred choice of communication. This isn’t to say I don’t like talking – it’s simply easier for me to get my point across when writing. I’m not afraid to admit that sometimes when I speak, trying to explain something, there’s miscommunication. Perhaps it’s that I overthink about what I say and whether it will make sense to the person (or people) I’m talking to. Maybe it’s that I digress from what I was trying to explain because when explaining, I found out that I needed to explain something else in order to make what I was originally explaining to make sense.

This is where writing helps, because with writing, you can look over everything written out. You can read what you’re planning to say and make edits. Maybe I need to add a bit more to something I was explaining. Perhaps I need to get rid of something to avoid confusion. Having the ability to manage the message before it gets sent can help me and others avoid miscommunication.

Just as much as writing is an art, writing is a powerful tool. Writing has allowed for the distribution of information to occur, which in turn, has helped people become aware of things. Writing has mobilized people, prepared them for what’s to come, informed them of something extremely important and gotten them to take action. That’s why I kept myself active in journalism. In middle school, high school and college, I found myself in either some journalism course or as a member of the newspaper staff.

Writing is an art, a form of communication and a powerful tool. There are many things to describe writing, but for these reasons, I enjoy writing. I was having brunch with my father and uncle a few weeks ago, when my uncle told me about how much he enjoyed reading my Facebook check-in posts during my trip to Traverse City. In my posts, I would talk about what the places I visited were like, as well as the food – if there was any to be had. This came after the fact my friend Nichole also said she enjoyed reading my posts. Perhaps it’s because I know that people like reading what I write, that I enjoy writing even more.