An Amateur's Tips On Getting Your Writing Started...

A lot of times writers have tonnes of ideas they are dying to get down on paper (or their computer) but for some reason can't, such as mood swings, past rejections or maybe just writer's block inspite of possibly even being at a really good place at that point in their lives.

But one of the things I have learned as an amateur trying to fight this trend is;

At the point you feel most overwhelmed about whatever it is you want to say but are not sure how to, is the point to fight the lethargy, get out of bed and write. If your fingers refuse to move, use your voice recorder instead.

Did you ever quit writing because of rejections? Even for a short while? Well I did. But here's what I eventually did,

I realized I was being a wuss, decided to learn from the rejections, better my craft, dust myself up and try again

The easiest way to get really good at something is to make a habit of it.

Baby steps, I find are what matter the most...baby steps like keeping a journal and making a point to write in it everyday; It's best for writing down those things you can't say out loud and helps one control the tongue too. You will be surprised at how much you learn about the power of silence doing this.

I have read about peopĺe who took up the challenge of reading a book they learned from a hundred times and of such people is Author and columnist Stephen Marche, who has perused PG Wodehouse and Hamlet more than 100 times each and extols the virtues of literary repetition. According to him,

"By the time you read something more than a hundred times, you’ve passed well beyond “knowing how it turns out”

I like to think that same rule of thumb might apply to writing too.

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels. I also like to think this rule might apply to becoming an amazing writer too, especially when you unconsciously believe you are not much good at it.

At the end of the day the truth or lie of how good at your craft you are, is decided by the actions you take in either option you choose to make or believe of it.

In a world where the act of speaking up about everything has become somewhat overrated, the power of the written word has yet more ground to conquer, with more eyes hungry to be used than ears which are quite tired of hearing so much it has become almost impossible to filter out the right messages. This being just a figure of speech with all due respect to my fellow humans all over the world with disabilities.

I am learning that writing well requires surrendering to the place of being vulnerable and, knowing how to own that place with dignity.

The irony about this is that, it all feels quite undignified when you dip your toes into the water at first, and decide to go in with swimming clothes instead of skinny dipping. How fashionable you decide to be about this whole process is entirely up to you. As long as somehow you can convince others to jump in the water with you.

I have never thrown a pool party but I imagine that becoming a writer who has a loyal readerbase is what it might feel like to throw a really good pool party too.

And for me, this is the aim of writing like I do.

And hopefully over time I become perfect at it too.