Thread: The Balance Between Speaking and Writing

I was wondering about the amount of ''spoken words'' we go through a day compared to ''written words''?

the question is:

Is it important in the scheme of things, to strike a balance between writing and speaking?
I was thinking in terms of benefits such as:

memory
better understanding of self
clarity in writing.....and so on...
thinking process..
richer vocabulary

Writing is all well and good, but it must come second to living. Speak, converse, and interact with the world. I would rank listening and observing above the two you've listed, but we clearly have different personalities. Then, later, take these experiences and use them to channel beautiful prose and poetry.

If you write too much you get lost in yourself rather than the world.

Originally Posted by j.w.olson

Writing is all well and good, but it must come second to living. Speak, converse, and interact with the world. I would rank listening and observing above the two you've listed, but we clearly have different personalities. Then, later, take these experiences and use them to channel beautiful prose and poetry.

If you write too much you get lost in yourself rather than the world.

so in other words you would agree that a fine balance between the four is very healthy.
but you do rank listening and observing above the other two. Is there a particular reason why?

Who's the "we" here? Obviously writers benefit from writing. The more the better -- usually. Other people will write as much as they need or have to depending on what they do, if they're in school or a job requires it etc. Maybe they write to communicate with friends -- email or texting etc. Most of us have to at least speak a certain amount just to get by. And then there is conversation that's just part of day-to-day interaction with family, friends co-workers -- whoever. This is what people do -- without really considering that their striking any sort of balance or what is "healthy." I can't really see how questioning this has any sort of practical implication. People do what they need or want to do to communicate -- whether it's written or spoken. For writers -- it's another matter and it usually it comes down to how much they want or need to write to accomplish any goals they might have -- or not.

Originally Posted by JosephB

Who's the "we" here? Obviously writers benefit from writing. The more the better -- usually. Other people will write as much as they need or have to depending on what they do, if they're in school or a job requires it etc. Maybe they write to communicate with friends -- email or texting etc. Most of us have to at least speak a certain amount just to get by. And then there is conversation that's just part of day-to-day interaction with family, friends co-workers -- whoever. This is what people do -- without really considering that their striking any sort of balance or what is "healthy." I can't really see how questioning this has any sort of practical implication. People do what they need or want to do to communicate -- whether it's written or spoken. For writers -- it's another matter and it usually it comes down to how much they want or need to write to accomplish any goals they might have -- or not.

Ok let's look at it this way:
would you agree that we are all individuals with different personalities?
there are some wo are chatty, others who are chattier and some who are quiet or simply do not know how to express themselves when within a group of people because of ulterior motives.

I think that a lot of people would benefit from more writing-actual writing not texting. Some of the emails that I get from professional people are embarrassing.

I think that how much you speak or write or listen really depends on your personality. I would never think to push a shy person into speaking more. That would probably be rather unhealthy for them as it would cause a lot of stress.

Originally Posted by Kat

I think that a lot of people would benefit from more writing-actual writing not texting. Some of the emails that I get from professional people are embarrassing.

I think that how much you speak or write or listen really depends on your personality. I would never think to push a shy person into speaking more. That would probably be rather unhealthy for them as it would cause a lot of stress.

not at all pushing anyone into doing something will only aggravate the situation.
I was thinking that someone who reads lots of books but does not talk as much/communicate a lot then I would often wonder where all those thousands of words go that the person reads and yet there is not much talking.
It strikes me as not a good thing.

Originally Posted by Nacian

so in other words you would agree that a fine balance between the four is very healthy.
but you do rank listening and observing above the other two. Is there a particular reason why?

No, I think you'll find that's not what I said.

A writer should write a lot, certainly. Think of writing and speaking as outputs and reading and listening as inputs. If you do a lot of reading and listening, you'll have more ideas and experiences to draw on. If you spend all of your time talking and writing, you'll run out of ideas and experiences. That doesn't stop half the world from talking your ear off inanely, posting ridiculously often on forums, etc, unfortunately, and it's not a perfect analogy, but I think there's some truth to it.

Remember, also, that you want your prose to be as believable as possible, even when you are writing about unbelievable things. Listening and reading help you get a better instinct with the flow of real language, and can help give you insight into different points of view. Since we writers need to have a carefully controlled sense of schizophrenia to write from different characters' heads, getting insight into the inner working of other people's heads can only benefit us. Which means we need to shut up every once in a while.

I am not trying to suggest that writing is bad or that most of us should do less of it -- I'm instead suggesting that most of us (and our writing) would benefit from listening more.

Both are important especially if not treated as a mere "activity". Let me explain what I mean: the way we speak is directly important for effectiveness in life and personal development, whether it's soft words to a loved one or influencing in a business situation. Eloquence and above all the ability to be truly expressive can be developed in spoken word and brought into daily life. We are judged by the way we speak before we have even finished speaking. I take your point Nacian about a person who reads a lot and does not talk or communicate. The way I see it there is a healthy ballance between the giving and taking of talking and listening. Someone who reads but never talks is not putting the authenticity of their world to the test by sharing with others and getting their reaction.

The way I see it writing is triggered by the ballance of the talking and listening and reading process and I instinctively feel when it is time to write. Yet I am writing non fiction so that is more easily pinned down and defined than fiction.

Talk to people without judgement and writing comes easy afterwards I reckon.