I had been meaning to write about Why, Where, and What I Write for quite a long time. This was partly to clarify my own thinking about writing. But it was also because I think the topic is relevant to this blog. Not just in describing it. But because here we deal with cognitive productiveness — and writing is a big part of that.

So, in response to a discourse topic over at Mac Power Users, earlier today, here at CogZest, I finally wrote and published what you’ve all been waiting for 🙂 Why, Where, and What I Write. I wrote the document as a web page rather than a blog post because it will necessarily evolve. I will write in new places. I will later share more information about why I write (partly out of gaining more clarity myself). But the document, with respect to motivation, will never be complete.

There are common, nearly universal, reasons why people write. For example, millions of us write to clarify and share our thinking. People also write for more idiosyncratic reasons. I am no exception.

I am not simply/solely an integrative design-oriented (IDO) academic, cognitive scientist, author, designer or entrepreneur. I also have had the good fortune of being able to shape my professional and personal life to be almost the same, and aligned with IDO. For instance, most of my “consumption” of art is tied to my project on Learning from Stories and other forms of Art.. The tools (software, ideas, documents) I develop are integrative, or inspired by IDO.

So, where my writing is different from most others is that it is largely inspired by my passion for developing, applying and disseminating integrative design-oriented cognitive science.

I hope this topic inspires you to think about why you write, or would like to write more.