The Power of Writing

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The art of writing is a curious thing - we learn the basics in school, but often neglect it once we're out in the real world. Its depth is remarkable, yet it's only truly appreciated when it's simple.

I recently finished Stephen King’s On Writing and it inspired me to, well, write about writing. In any field, the most successful people use writing to their advantage. And I'm not only talking about authors. Doctors write patient notes, comedians write jokes, and lawyers write briefs.

Then there are investors. The MBAs, the quants, and the street-smart traders who, as Michael Lewis once wrote, “may not have been to school, but have PhD’s in man’s ignorance.” They come in all shapes and sizes. But look at the best investors of all time and you’ll notice a common denominator: They are excellent writers.

Take Warren Buffett, for example. He's widely considered to be one of the greatest investors of all time, and yet he writes his annual shareholder letters in a way that anyone can understand. He covers uncertain and often complex ideas around the economy and markets, answering questions like: What's your investing philosophy? Why did you invest in that? Why has it performed the way it has? What happened to its story? Did the fundamentals change?

Buffett himself has acknowledged the importance of writing in the investment process. He once said:

Investing is a tale as old as time, and the best investors are the ones who tell it best. They can clearly explain their investment strategies, which is beneficial not only for their clients but also for themselves.

Why?

Poor communication can lead to clients fleeing at the first sign of trouble. Buffett has so thoroughly convinced investors of his strategy, what they should expect as investors, and how he deals with inevitable times of volatility. By setting expectations and addressing their psychological barriers, Buffett can tell his story.

Writing isn't just important for investors - it's important for all of us. Our minds are busy places. They’re optimized for fleeting thoughts because quick, primitive thinking was how we survived — eat what you catch, and run from what catches you. Today, that's reflected through thousands of half-baked thoughts.

• “I like Tesla stock”

• “ChatGPT will kill college”

• “I hate my job”

Everyone has unexamined ideas about the world. Ideas where you’d trip over your words if someone pressed you about them. You don't challenge these ideas because they're comfortable. We want to believe the fleeting thoughts are perfectly polished. The brain chooses blissful ignorance. That’s where writing comes in.

In a world of endless distractions, writing forces you to slow down and listen to your thoughts. As the sentences start to bring these fuzzy ideas into focus, you'll find holes in your thinking that only the pen can reveal. Maybe your job isn't as bad as you perceived it. Maybe there's more to college than essay writing. Maybe Tesla isn't the investment opportunity you believed.

By spelling out your thoughts you are forcing them into an unforgiving arena where your brain must translate vague ideas into logical sentences. You may not be able to focus for more than a minute in your head, but a sentence on paper isn’t going anywhere. It's the struggle that goes into writing a clear sentence that leads to better thinking.

The brain allows “I like Tesla stock because the cars look cool”, but seeing that sentence on paper immediately raises red flags. Words highlight what the mind neglects.

The hallmark of a great writer is their ability to convey complex ideas in a simple manner: simple words, simple sentence construction, but brilliant thoughts. And they tend to use the fewest words possible. That doesn’t mean their writing is brief, but rather every sentence has a purpose.

Distilling a message to its core is hard for many people because education often emphasizes quantity over quality. From grade school to grad school, writing is assigned with an arbitrary page count. Write a 10-page paper about George Washington's presidency.

It encourages rambling and plays perfectly into a famous quote from the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal:

As the great Warren Buffett has shown us, the ability to clearly communicate complex ideas in a simple manner is a surefire way to win over clients, and even more importantly, to win over yourself. Writing is the mirror that reflects our thoughts, the microscope that magnifies our biases, and the compass that guides our decisions. The possibilities are endless.

With that, thank you for reading.

-Sam

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