MAYA ROSE FERNANDES
Whenever I run my writing workshops in Goa, one of the inevitable questions I’m always asked by attendees, irrespective of their age, is: Do I have to write everyday?
I used to get annoyed by this question because it irked the perfectionist in me. How can one get better at anything without self-discipline, I’d ask myself. Do I really have to unpack and explain this to people? As it turns out, yes, I do.
The inevitable follow-up question always is: What’s your writing practice?
I’m a morning person, and I love filling morning pages of blank book after blank book with stream-of-consciousness writing.
The aim of this practice is to exorcize from my system any emotional leftovers from the night before including dreams and visions that don’t belong in my writing.
The sub-conscious needs a good clear-out sometimes before one can actually get to the good stuff of writing.
Then there’s my writing equipment – blank notebooks, cheap ballpoint pens that have thin nibs just the way I like them, and a window-facing writing desk.
My reference books are always easily placed within reach in my writing nook – I often read in and around the genre I’m writing in at the time. In between writing projects, I try to read outside my genre, to flex my creative brain and keep it oiled.
My reference books are always easily placed within reach in my writing nook – I often read in and around the genre I’m writing in at the time.
In between writing projects, I try to read outside my genre, to flex my creative brain and keep it oiled.
Nowadays though, instead of getting annoyed, I get excited when people ask me if they have to write everyday in order to be a published writer.
I tell them that they do, and add, with glee, that if they don’t keep up a regular writing practice, then they are making way for serious, or career writers like me, who work at their craft, to rise up the ladder.
As with anything, it’s the discipline of everyday writing that will pay off in satisfying writing dividends.
Gluing your bottom to your chair and welding yourself to your desk, irrespective of your mood, is the equivalent of daily warm-ups if you play an instrument or are an athlete.
This is what will make the difference between labelling you as a good-enough writer or a great one.
As with anything, it’s the discipline of everyday writing that will pay off in satisfying writing dividends.
At the very least, I’d say, it doesn’t matter what you write, just write, if you want to be a writer. The other question I get asked a lot is this: Do I have to read in order to be a writer?
Again, I give the same answer: If you want to be a good-enough writer, maybe not. But, if you want to get to 'great', then having a regular reading habit, makes the difference.
If in doubt, just ask any Pulitzer Prize winner or Nobel Laureate.
Figure out a routine that suits your personality and quirks best, and develop it into a daily habit. A consistent writing practice is essential, as is a reading one, if you want to rise as a successful published writer.
You may want to have a daily word count goal, or an early ‘morning pages’ stream-of-consciousness clear-out to get the unconscious gunk out of your emotional system and psyche before getting to the meatiest nuggets of your writing.
Figure out a routine that suits your personality and quirks best, and develop it into a daily habit. A consistent writing practice is essential, as is a reading one, if you want to rise as a successful published writer.
Having a consistent, daily habit will help you manage your writing time better as well. Carve out time for writing daily, whether this is ten minutes a day, an hour, or even longer.
Make a little space for yourself to write, even if you have to lock yourself in the bathroom for 10 minutes of private writing time a day!
The space you choose to make yours will signal to your brain that you’re now going to write and get you into the writing mood faster, over time. If you’re the kind of person that produces better with deadlines, then create some, and push through the procrastination.
The willingness to revise and edit rigorously is another key discipline of your writing practice, that takes time and grit to develop. You need to accept that everything is a draft, and multiple rounds of editing will be required, to hone your story to a polished gem.
Getting a writing mentor, that is, someone who holds you accountable, is your encourager and cheerleader, is also a big help that can get you from one goal to the next and support your writing practice.
The willingness to revise and edit rigorously is another key discipline of your writing practice, that takes time and grit to develop. You need to accept that everything is a draft, and multiple rounds of editing will be required,
Participating in workshops, joining writing groups or attending literary events, can really help you keep your own practice going as you develop the incentive and motivation to keep going by being inspired by other writers.
You’ll learn that most of them are struggling with the same things as you.
Along the way, you’ll learn that your determination and tenacity to persevere in this field will reap rewards mainly because your writing practice helped you develop the resilience to keep going through rejection, shut doors and hardship.
But, nothing quite beats seeing your first by-line in a newspaper, magazine or journal, or seeing your first printed book sitting on a bookshelf in a major airport terminal.