13 Reasons Introverts are Drawn to Writing11 minute read

Writing is a hobby that I actually am very new at. In fact, I am so new at it, I wouldn’t call it a hobby but more of an experiment.

When I was younger, I never actually thought of writing as “fun”. It seemed to be a chore. Something that you only did for school assignments? I never felt creative enough to be a good writer. The words didn’t flow onto the page to easily for me. I had to put a lot of thought and planning into even the structure of my writing. The thoughts in my mind moved so fast, I would forget what I wanted to say by the time I thought I had my outline done. It was just a lot of effort to get it right, and I didn’t find that, “fun”.

Fast forward about 10 to 15 years and I have found a new love for writing. What’s the difference? Well, I found topics I enjoy writing about. And now I understand the importance of putting my thoughts down on paper and or online. I didn’t discover that until I found out I was an introvert. If that reason doesn’t make sense to you yet, keep reading and I will cover 13 reasons introverts enjoy and almost need, to write.

1. It is a Way to Escape

The one thing all introverts have in common is, they all need solitude of some sort. It is the very act of being around people that drain us. Whenever we are finally in our alone time, we need a way to escape the world around us. For most of us, it is writing that triggers our escape. When I am writing, it allows me to focus on the topic at hand and not the things of the world around me. It allows me to get lost in this idea and/or in this pursuit of something important to me.

2. We Enjoy the Alone Time

This concept of “alone time” builds off of point 1. Being alone is not a bad thing. A lot of people, especially those that are more extroverted, see being alone as an anti-social act. They might even feel bad for us. what they don’t understand is, our alone time is what allows us to be social. Without that alone time, an introvert will quickly drain and in turn will become anti-social. Writing permits that alone time in our life while at the same time giving us something productive and important to accomplish, whether it be for ourselves or somebody else.

3. We are Able to Put our Thoughts in Order

As an introvert, we always have something rattling around in our minds. It is just what we do. We can’t help it. Introverts are very introspective and can’t stop thinking. The trouble with that is, since we are always thinking about something new, we often forget what we thought about earlier in the day. And while we are thinking, it is not always in a order. If I were to lay out my thoughts on a table in front of you, you would be an incoherent mess of ideas.

As we write, we have the time to sit and process what we are actually thinking about. We have the ability to outline our thoughts and put them in a particular order that makes sense, not only to those that read it but to us. I know for me, writing things down validates that I might actually know what I am talking about. When it is in your head out of order, it makes you wonder if you have all the pieces. Writing our thoughts down lets us know if we have all the pieces or not.

4. It is Easier than Speaking

When it comes to speaking, I suck. It’s that simple. I suck at speaking. I used to think there was something wrong with me, but now I know it is due to my introversion. The point I made earlier, about the thoughts in my head looking like an incoherent mess on the table in front of you, yeah, that is why I can’t speak very well. My mouth doesn’t even try to keep up with my brain.

As I write and have time to process my thoughts, I can make sense of what is going on in my head. It is easier to write your ideas as an introvert because writing is slower than speaking. And the slowness is what we often need. Now I know what Moses meant in Exodus when he told God he was not eloquent and slow of speech.

5. It is a Time for Meditation

For anyone to write anything good, they need to slow down and meditate on what they have written. Meditate is another word for thinking or pondering at a deeper level. Slowing down and writing forces me to meditate on my thoughts and my actions. It puts me in a place of reflection that other activities can’t do. Usually, when I am writing, my goal is to write something that affects someone’s life in a positive way. since that is my goal, I really put a lot of thought into what is written. I always ask the question, “Is this true, and is someone going to learn or gain value from what I am writing?”.

6. It is a Way for Us to Debate

The reason this is true is because point 4 is true. Introverts are terrible at debating for the most part. Debate requires you to be quick with your words. It requires a person to be more reactive externally. When you are in a debate and you don’t have a rebuttal right then and there, it is assumed you lost or don’t know what you are talking about.

When an introvert is confronted with conflict or heated discussions, we tend to withdraw or shutdown from the situation. We don’t have that time to process what is being said so we can’t rebut in a way we feel will add value to the conversation. So we just stay quiet and let the conversation go on without us until we have processes what was said. As you may know, this is a bad debate tactic.

7. We Believe Our Writing Will Add Value to Someone’s Life

Usually, when an introvert writes, they write with a purpose. That purpose might be only to make a couple people laugh, but that is their purpose. Introverts are not typically interested in personal gain such as money when they write about something. That is not to say extroverts always write out of greed or something. I know some of you went there. Let me explain in an example.

Writing an e-book and self-publishing has become a huge phenomenon in recent years. Everyone seems to be jumping onboard. In broad terms of speaking (don’t rake me over the coals), a more extroverted person will set a goal of writing a book quickly and publishing it in the shortest amount of time possible to get it online and start making a profit. They might want to do that multiple times in a year to get as much out there as they can. Sure they add value and share their knowledge, but on the flip side, they have more of a tendency to look more at the moment than looking at the big picture.

As an introvert, we treat our thoughts as our friends. They mean so much to us and we can’t stand it when one of them gets criticized. So because of that, we don’t crank out an e-book like an extrovert would. We put a lot of thought into what goes into that book and we want to change a life with that book. That might sound all Mother Theresa like, but it does have its downside. Because we cherish our thoughts so much, some of us might never share them due to the fear of negative criticism.

8. All Our Ideas Finally Come Out

As I mentioned in point 3, we introverts are in our heads a lot! I guarantee you that the majority of thoughts that go through my head will never be known to mankind. LOL. It is so true. I don’t even know a lot of the thoughts that go through there. If you think about it though, that is a sad truth. There are so many times where I probably should have said something and didn’t. There are countless ideas I had that I may never see again.

Getting into writing has allowed me to really hone in on those ideas and thoughts. By putting them on paper or on the screen in front of me, I am able to get those thoughts out of my head and meditate on them and go back to them at a later date. As we have already covered, speaking is difficult. Because speaking is difficult, we don’t express our thoughts and ideas through the spoken word. So the written word is what attracts us to express those thoughts and ideas. Allowing us to organize and meditate on them as mentioned in previous points.

9. It is a Creative Form of Expression

Creativity is not my strong suit. I don’t consider myself a creative person. I also don’t like to “express myself”, whatever that means. But when I am writing about a topic I have a real interest in, I am able to feel the creative juices starting to flow. When we are writing on a topic that intrigues us, we are able to see it in a different light. As you write, there are so many different angles that are shown. When you discover those new angles and see that light, your creative side starts to show. The reader can get a sense of you and your personality in your writing.

10. We Love Any Positive Feedback

Well, let’s be honest. This is not an introvert thing. Everyone likes positive feedback. Next point…

Just kidding. Let me explain.

Introverts and Extroverts handle feedback differently. I envy extroverts in the sense they tend to have a pretty thick skin when it comes to negative feedback. Introverts, on the other hand, take it pretty personally. we do this because our thoughts are so close to our hearts and when someone doesn’t like our thoughts, they must not like where our heart was at. Extroverts are great at taking that negative feedback and bettering themselves from it.

But when we get positive feedback……OH BOY. It is like we made a new friend. It is like we found a person that was one with our heart and all we want is to find another person like that. This also ties into the point of introverts writing to make an impact on someone’s life. When we receive that positive feedback, we feel we have made an impact. And that is a win.

11. It Tests How Well We Really Know a Topic

I can’t tell you how many times I started writing something that I just knew was going to be profound and come to find out I would write a couple sentences and realize, “I have no idea what I am talking about”. It is funny and a disappointing confession, but it’s true.

As you write, you find that there is always more to study and learn. And while you are writing about what you just learned, it helps you to reaffirm it in your mind.

12. It is a Way to Promote Ourselves

“Bragging” does not come easily to an introvert. We feel a bit sick when we tell someone how great we are at a certain task or when we tell someone of an accomplishment. Getting recognition from another person is even uncomfortable most of the time.

It is not a bad thing to want to promote yourself. It is healthy and much needed, especially in the workforce. I am not talking about actually bragging on yourself, saying “look at me”. What I am talking about is letting others know what you may be up too. That may be a milestone project at work. It may be a certification you received. Or it may be promoting your business. Whatever the case may be, we need to promote ourselves to a certain extent, and introverts are not good at it.

That is why a lot of introverts have blogs about there trade or hobby. It is a way for us to share with the world what we are up too without sounding arrogant or boastful. This is why we tend to communicate with our bosses better through email and not verbally. Through our writing, we can articulate it in a way that doesn’t feel scummy.

13. It is Fun

That is right. Plain and simple. It is fun. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed writing this post you are reading right now. I know at the beginning of this long post I mentioned writing was a chore when I was in school. And it was. But that is because I had to write what they told me to write, not what I wanted.

Why is it fun? I don’t really know. Maybe it is the combination of the previous 12 reasons. All having a purpose. All catering to the fantasies of an introvert. But most importantly, it allows introverts to be introverts. It is hard to write when you are out extroverting. <<<I don’t think that is a word, but I’m making it a word

You may also enjoy reading Why I Started the Christian Introvert Blog.

Travis Haines

Husband | Father | IT Guy | Blogger | Author and Creator of ChristianIntrovert.com wanting to encourage those who question their abilities in Christ. Don't let your Introversion define who you are and don't use it as an excuse to shut yourself out from the world.