According to the author, writing is an unnatural activity because
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Learning to speak one's language comes naturally to human beings; we learn it without formal instructions. But writing is an unnatural activity; it must be taught formally and studied deliberately. Indeed, many of the problems that arise in learning to write are simply problems of finding the proper written equivalent for the various features of speech.
The spelling of our words is a clumsy attempt to reproduce the sound of our voices. The punctuation of our sentences and the setting of paragraphs are designed to give some approximation of the pauses and intonation we use automatically to give shape and point to our speaking.
The writer of English (or any other language) loses a whole world of gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice the minute he decides to write something rather than say it aloud. He loses the immediacy of direct contact with his audience. If there were no compensation at all for all these disadvantages, then communicating with other people through the medium of squiggles on paper would be as unsatisfactory as trying to wash your feet with your socks on,
Writing takes more effort than speech, but the effort we make simply to transfer our words to paper can also lead us to compose things that are worth the effort. The unusual energy that goes into achievement in any art or sport can and should function finally to help the individual increase his own powers and perfect his abilities. Three hundred and fifty years ago, a clever man pointed out that practice in speaking makes a man ‘ready' or quick in his response. While practice in writing makes a man ‘exact’ and helps him to polish and perfect his thoughts.