I am Andy Graham, a recovering alcoholic of 25 years, and a travel writer, world traveler for 15 years. We could, or would, or should conclude that writing is about persuasion. Yet, I wish to share my “I” versus “We” writing problem.

Somewhere, along the line of the psychiatrists started pushing, if not demanding that we alcoholics use the word “I.” It just was dysfunctional to blame the we, for an “I” problem, we alcoholics need to accept our responsibility for the disease, and not blame in on the wife, the work, or whatever.

And, even though my travel Blog is quite famous, it has failed to retain some of the long-term readers, as I continued to write and think in terms of a mental illness. I wrote from a responsibility point of view, if I has a thought, I claimed it.

Well, when watching a TED Talk video on YouTube.com, a man explained that Richard Branson seldom used the word “I,” and instead says “We.”

Now, after 15 years of writing “I,” it feels as the word “We,” is needed, and the challenge is to know when to use?

It feels as though I should use “We” when it is good news, or really something that could be encouraged, while using “I,” when discussing blame.

This is great stuff, and we should all applaud this article you wrote.

Andy Lee Graham an American, in Kara, Togo West Africa 2013

Best,
Dean