Getting into the habit of writing

Whether it's about getting into your favourite publication or being admired for creatively expressing your thoughts, the habit of writing surely invites good things. Once you have developed the habit, it can be a gateway from the loudness around you while being added as a new skill to your cart. Developing the habit, however, isn't that smooth a process. You have to face many hurdles along the way. But it totally depends on how seriously/slightly you get involved and make things easy/ tough for you.

Here's a little guide that you might want to check out:

1. KEEPING A JOURNAL

That's probably the first thing that comes to everyone's mind while helping someone get into this habit. Noting down your daily activities can be a sort of exercise in this case. It is like an icebreaking session in the world of writing. You will get new ideas as you keep doing it even if nothing interesting happens in your life. It serves as a motivation for writing daily since you are to allot a specific time for this task, considering it a goal. Most importantly, you will not lose your spark and be able to ride the wave of this habit. Remember, despite your routine being monotonous for a long time; don't abandon this task because practicing is the key.

2. WRITING DESCRIPTIVELY

You spot a banyan tree. Then you think to yourself that the branches are shooting upwards like endless octopus tentacles, scattering and almost bleeding into each other. You call it a custodian of ghosts. Having observed it on your way by chance, you are writing about it after getting home, pouring in your imagination and whatever analogies come to your mind associated with the tree.  This is an example of how you should do it. Observe the things around you wherever you are going. Describe them once you are ready. They can be some trees like above. They can be the lines of crows on electric wires. They can be the crazy traffic and heat.  Your surroundings brim with things—living and non-living, ugly and beautiful. You just have to portray them in your own descriptions. When you will get the hang of descriptive writing, it will motivate you to shift your gaze on the paper. Plus, this can impact your journal writing too. You will be able to get rid of the monotony in your writing by looking into things more descriptively than before. This way, you will love writing even more.

3. MAINTAINING A BLOG

This is almost like keeping a journal. Except, whatever you are writing, is visible to the eyes of many. The best part about maintaining a blog is that you receive honest criticism, which helps you correct the flaws in your writing. It provides you the fodder for "writing until excelling". Moreover, there is an audience that awaits your blog posts. So you get to write actively in scheduled time to present your writings to them.

4. TRYING OUT WRITING PROMPTS

Building this habit becomes cheerful when you resort to many methods than one. Practicing writing through prompts is a fun way to guide you through the process. You can find various writing prompts online like videos, photos, and specific topics (one worded or hypothetical). Or you can even think on your own and then find the relevant images for writing. For example, your surroundings (like I mentioned earlier), wildlife pictures, paintings, sculptures, dilapidated buildings and the newly risen ones— the list goes on.

Here are some links that you might find useful:

reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/

edutopia.org/blog/film-fest-video-writing-prompts

youtube.com/watch?v=WbEN5TAJTsE&list=PLzDOGMsmDvev9eeJeNUAJx7N8SOGLRwMJ

5. READING

Frankly, I think reading is the best way to never feel drained out while on the journey of making writing your habit. It is very common to get bored of the same sentence structures and metaphors you often use. Eventually, you lose the inspiration to write, which leads to a major setback in the process. Therefore, reading is very important. It helps you get familiar with proper grammar, explore creativity, and presents to you the best of writing forms that might get you hooked. While reading, once you find a breathtakingly beautiful poem or passage, you will end up asking yourself, "What if I could write like that?" And this is enough to get you glued to writing. As for me, it was one Zeeshan Sahil poem titled "Poets".

"Be afraid of poets,

they have a hand-grenade

made of dreams"

Shah Tazrian Ashrafi wants his life to be like stormtroopers: always missing easy kill shots. Send him prayers at tazrian1234@gmail.com.