Writing is a form of communication. It is a tool to help two person connect with each other, to exchange ideas or to entertain.

But these days, there are so many pieces of writing published online that are simply variations of listicles that has headings like, “ten different ways…” Or “five things you should do…” No doubt they allow for exchange of ideas but they are boring as fuck.

The biggest problem I have with listicles is that, they take away the individuality that goes into a piece of writing. They take away the humanity from writing. And worse, they don’t really tell the human story. They are like the sales report generated at the end of every month to show the bosses. It’s cold. Uncaring. I don’t want to read those. Period.

What I will read though is a piece of writing that tell the story about a human, his or her thoughts, what he or she sees, the experiences, and how he or she navigates through the world. Because I want to connect, or in other words, feel what the person is going through. I want to understand the human condition.

If not that, then the piece of writing is to entertain the readers by bringing them into an alternative world or life. Real life is boring and mundane. Sometimes, real life is a nightmare. Just like those sales report.

So to write, is to tell a story that either entertains, allow people to connect and share ideas, and not give people nightmares.

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P.S. I was actually struggling the whole night about what to write because I couldn’t think of anything meaningful to write about. I’m exhausted from work while also feeling really uncomfortable and sick from hives outbreak. Took me a while before I decided to just rant. So I won’t call this the best piece of my work.