Writing your way to driving faster
“I have no interest in ever writing a book, memoir or anything else.” Said no one ever. Well, very few, anyway. It seems that most everyone wants to write a book, “someday.” And for everyone who does, I suspect at least ten more started, stopped, restarted, and have some form of unfinished collection of words.
Words. It’s some form of a most basic human need to put into words what we think, and often those words are put onto cave walls, stone tablets, paper, and computer files.
There are at least three reasons I write:
- It helps me learn. A person doesn’t truly understand anything until they explain it to someone else, and putting that explanation into the written word takes this to another level. Perhaps the ultimate level. When I have a thought about driving, I have to write about it — in language that is simple, perhaps even to the point where a child can understand it. It’s only then that I have comprehended it fully.
- I love sharing what I’ve learned and experienced with others. Why I feel that way, I don’t know. Is it ego, so I can show off how smart I am? I don’t think so, although there probably is a tiny bit of that deep down inside, because… well, who doesn’t have some of that in them? But I think it’s mostly that I love driving so much and what we learn from it that I would feel that I’m letting other people down by not sharing it with them. After all, everyone in the world should get the same joy out of driving that I do!
- It’s my creative outlet. There was a time when I would draw — cars, old barns, scenery, and even a bit of some slightly abstract stuff. I went through a stage of woodworking, mostly building furniture so whatever money I did have could go towards racing and not on something I’d sit on or put books on at home. I like taking photos, although I never got into the art to the point of having fancy cameras. In fact, I like the challenge of capturing an image with a cheap camera or a smartphone. But writing is something I can do pretty much anywhere, any time. I even write in my head while hiking or sitting on a plane. It’s fun to play with the “timing and rate of release” (to borrow my favorite phrase about the use of brakes in performance driving) of words in a sentence.
If you take your driving seriously (in a fun way), try writing about it. With pen and paper, or typing on your smartphone, tablet or computer, put into words what you’re thinking, what you want to change with your technique, what you’ve observed other drivers do, or explain a skill that you’re developing. Write about the experience of dancing with your car through your favorite corner, or the mental challenge of doing something that is on the verge of the limit. Explain in words what it’s like being at a track event with friends, competitors, and maybe even some people you’d prefer to never see again.
When I first began writing on a regular basis (the major newspaper in my hometown, Vancouver, asked me to write a column every week about driving), I would put my thoughts together, then hand it to my wife and say, “Turn this into English.” I wrote like a sixteen-year-old parallel parks or merges onto a freeway. Messy. Lots of mistakes. Curb scrapes on the wheels.
But a funny thing happened after about four years of writing something that had a weekly deadline: I got better. This was certainly a case of practice leading to improvement. More writing “seat time” made me a better writer (but I have a loooong way to go). The same kind of thing happened as I wrote more books, eBooks, and other content I created for drivers. And this helped me help other drivers more. It’s a bit like the circle of life, but for words and driving.
I now race or even drive on track infrequently, but I’m still able to be reasonably fast. Why? Because of the thinking that goes into writing about driving and racing. In fact, this article might have actually extended my “driving life” a few more months!
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – attributed to Albert Einstein
Give writing about driving a try, even if you never, ever share your words with anyone else. It’ll make you a better driver. Or, even if you simply begin with more detailed notes on a track map.
“People live up to what they write down.” – Robert Cialdini, in his book, Influence
Writing words. It’ll make you a better driver.
Ross Bentley
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Ross Bentley has spent a lifetime helping drivers go faster. He’s the author of the Speed Secrets books (the best-selling racing series ever), is one of the most sought-after driver coaches in the world, and runs SpeedSecrets.com, the largest collection of driver development resources anywhere. Want more articles like this? Subscribe at RossBentley.Substack.com.
