How to Become a Writer? Part I: HABITS
PART I: CHANGE IN HABITS
Lisa See said that read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river. It is true. But the only problem is that the prowess to choose the right words comes with practice and a lot of patience. Writing is easy. But writing to satisfy one’s desire or writing to reach out to others is a different ballgame altogether. If your writing is not backed by a strong purpose, it will soon be forgotten. Therefore, write what will not be forgotten.
In my upcoming posts, I will be sharing some tips and tricks to enhance your writing skills. For any new venture that you take up, a schedule has to be set up. Some habits have to be changed and a routine has to be followed so that the efforts don’t blow up in the face. For starters, here are a few habits that need to be changed if you want to become a writer.
Avoid using contractions, colloquial words and esoteric words
Here are a few examples:
Contractions: TV, Photo, It’d
Colloquial words: wanna, gonna, y’all, buzz off
Esoteric words: peeps, yu, y
It is important to remember that formal language is always appreciated in the long run. If you are writing in English, it is important to respect the language and follow the norms of Grammar that define the structure of this language.
Read and Write every day
Whether it is a book or a paragraph or news, reading every day will prevent your brain from succumbing to passive reading. Thereby, you will be able to comprehend better and also be able to read between the lines.
Whether it is a paragraph or a page, whether you write in a notebook or on notepad (laptop), writing every day will make you more confident with the words and also help you learn and use new words as and when needed.
Always write/ type full sentences
This might seem like an irksome task, but I can promise you that you will thank me later. Right from the text messages to long elaborative sentences, use complete sentence for any form of conversation. Once you get into the habit, it will become easier to put down your thoughts in the form of words. This will also save you from editing the unfinished words in your final draft.
Make notes
If you often wonder what to write about, start by making short notes. These notes can be made when you are in a battle of wills with your friend or when you contemplate about believing or not believing what is being told to you. Whenever you think about something contrary to what is being said, you need to make notes and then express your opinion in the form of writing.
Ignore negative criticism
When you develop habit 3, you might become a victim of mockery and sarcasm because spending time in thinking of the correct words and proper sentences is no longer in fashion. In such a busy life, people might get vexed by this habit of yours. But you should stay strong. It will take a long time before you overcome the fear of writing long sentences. But I can promise you that it will be worth all the time and effort.
That’s all for the first session. It is important to get used to these habits as they will prepare your mind to follow what comes next in the process of becoming a writer.
PS: Remember that writers are not made in a day. If this doesn’t sound convincing, look up how much time George R. R. Martin takes to complete one book.
Ready for the next step?
