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Feel you have a story in you? Love to write? Serious about your craft, but no idea how to go about it? Here are some great writing tips for beginners.
“If there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it”. – Toni Morrison
Since centuries, writers have acknowledged writing as one of the most beautiful productive pleasures in this world. There is no taste like tasting one’s own thoughts on paper. There is no beauty like the beauty of a first self written piece.
Many of us admire the writers whose writings leave impressions on our minds, and many of us wonder if we can be one of those too. We, the writing aspirants struggle with putting our thoughts on paper and get it right at the same time. If you are reading this article, it means you are already seeking some wisdom for beginning your journey as a writer.
So, Here are the Magic tips to begin with your first piece of writing. I hope, you come up with your first write up after reading these, and share it with your fellow writing aspirants too.
First, it is important to ask yourself what do you want to write about. It can be a fictional story, or expression of your personal feelings and opinions. You don’t need to burden yourself with thinking excessively about it, instead just sit and realize what is the one thing that you are thinking about most these days. It can be an incident around, some event, your personal life or some thing that’s bothering you. You can think about why it’s bothering you, how to overcome it, and record all your feelings on a paper. You can also write about what you are loving most these days, and what is so beautiful and loving about it. Just listen to your self, sit and write.
“Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.” – Ray Bradbury
Writing is all about expressing your feelings, express whatever you know or you want to make sense of. So, just go beyond writing facts, stating figures and plain writing. Sit down at a calm place, listen to your heartbeat, talk to your conscience, and let yourself loose in the world of writing. This world is your own, free, independent, beautiful and most importantly, safe. Put your vulnerabilities in your writing and feel the charm of your words. Know that there is no one to judge you, and you can be as open as you can, with your feeling and expression.
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” ― Terry Pratchett
Most of the time, we try to withdraw from putting our vulnerabilities on the paper. We might start it but we tend to quit in the middle of it as we are scared of let ourselves loose freely. This is the moment of transition for your first write up. Either you quit it here or let it flow. The former would hold you back, while the latter would take you towards the confidence of writing the next ultimate piece. Believe yourself and believe in writing, just let your words flow without any hindrance, without any doubt and without any calculations. Don’t count and calculate how much you have written but keep writing. This process should be continuous, soft and smooth like butter. Do not make any calculations before or while you are writing. Be persevere with your words.
“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” ― Sylvia Plath
As this is your first writing, you might start panicking while writing. It is usual with published writers too. What’s important that you enjoy this process. It is your first writing, and it is developing you into a writer through this whole process of reflection, expression and self reflection. Don’t think of it as a goal, objective and work. It is not something that you have to ‘achieve’, but you have to enjoy the whole journey of writing that one piece. What you felt, how you thought about it, what crossed your mind, and did you feel beautiful about yourself and your write up.
“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” — Franz Kafka
Once you are done with expressing yourself, close your diary/ laptop/ whatever you are writing on. Don’t open it again for the night. Just embrace the feeling that you have done writing for the day. You have written your thoughts out, and it’s peaceful inside. You have produced a original piece of thought that is never written before. Just reflect and know if writing makes you feel this way, do you want to continue with this feel everyday of your life. If the answer is Yes, you are a writer already.
“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” ― Jodi Picoult
It is a pleasure to reopen a written piece, the next day. It makes one feel proud to see a self written wholesome unedited piece. Now is the time to read those words. It’s a new day, new moments, new thoughts with completely different mood. You are no more in the zone of expressing yourself, but edit your work as an art. Read, re-read, edit, re-edit till the time it starts looking beautiful to you, not only aesthetically and in ideas, but also as a work of writing. Show this to your friends who can give only constructive feedback not negative feedback. Ask them what do they think about it, and what are the aspects of your personal writing you need to work on.
Remember, each writer has its own way of writing. You don’t need to cowed down by comparing your work with other writers. Your comparison should be with yourself, if your skill of writing has improved with every piece of writing.
A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” — Richard Bach
Also, feedback doesn’t mean that you have to undo your writing or what you have written is incorrect. ‘Incorrect’ is never a word for writers. Feedback would always help you understand the way people think about writing and read your work. You will learn what they’re looking or searching for, in your writing. Through feedback, you would not only improve as a writer for people but also a writer who understands what people need to read.
“I believe myself that a good writer doesn’t really need to be told anything except to keep at it.” — Chinua Achebe
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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