*The views expressed in the blog are those of the author.

It takes hard work. But it’s worth the effort. And if it seems like an impossible task, there are some concrete things you can do today that will get you on the road to improvement. Every writer can get better, and no writer is perfect.

It has to be said that ‘Read great writers’. If you don’t read great writing, you won’t know how to do it. Everyone starts by learning from the masters, by emulating them, and then through them, you find your own voice. Read a lot. As much as possible. Pay close attention to style and mechanics in addition to content.

Try to write every day or whenever you get time. The more you write, the better you’ll get. Writing is a skill, and like any other skill, you have to practice it to get better. Write stuff for yourself. Write just to write, and have a blast doing it. It gets easier after a while if you practice a lot. Keep a little notebook handy and write down ideas for stories or articles or novels or characters. Write down snippets of conversation that you hear.

Find a certain time of day when you can write without interruptions, and make it a routine. Generally for good writers, mornings work best, but others might find lunch or evenings or midnight hours the best. Whatever works for you, make it a must-do thing every single day. Write for at least 30 minutes, but an hour is even better.

It doesn’t matter what you write or type — and get the fingers moving. Once you get going, you get in the flow of things, and it gets easier. People like to start out by typing things like his/her name or a headline or something easy like that, and then the juices start flowing and stuff just pours out of them. But the key is to just get going.

Writing does not work well with multi-tasking or background noise. It’s best done in quiet, or with some mellow music playing. Clear away distractions so you can work without interruption.  Try out new things. Steal bits from other people. Experiment with your style, your voice, your mechanics, your themes. Try out new words. Invent new words. Experimentalize everything. And see what works, and toss out what doesn’t.

The most important parts of your writing are the beginning and end. Especially the beginning. If you don’t hook your reader in the beginning, they won’t read the rest of your writing. So when you’ve written your first draft, spend some extra time crafting a good beginning. Get them interested and wanting to know more. And when you’re done with that, write a good ending … that will leave them wanting more of your writing.

So, start writing……..

-Mr Sudeep Dey, TGT (Computers)

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