Taking a Chance on Writing

During a break in a writing seminar, two managers were discussing the challenges of writing with me. One of them, Rajanikant Ray, concluded, “If you don’t write, you don’t make any mistakes.”

With this sly observation, Mr. Ray, an engineer and project manager for New York City Transit, suggested that only the thoughtless, the powerless, the idle, and the frightened do not make mistakes because they don’t write at all. The more we do write, the more we willingly express ideas subject to correction, misinterpretation, and rebuttal. But what’s the alternative? Communicating nothing? Those of us with important jobs to do would rather write and take those risks. If we don’t, how else can we get the job done—and improve? Thanks, Raj, for your confident summation!