Famed British writer C.S. Lewis once wrote: “You can make anything by writing.” As college students, writing feels inevitable. Many of us have struggled to throw words together to reach a professor’s minimum word count.

Writing is not merely the action of putting words down on a piece of paper, but an art—a beautiful concept that shows its attraction by personality, by authenticity and by secrecy.

In writing, expressing emotions and choosing certain topics show the author’s personality. Someone can show joy, sobriety, anger, fear or love all in one piece through different characters, plots and settings. The best way to show your personality and emotions in writing is through poetry.

Robert Frost once said, “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought, and the thought has found words.”

Taking a simple object like a flower, the writer can explore certain parts, stages of growth or placements of the flower, then use that to tell the reader how he is feeling. The emotion revealed through writing is unlike emotion shown through speech because written words allow the readers to interpret the work as if it were talking about their own lives.

Writing shows authenticity. Through this concept, the writer and reader can develop a certain kind of relationship: one that engenders trust and conviction. Having genuine spirit, tone and information is important in showing the authenticity of writing. If someone has an experience or knowledge of certain topics and they want to teach it, writing down their knowledge can help someone else learn.

Many famous authors, like C.S. Lewis and A.W. Tozer, gained their fame and audience through the authenticity of their writing. They understood what their audience of readers wanted and delivered many works that are still read and revered to this day.

Journaling, usually thought of as writing with secrecy, can be the most important structure of all for college students. While this form tends to show plenty of personality and authenticity, it is for the writer only. Secret writing is a method of self-counseling that many people around the world utilize. Scribbling thoughts down on a paper is a way to help a struggling person get his emotions out in a safe and private way.

Your journals might not stay a secret forever, but people in the future will probably benefit from reading about some of the struggles you had. It is in that way that someone could relate to you, and it could build up your authenticity even if you’re not around.

For Christians, writing is extremely important. We base everything we believe on God’s written words. Jeremiah 30:2 says, “Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, ‘Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.’” The Bible is the Word of God.

Without writing, how would we know God? How would we know about Creation? How would we know about Christ and the salvation He provides? The Bible is written in different genres portraying truth in all of them. The Bible is the most beautifully written book, written library.

Writing is beautiful. Surely C.S. Lewis was correct when he said that anything could be made by writing.