“The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but we are unable to say.” – Anais Nin
All writers dream of authoring multiple books and seeing them skyrocket to make it to the bestseller list. Writers that do make it there, have shown to follow these 5 habits in their day to day writing life to make sure they give themselves the best shot at creating their best work. If you aspire to be there on the top, read on to know of these habits and start developing too.
Make reading your favourite hobby
Wasn’t it the evocative power of reading that called out to your inner writer and inspired you to start writing? Stay connected to that reservoir of inspiration and great ideas. You must learn to write about what you’ve experienced and learnt over the years. Writing what you know and are passionate about gives you the personal voice and sets you apart.
Manage your productivity
This includes setting Smart, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely goals and also managing your time and space. Set goals that you can achieve. Set the bar low and cross it with a win. Doing this will give you the much-needed boost. Because remember, you’ll work best when you aren’t stressed. If you want to knock out two pages a week or twenty-five pages a week, whatever it is, make sure you clearly communicate your goals to yourself and follow them through, no matter what.
Also, set aside your time. Early mornings or late evenings during the week? Or during the weekends? Whenever you decide, commit to yourself to dedicate that time only to your writing. It is also important to find your personal space. Like your own altar or sanctuary where you feel comfortable enough that your fingers dance to their own rhythm.
Cultivate your team
Yes, your friends and family are here to support and motivate you, but you also require a professional team that helps you put your best work out there. If you are writing a short piece for your blog, or for a magazine cover story, or any kind of writing for that matter, you’ll have to find someone to proofread your work and who will give you honest feedback.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for writing and publishing a book. It’s imperative that you look for an editor that understands you and your voice and makes sure that you get your thoughts in a perfect flow. You need a good proof-reader that will give the extra polished touch to your writing. And what’s a good book without an eye-catching cover? Lastly, you need an amazing graphics person who works his/her magic for cover page and makes it exciting and appealing to your readers.
Finish what you start and always end strong
You must learn to enjoy writing badly. Don’t be the writer with an overly edited and polished first chapter and nothing worth reading after that. The best strategy is to cover the canvas right away and then go back to polishing and spinning your story to absolute gold. By the end, you’ll see the wonderful results for yourself. You definitely need to warm up by rereading the last couple of pages to get the flow going for your next plot, and while on it throwing in one or two easy edits is okay. But after that, delve into the mysteries of new, unexplored territory and complete your first draft.
And before you finish, keep the plot to yourself. Yes, plagiarism and somebody lifting your idea is possible. Telling your finest ideas to your loved ones seems tempting and exciting. This rule is not only for fiction writing. It’s applicable to any idea that you wish to pen down. Because once you share and talk about the idea the burning desire that you’ve of writing it and sharing it with the world fizzles out. Therefore, keeping the secrecy vow is important if you want those characters, plot twists and any other idea to see the light of the day and not meet their sinister ends.
Love your readers and connect with them
Your readers put in an enormous commitment and a lot of heartbeats into reading your work. And as an author, it’s your duty to honour and appreciate your reader’s investment by giving them your very best work. It cannot be because of any selfish reason for you. It’s your privilege to make sure that by the time they reach the end your readers have this deep feeling of satisfaction of time well spent and not a pointless sacrifice.
And it’s also your duty to be available for your readers. Provide them with an email address and confidence of eventual reply. Offer what thoughts you can, be the author you wished you could talk to when you were starting out. We sincerely hope this helps you come up with your next big twist or better your next piece of writing. Lastly, let this simple statement by MJ Bush become your inspiring mantra, “Step into a scene and let it drip from your fingertips.”
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