"Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written largely in his works." – Virginia Woolf
Writing is like thinking with your fingers. How many times have you picked up a piece of literature, and been so moved by it that it inspires you to write? Almost every writer starts this way, by taking inspiration from former writers.
However, most people believe that the art of writing cannot be taught, it comes naturally to some and that's it. But while some are naturally gifted, others just require a nudge to polish their writing skills. This skill enhancement is not exclusive to those who cannot write at first, but also to those who seem to be natural writers, as even talent requires hard work.
Here are some tips and tricks that’ll help you to start your writer journey with baby steps.
One misconception about writers is that they start their journeys by writing poems, novels, and stories. But what most people fail to understand is that the work of a writer is a reflection of his thoughts, memories, and beliefs. So, the first step of this journey is – introspection.
Keep a small diary with you, and write whatever you find interesting enough to notice and have thoughts about. Be it the weather, an experience, a song, or even a dialogue that gets your train of thought moving.
This will help you to notice what inspires you, and what genres you can write about. Such self-reflection helps one to know what kind of writer one can be. If you like, you can start by composing write-ups in your diary, that'll simply be a form of blurting out your feelings and experiences.
2. Read Before You Write
Being a writer is a way of penning down the things that inspire you. And the best inspiration one can get is from other writers, whose works one admires. Before starting your first novel, story, or even a poem, take some time out to read some of your favourites of the writer that pushed you in the direction of wanting to be a writer.
Be careful as you should refrain from replicating that writer's style and way of presenting his work. Inspiration is what draws out your instincts, and you have to allow that to happen consciously.
There is a high chance that the genre of your inspiration will be the genre of your work in the future. So, you can also look for certain elements that might help you form a path when you start with your work.
3. Improve On Every Step
What you think is ‘perfection’ in writers, does not come overnight. Almost every writer has a pile of drafts that is bigger than his final works. This is because a writer constantly seeks out opportunities to improve his existing works and always finds one.
As a beginner, your concern should be limited to building a good vocabulary, improving one's grammar and skills, and learning new ways of expressing one's thoughts.
If you want to start with composing poems, don’t hesitate to search for rhyming words and synonyms in the beginning as they’ll contribute towards your vocabulary. Being a storyteller, start looking for synonyms for the words that you think will repeat in your story, or looking for different ways to describe the same element or emotion.
If you want to start with a novel, be ready that it'll be a lengthy process as one might encounter new challenges from chapter to chapter. Also, character-building and plot decisions are crucial here, so try to be patient and open to opinions that can help you improve.
One can use various applications available on the web for grammatical checks. Try to be alert while making that checks, so that you can avoid making those mistakes in the first place.
4. Find A Platform
When the writer's work is personal and kept to himself, it's comforting. But deciding to publish your work can be a rollercoaster of emotions and a very challenging task. Yet, unless and until the writer doesn't publish his work, he will not be able to grow and evolve.
Try to find a platform that helps you discover yourself authentically and targets your desired audience. One can start by having a blog, where one can write what interests them and capture an audience with similar interests.
One can opt to publish their work on social media, but the problem of copyright arises there. Yet it can be an excellent platform to interact with the right audience, improve through their suggestions and promote yourself to extend your reach.
Many applications act as online publishing platforms, exclusive for writers and readers. Applications like Wattpad have proved to be very popular among the youth, and a platform for extending your work to get noticed by creators.
Find the platform that feels right to you, and slowly extend to others.
5. Find An Excuse To Write
One thing that you have to ensure is that you don't stop writing. Always find an excuse to write about something or anything. Try to put that extra effort when writing an essay for your college or school work. Try to join internships that require skills like content writing, editing, or creating content.
It will not only keep an obligation on you to pursue your journey regardless of anything, but it'll also help you in discovering new horizons in the field of writing. Pushing one out of their comfort zone is essential as it helps you to explore unseen opportunities.
Written By – Simran Mahon
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