Enrich Your Soul – Read One More Book

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” ― Stephen King

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Yet another writing advice you will come across frequently – read more and write better. For once in my life I cannot agree more. Read and read and when you get tired read some more. Surrender yourself to the realm of words written by the masters and you will notice the change yourself.

If you want to tell better stories, you need to grow as a writer.

You need to read.

For me this has never been a problem. I have always been a voracious reader, I still am. I read because I just cannot survive without books. I have a personal library with hundreds of books and the number is rising. My mother sometimes looks at the growing number with concern and says – someday either you will remain in the house or your books will. Now, that’s an exaggeration. Honest.

Jokes apart, the point is not having a library of your own. Once upon a time I could not afford to buy books, I didn’t have the money. To satisfy my hunger I visited bookstores and read. I could not finish the books as it was not possible when you are roaming in a bookstore. But, I got to read few pages everyday. The more I read, the more I wanted to write.

Why reading is emphasized like this? Why every writer suggests the aspiring writers to read? Why?

As you read, you grow. You don’t grow only as a writer, you grow as a human being. Experience and perception team up to make great writers. What you read will influence your writing eventually. Slowly, you will look at the world in a different view.

As a writer, you need to inspire yourself. Nothing gets the inspiration come pouring better than reading. Ever felt the itch reading a writer? As you continue to read, you will eventually come across a writer who will make your fingers itch and heart swell in envy. Let me tell you this is one profession where envy is not forbidden. Unless you are jealous, you will not want to do better. Yet, you need to know how to use the jealousy in a constructive way.

Great tales come from great imagination and descriptive writing. Holding the readers by hand and taking them through the mazes of the world you have built takes skill. Only good fiction can teach you how to write such scenes.  

You don’t want your readers to put down the book you have so lovingly crafted and forget all about it. You want your book to remain till the day this world comes to an end. To reach that height, you need to work hard. You need to invest time for reading and writing.

To keep the motivation alive, you can try the tricks. These work for me. Let’s see if these can work for you too.  

Have a Date with Your Books

Take your book out. Find a cozy café and indulge into reading. That may cost you some money and I know writers are not always fortunate in money matters. So, find a cozy park and take your book there. Sit under a tree and lose yourself into the fictitious world. Ever read a book in rain? I have. Once I sat in a downpour with a huge umbrella and read Game of Thrones. The experience? Words cannot describe it. I discovered the joy of reading once again.

Take a Long Walk with Your Book

Don’t try to read while walking. At least not when the traffic is heavy. Take a long walk. Read the nature instead. Read the body languages of the people around you. This is also a training process. You are a writer training yourself. The next bestseller in the making. Act like one. Give your dream a chance. Don’t shy away from hard work.

Commit Yourself

Commit to reading like you are married to books. Don’t undertake too much at once. Don’t try to finish Atlas Shrugged at one go.  You will be disappointed if you fail to finish the book. Instead read one page everyday. One little step will take you a long way. One day you will realize that you have finished countless books. Start today and never stop. Have fun. That is the bottom line. Whatever you read you should enjoy. Read for pleasure first, slowly you will be reading to improve yourself.

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King

Inspire Yourself to Write

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Time comes in the lives of the writers when nothing works. No matter how hard they try, no word, no sentence, no image form in their heads. They just sit blank, wondering will it ever be like the past again, will the words come back.

I don’t know about you, but I suffer from this syndrome frequently. I don’t have the habit of waiting for the inspiration. I know what happens when someone waits for something to happen. I waited three years for inspiration and did not write a single line. Now, I follow Jack London’s advice with all my heart and chase inspiration. Yet, time comes when nothing works. I keep writing without my heart in it. I derive no joy in creating. Have you ever felt like this? If the answer is no, you are fortunate. You can skip reading this post.

Inspiring the writer within you is important at a time like this. When wind doesn’t blow, you need to steer the boat yourself and move forward. This is the only way you can get something done.

I have been writing for a long time. So long that now I cannot recall the time I did not write. And in these long years of effort I have learnt something valuable - that inspiration does not come. It is up to you whether you give up or get going. Once I gave up and I paid dearly. I had to start all over again. Thus I don’t give up now. I try to inspire myself. It takes time to get back in the mood but it does work.

It’s true that you will not be able to inspire yourself without assistance. You will require tools to make yourself write again. For me books have been of great help. Whenever I feel my creativity is taking a leave of absence, I turn to the pages of books I love reading most. I read words created by the masters. John Grisham is one of the writers I read to motivate myself. This is the writer I have always considered as my mentor. His writing has the power to make my fingers itch and my heart composed again. Rainmaker is one of my personal favorites. You may choose to read someone else. But do read. Nothing helps writing better than reading. No matter what you read, you get better at writing.

Take a walk outside. Writing is a lonely task. Yet, you need to get out of the comfort of your home. You need to interact with people. You write about them, you need to study them. In my case, I am fortunate. My work demands that I go out and communicate with others. This makes me write better. I feel free when I return and hold my pen again. Next time when you interact with others, don’t take them as mere human beings. Instead consider them as characters of your novel and see what happens.

Do something unusual. Take a walk in the rain. Feel the droplets pouring down upon you. Drenching you. Let the blessing from heaven wash away the blockage and refresh your soul. Frequently I stand in the rain, looking up, gazing at the sky and thanking the monarch of the heaven. I thank Him for the words that I write. I thank Him for the images that will not let me sit in peace. I thank Him for the books that are being written. I thank Him for being there. Lastly, I thank Him for life. And when I return to writing, I feel like another person. Try it.

Get drunk. Lol, getting controversial. Don’t drive in the state. Allow the alcohol to sooth your senses. But hey, try not to make it a habit. Once in a while indulge into this beverage and well…you will wake up yet another person (sometimes with killer headache).

Write something different, something unconventional, something that you haven’t tried before. Why not write an erotica? Explore and see what you can come up with. Write about that date who did not call again. Take this person to a land where only dead people walk the night. Write a long letter to someone, you haven’t met. Why not write to your characters? Explain why you put them through so much misery. Praise them and tell them why they are unique.  

Work out. Kick box, stretch, run and sweat it out. You will be able to go past the blockage that is preventing you from writing. Umm…these are not laws of writing that I have pronounced. There is no law in this profession. You can invent your own law. The secret is to have fun and worry less. Banging your head against the wall will only make you bleed. Rather grow wings and try to fly away. Writing is not a task that you have to perform. Writing is salvation. Surrender yourself and take pleasure in the journey. 

Balancing Life and Writing

Life is Not Easy…

And it’s never gonna be. You will have to chase your dream today. You will have to make it today. If you sit around and wait for the things to fall in the place, you will be waiting forever.

Once I made this mistake. I was working for an engineering firm. It was hectic. Exhausting even. Each day I returned drained. Hardly, I had the energy to open a book, let alone the willingness to hold my pen and start writing. So, I chose the easy path. I started waiting. I waited for the things to fall in place. I waited for the time when I wouldn’t have to work to pay the bills. I waited for that time to appear. Months passed. And I waited. I did not open a single book. I did not write a single line. I was waiting. Waiting for the situation to get better.

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Everyone gets a wake up call sometimes in their lives. I was also fortunate enough to receive one. My wake up call came in the shape of high fever. I was at home, recovering. To pass time, I reached for my pen and notebook. I started writing. Only I couldn’t. I pushed myself to proceed. I even forced myself to create something. Yet, nothing came to my mind. With immense effort I constructed one sentence. But nothing followed the first line. Horror dawned on to me. I pushed some more. Nothing.

I realized that as I was waiting for the right time to appear in my life, I continued to lose the skill I built with so much effort. That I have lost the edge. That day, I gave myself a firm shake. I silently resolved that I would read and write everyday. That was in the August 2006. I have never stopped reading and writing.

You should not either. If you love to write, you will need to read and write everyday. Yes, of course you can take a break. Every writer takes a break. Maybe once a year. For me break comes in the shape of notebook writing. When I am too drained to write anything, when my characters refuse to act or talk or do anything, I pick up a topic and reach for one of my notebooks. Nothing calms me down better than an hour or two of wild writing session.

I know many of you are facing the similar dilemma. Many of you don’t get time to read or write. But, you must, if you want to improve yourself as a writer. You will have to invest sufficient amount of time for reading and writing (If you are wondering why I am insisting on reading, wait for my next post Read More and Write Better). So, how do you do it? You can think strategically and steal away time to indulge in your passion.

Carry a book…always. Instead of staring out of the window, try to read while you are travelling. I still do this. I carry a book wherever I go. This helps a lot.

Carry a notebook around. You will never catch me without a notebook (several notebooks if truth be told). I steal moments to write pieces. When I return home, I bring with me materials that help me proceed further.

Changing your writing time is another way to get something done. Get up early or go to bed late. Write in the spare time. Give up television. Give up social life. You need to be ready to sacrifice some of the things you love to improve yourself, to grow as a writer. Everything comes with a price. Your dreams as well. Are you willing to pay? Willing to sacrifice things that matter? Willing to say no to that movie you were dying to watch? Ask yourself and then make the plans. I am sure you will succeed. 

Write for Your Soul

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Being a writer is difficult. Being an unpublished writer is harder still. You will carry around your secret like a thief. Sometimes you will let it out and say with reluctant blush that yes, you are a writer, dreading the next question.

Have you ever been published? Have you? No, you are still unpublished. You are still trying to elevate yourself from the bottom layer of the pyramid and climb higher. You know the pain. You know the numbness that spread across your heart with each rejection letter. Yet, how easily they ask – have you ever been published.

And you say, ‘No. I am yet to make it to the publication.’ What follows forth every writer knows. A glance of suspicion sometimes. Glance of pity. Most of the times glance of mockery. It is the main reason we conceal the fact that we return home to write, to create, to tell stories.

I am not venting my frustration here. It is no way a platform to bleed. God knows we bleed everyday. God knows we cry with each rejection letter, even though we shrug it off in public. Time comes when we stand at the verge of giving up. We question everything, even our existence. Each time we stand facing a mirror, our reflection asks – why? We are unable to answer. Why we write? Why we put up with the humiliation? Why?

May be because that’s what we are. May be because we are born that way. May be because we are both blessed and cursed. May be.

I can’t speak for you. For I don’t know you. I can only speak for myself. I can only tell you why I write. Why I put up with the humiliation. Why…

Blankness bothers me. Every time I look at a paper, I see immense potentiality. I feel like holding a pen and scratching the surface. I feel like creating a world peopled with illustrated characters. My characters.

Numerous times I have reached the point from which no path leads ahead. I have stopped many times thinking now what. I panicked even. Yet, I couldn’t stop. How can I quit being me? I am a writer and I was born that way. For good or for bad, this is my life. Getting published is secondary. It comes after being a writer. But, the focal point is writing.

It does not matter who asks what. It does not matter who thinks what. It does not matter how many rejection letters come your way. You are a writer and your job is to continue and create. People may try to mislead you. They may try to force you to quit. And you have the option. You can quit. You can quit because they think you are not good enough. You can quit because you are not being able to get published. You can quit because some no-good teacher thinks you should.

But will you be at peace? Can your soul rest with the knowledge that you have given up? Can you live without creating? Can you? If yes, you are lucky. You are luckier than I am. For, I cannot. God knows I have tried. God knows I have given up too many times. But, I couldn’t stay away for longer than one day. I came back after sulking and throwing fit of temper around. And I am glad that I did. I don’t think there is anything else to say. I am not even sure that I have said anything worth reading.

Therefore, I will draw the conclusion with a verse – my personal anthem. These two lines get me going when the way is dark and the sky is full of cloud with no stars to guide me ahead. I mutter these two lines and advance forward. For I know my destination is there somewhere, concealed in the darkness. Soon, sun will rise and lead me towards it. Till then I can only crawl and hope.

Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana

It means – perform your duty without expecting result.