That’s you!

Before I could start to write, I and my mother had a little bit of argument. When it ended, I felt a bit discontented and not ready to write.

I knew what was missing.

I went outside and apologized to her for my mistake. (Please don’t ask what! 🤐) We had a healthy conversation where we settled our misunderstandings and conflicts.

That’s great! Hush! Now it’s better! I can finally write.

You need a healthy mind to write

To write, I must keep myself in a good mood and a fresh state of mind. Writing is not something that is to done while you’re under any negative influence.

I had to get myself centered to write these words to you. And as they get typed

out, I enjoy them!

Life is fun!

You must be in that ↖️ attitude if you want to write.

I see many articles on Medium, where people are whining about this or that.

Sometimes, people complain about Medium being unfair to them.
Some talk about the lack of viewership.
Some cry about their life.
Some cry about themselves not changing and not being able to write like Stephen King. (And it’s only been a few months.)

Someone has been working hard to get some viewership or applause on Medium. And then they get slammed in the face with 10 claps or 50 reads.

This event gets miserable for the mind and themselves. And imagine what he/she is going to write then?

You had a fight with your wife, boss, etc. At the same time, you were working on a motivational book. Imagine the quality of your writing that day.

Your motivational book will turn into a judgment machine. Because it’s written from the perspective of a judgmental mind.

Our thought processes are very delicate. They are very sensitive when it comes to getting curated or affected by other ideas.

I’ll give you an example to get this clear in your head.

I live in an apartment which is in a large society with lots of people.

I don’t exactly remember, but there was some cold war going on between some of the residents and me. It could be two-sided. Or it could’ve also been one-sided!

In those days, I was writing a fiction book. A hobby I had picked.

I used to have fantasies that some day, I’ll lose it somewhere by mistake. Then someone will pick it up and get so impressed that he/she will publish it. The next I’ll be facing the media at my door. (What crap!? 🤦)

Then one day, I gave my mother to read what I had written. The feedback broke me into a million pieces. But I got a lot to learn from that which I’ll be noting down in the below paragraphs.

Keeping yourself free from all prejudices

My cold war with the society people had implanted judgment, hatred, enmity and other evils. These evils somehow created a loophole and entered into my writing.

I described the surroundings and characters in a very judgmental manner. And also harsh.

It was easy to understand that the writer had just picked up a fight with someone on the street before coming here.

The feedback was fatal for me. As I got disheartened and quit writing.

That was wrong. I admit.

But after I came out of that mild depression, I realized an important fact. That I had to do writing with an authentic process. And you couldn’t afford to bombard it with hundreds of opinions and mood swings.

When I used to read Mythological books, I would want to write about mythology and fiction. Fantasy books turned me towards fantasy writing. And so on!

The Diary of the Wimpy Kid was the most influential book during my childhood. It was the book that had a deep impact on my writing style and reading choices.

Any prejudice, judgment or hole-in-the-heart will not let the material pour out that is meant to.

I remember a friend of mine, who was very receptive to ideas, beliefs, and experiences. Even he used to be very interested in writing.

When he used to watch some news on the T.V., his opinion-change would reflect in what he wrote. He was one of the writers who used to write for the school magazine.

His ideas used to vary in every 2–3 articles. At some times, his perspective would seem very limited to his experiences or beliefs. You could tell, that his article was citing examples from an incident or context all the time.

When we get too susceptible to the input we’re taking in and allow it to alter it vastly, we get limited.

A movie you recently watched could affect your whole perspective and idea of writing.

The examples cited in your writing will come from in and around the movie.

The problem

When I share this problem with people, they say, “What’s the problem in that? At least we’re writing something!”

The only problem is that you’re not writing. You’re ranting. What you’re writing is no more coming from you.

The influence is making you write what you’re writing. The influence could be from your spoiled mood, a bad news, or anything else.

And the fact is, that an influence is an influence. It can change as fast as money flies from our pockets.

This creates a dent in the quality of your writing. Because external beliefs are driving by you which are sensitive to immediate change.

What are you going to do then? Change your whole perspective again? You’re ready to do everything but stay you.

This is the problem that I talk about.

It has killed your authenticity and that your stuff factor. The information overload is getting nothing out of us. We are feeding ourselves more than enough.

Conclusion

So, to write, you must have a clear mind. Free from any or all ideologies, perspective, judgment, etc.

Forget that fight or cold war you’ve been having. Forget that villain’s perspective that you had lived for 2.5 hours in the theaters.

Right now, you have to write.

Keep yourself upbeat. Stop whining and crying about yourself and your life. Nobody’s sitting in front of their screens (Sorry, that might’ve felt harsh!)

Many people while advising on writing, tell you to avoid writing about yourself. (Looks like they’re burning away autobiographies!)

But as far as I understand, it means to avoid crying about your life. Some of the common dialogues I read and hear from these kinds of people are:

“Where’s my life going?”
“Will there be ever any recognition for my work?”
“Is my writing worth it?”
“Am I worth it?”
“When will I find peace?”

Questioning, boring and very demotivating for readers.

They swerve to the negative side of the road. As a result, these questions have an adverse effect on them.

They swerve to the negative side of the road. As a result, these questions have an adverse effect on them.

I write about myself. A lot. I cite examples from my life and my experiences most of the time.

But I write it out in the other way. I try to stay as positive as I can. I share my mistakes, then the experiences and lessons I learned from them. I don’t whine. At least I try my best not to.

So stop crying.

Stop voicing other’s perspectives and experiences. Bring out your own.

When you’re writing, make sure it’s you who’s writing. Otherwise, the words will get published, but the feeling won’t reach out to the audience.

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