“ Desperate writers like me will seize upon any bit of writing material when in need. And I recall that my first literary production was inscribed on sheets of toilet paper.”— Ruskin Bond. Out of all those many, many ideas; here are a selected few that are easy to apply in your daily life and mostly followed:
1) Read short and easy books initially
Reading demands concentration. And let us be honest—your tiring job and social media status updates— our patience level and concentration has reduced to a bare minimum. All we need to do is; start by reading a single page a day, that too of a short novel. Or you could also try a book of short stories and try reading one story a day. If you don’t even have that much patience, you can also start by reading a magazine, comic strips etc. The progress might be slow in the starting, however, it can grow eventually to, if you try regularly— reading could become a part of your routine life.
What ultimate good it brings to your writing:
i) Consider books as your coach. The more you read, the better your performance will become.
ii) Reading different authors will make us aware of varied writing styles. It will also help you find your voice and your unique writing style.
iii) Increasing vocabulary by means of reading daily is a must for every budding writer. So, start with short write-ups and then keep moving up the ladder.
2) Grammar Checks
Your writing won’t grab the interest of readers if it isn’t comprehensible. So, you would have to be sure that your write-up is, at least, free of any basic grammar errors. Error-free writeup gives out who you are— professional, intelligent and intellectual essence in personality. You could use apps like Grammarly for checking your write-ups. Also buy some worksheets and books on grammar such as Made Easy by Norman Lewis which is primarily focused on solving your grammar issues, plus, improving your vocabulary.
What ultimate good it brings to your writing:
i) Gains you confidence in communicating your thoughts out loud
ii) Whether you are writing some informal or formal write-up right emotions and right intentions can only be communicated with the help of well-constructed sentences and immaculate grammar
iii) Even when writing in a conversational style, say a blog or an article online;
3) Start by writing journal daily
Practice makes a man perfect! Now, that is an old saying, but it still holds. So, if you don’t form a habit of writing daily, you probably won’t cater to your interest. Remember, writing is also a kind of discipline and a lone profession, so you are your own boss. Now, you must wonder, what to write in a journal. Everyone writes differently but progresses over time. I, for instance, started by writing about my ambitions but after practising it regularly, I shifted to various topics like defining the places I went to, my habits, my good and bad days, my happy and sad moments, people whom I met etc. As the variety of topics increase, so does the vocabulary and the way of writing. My writing became detailed, I started giving importance to even minute and even minuscule things and happenings of everyday life.
You too can write about your random thoughts, observations, unique experiences, travel diaries, stories you heard from other people and even the weird occurrences! Thereafter, if you feel like, you can even rewrite the material on a word processor to correct any grammar errors etc and also to keep an extra copy of it. You can look back at your previous entries and see the difference.
What ultimate good it brings to your writing:
i) You can jog down the memory lane and bring some good writing ideas to the fore
ii) You can become more clear and learn to be concise because of rigorous practice
iii) Increased interest in writing
iv) Close attention to details
4) Do extensive research ( and then outline)
Research about the place that your story is set in, if you are writing an essay than the history about the topic, if it is a blog then also the same process follows. No matter whatever kind of writing you are doing, always make a thorough research on the topic before shooting for the aim. There is no harm in preparing yourself for the task even as minor as writing a cover letter for applying for a job at a firm. Supposedly, if you are writing an essay or article on a topic and you think you already know much about it. What about the credibility of the information that you are giving. Giving out reports and survey facts, quoting people, citing resources etc could notch up your write-up’s authenticity.
What ultimate good it brings to your writing:
i) Provide accurate facts about any topic that you’re writing about
ii) Even if you are writing a fictional story, it should have some authenticity to it so that the readers won’t feel cheated
iii) Making concepts clear, sometimes even finding out interesting facts that you could include in your write-up.
5) Write about the topics you know
Sir Ken Robinson had once said, “The arts especially address the idea of aesthetic experience. An aesthetic experience is one in which your senses are operating at their peak; when you’re present in the current moment; when you’re resonating with the excitement of this thing that you’re experiencing; when you are fully alive.” When you write about things that you know or have experienced like- places, people, events etc, you can add a personal touch to it. It will act as a justice to the readers to tell them about some part of life that they had never known before, yet, they can relate to the emotions. And the emotions can come out right only when you are writing about something that you have connected with in real life.
What ultimate good it brings to your writing:
i) You can explain better about the things that you know
ii) Familiarity can bring out the best of your creative side
iii) You can disguise your real experiences with some fictional ones and no one can differentiate the two because of the depth.
6) Make your own rules and always be flexible
I may tell you something, some other writer could advise you on some different topics. The matter that needs to be addressed is, what your imagination says? Your work will never shine out if it.
What ultimate good it brings to your writing:
i) Taking inspiration from your favourite author is fine. But blindly copying them isn’t. You should give trials and errors to finally understand what tones, the figure of speech, tense, narration style etc work for you.
ii) Writing is also a kind of art. It will never work its magic on the readers if your writing seems rigid and tone-deaf. Be flexible, don’t forget to try new tricks and be as flexible as possible.
iii) Always be a learner. You never know enough to just stop learning and be flexible in its approach. Taking risks is evitable in every field of art.
7) Use apps that could encourage
There are many apps and software tools in the market. You just have to go online and search for such apps. A variety of apps offering many exciting functions ranging from grammar check to ideas arrangements to even an idea generator apps — all kinds of them. Find the ones suiting your requirements and start using.
What ultimate good it brings to your writing:
i) Sometimes when you get confused with the process, these smart tools could make the process easier.
ii) Writer’s block is a grim issue, but many prompting apps and other such smart apps are present in the market that could be installed and taken help to get out of it.
iii) Editing at your level could sometimes be tricky. If you can’t afford to get a professional editor, you could use these apps to make the editing process simpler.
Keep writing fellow scribblers and also don’t forget to read as much as you can. Reading like hydrating your mind the same as drinking water every day to keep your body fit and healthy!
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