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How to Use ‘Bushido’ to Become a Polished Writer

8 Japanese virtues you need in your writing career

By JjyotiPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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How to Use ‘Bushido’ to Become a Polished Writer
Photo by Manuel Cosentino on Unsplash

I discovered the concept of Bushido when I was a mere 12-year-old child. I was reading a Young Adult series, Young Samurai by Chris Bradford, which narrates a story of an American who is stranded in Japan in 1611 and is raised to be a Samurai.

What really caught my attention was the 8 virtues of Bushido. 10 years have passed since then and I have found myself incorporating the 8 Japanese virtues in my life, and my writing repeatedly. Not only has this made my life better, but also has helped me polish my writing skills.

What is Bushido

The term Bushido is made of two Japanese words — ‘Bushi’ which means ‘warrior’ and ‘do’ which translates to ‘the way of’. So basically ‘Bushido’ refers to The Way of Warriors. The Way of Warriors is a set of rules and codes that a Samurai is supposed to carry with him till his death. These codes are associated with the honor and chivalry of the person from the warrior class.

Honor is considered to have the topmost significance for Japanese. One way to retain the lost honor is seppuku. Seppuku is a form of suicide by disembowelment that is seen as a noble way to give up on one’s life and restore back the lost honor. Here, instead of seeing oneself lose their standing in society, giving up on life is the brave solution.

A Writer and a Warrior

Writing is not limited to just typing out stories. I like to compare writing to a bloodless battle. Just like a warrior, a writer is supposed to concentrate on a piece of paper (or screen) and use his fingers as a sword to express himself through words.

Similar to a warrior with his artful sword work and footwork, a writer uses his pen delicately to splash the screen with his words and influence the entire cultures. Therefore, I believe that just like a samurai, one can use the 8 values of Bushido to flesh out their writing and as a result become a better warrior with their pen.

Here are Bushido’s Eight Virtues.

1. Courage

Writing involves courage. When I write, I'm often baring my soul to others for them to peak right into it, and criticize and evaluate it. Having this level of a vulnerability is one of the most difficult things I have done in my life.

Having courage can also help you have trust in your ideas and develop them further. A lack of it can lead to an abundance of ideas but no actual output on paper.

What to do

Make a list of fears that are holding you back. Write them all down. Once they are on paper, self reflect. Try to figure out the root of the issues. Then work on those issues. Also, take a leap. Write whatever comes to your mind. If it does not work, do it again. Work till you actually can touch your big goals.

2. Benevolence

I see this point in terms of having kindness towards your own self. Sometimes, it is not the outside criticism but the little, self-critic inside your mind that does not let you work. I have literally spent hours and written multiple articles to delete them immediately because I was too unkind to my owns writing.

“how you love yourself is

how you teach others

to love you”

― Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey

What to do

My favorite way to deal with this by writing without thinking too much about the work. I do not attach any value to my work until I am done with the draft. I write till I am done with the topic and there is nothing more to add. If my article does not do well, I have learned to forgive myself and move on.

3. Loyalty

As writers, we write for the readers. If there is no reader, there is no one to actually go through our writing.

Thus, it becomes necessary to have loyal readers. These are the readers who actually look forward to your writing. They do not just follow you for the sake of following, but because your words really inspire them to become better. Thus, inspiring people through your words enough that they turn into loyal readers is a skill everyone writer needs to have.

What to do

Write quality content. Do not just push out material for the sake of writing. Sharing personal struggles and stories is a great way to connect to your audience.

4. Self-control

Writing is all about self-control. When you write, you need to have a regulation of your senses and desires. You need to be able to concentrate on your writing and block out all the other distractions. As I have said earlier, writing is a lonely task and requires one to sit for hours to produce wonderful content.

In order to achieve this, you should be able to control your urge to not use your phone every five minutes (saying from personal struggle)

What to do

Develop to-do lists and stick to them. This is a wonderful article about how to achieve this. Also, keep your phone away when you are writing. Remove all the unnecessary items away from your desk. Only keep your laptop and a few other essential items on the tabletop.

Mindful meditation is another way to develop self-control.

5. Honor

Feel honored that you have been gifted with the power of writing.

I see a lot of people who try to write but extraneous reasons do not allow them to. My Indian friend has always wanted to write but she has gotten married recently and her daughter-in-law's duties do not give her time to. Therefore, don't forget to stay humble.

What to do

Read your old stories. Always remember your beginning to define your future journey.

6. Honesty

When you write, be honest. Your readers are not stupid. Writing which is full of lies and made-up details is not likely to do well. If you are going to present a version of yourself that is fake, nobody is going to be attracted to that.

People would go for someone who is flawed, but honest than a perfect but fake human being. One of the best articles on Medium about this topic is this.

What to do

When you write your first draft, do not censor yourself. Spill out everything that comes to you. Later, when you are editing, make some editing here and there, but leave the essence of the article.

“Anything is better than lies and deceit!” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

7. Respect

As a writer, you want your readers to respect your work. This can only be reached if you write with your heart. Also, respect is a two-way street. This can be achieved if you see your readers as your equal and produce content that is worthy of being posted and read.

Posting for the sake of posting would not earn you respect.

What to do

Edit. Do not just write and post it immediately. Let your article sit and breath for some time. I prefer to wait for one afternoon before I go over it again. Write tight pieces. Edit out the unnecessary bits.

8. Justice

Now, this is my favorite one. As a writer, you have a voice. You have the ability to influence your readers and thousand of others who are going to read you.

Use this voice to bring attention to the issues that need you. For example, with the recent Black Lives Matter movement, I saw a lot of writers penning down their experiences with racism as people of color and as white people. I loved how some white writers acknowledged their privileges to bring attention to racial inequality.

What to do

If you belong to the group that has the power, do not drown the voice of the minorities. Rather use it to amplify their concerns and support them. Use writing as a tool to bring change and fight against the inequalities.

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” ― Elie Wiesel

Final thoughts

You can always use the concepts from different fields and apply them to your writing to improve your skillset. I have been trying to inculcate the virtues of Bushido in my life as well as my writing for a couple of months now. This has really helped me guide my writing process in the right direction.

8 virtues from Bushido that you can take inspiration from are:

  • Courage
  • Benevolence
  • Loyalty
  • Self-control
  • Honor
  • Honesty
  • Respect
  • Justice

Use them in your writing and see yourself become a more polished writer.

how to
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About the Creator

Jjyoti

24. Full-time post-grad student. Part-time writer.

Support me: https://ko-fi.com/jjyoti

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