Writer-Builders

The archetype of a new kind of renaissance man

“You can make anything by writing.” — C.S. Lewis

The first time I remember really enjoying writing something (and finishing it) was for my high school English class. Our teacher, Mr. Page, was a British cool music connoisseur who happened to also teach AP English. One of our assignments was simply to choose a song we liked and write an essay analyzing it. I picked a song and started listening to it on repeat, unlocking a small new insight each time. I got a 97 or 98 on the paper, but I hadn’t been worried because I liked what I wrote.

I’ve had a few careers since then, and somehow, I’ve found myself writing in some capacity in each of them. When I dabbled in acting, I wanted to write scripts and lyrics for original scores. In medicine, it was academic papers and irreverent op-eds. Now in this tech-ish world, I find myself writing this blog.

I didn’t see the pattern until recently, but once I did, examples kept appearing.

I’ve started calling this archetype the writer-builder — someone wh…