Whatever your profession might be, it is impossible that a single day goes by without you having to write something. Be it an e-mail, or a memo, or a report or anything else, but write you must.
This post is mostly about creative writing, but what is applicable to creative writing is, with a few necessary changes, applicable to any other form of writing.
The most common barrier to writing is the fear of making a mistake, or the fear of writing something that is boring, or unreadable. One just wants to sit on the desk, and start writing, with the hope that words will begin to tumble and an interesting, gripping, page-turning story will be born.
But, it is not that easy. Not even for professionals likes Stephen King and Jeffrey Archer.
Stephen King has always maintained that to write better one must make it a habit to write every day. I remember reading somewhere that his personal target is about 1500 words every day. I am not sure how many of us can write that much every day, and I, personally, have never tried to do that. But writing something everyday is very important for anyone who wishes to improves his or her writing.
I have recently started this practice, and though, I am not very sure how long I can continue it, yet I can already feel that the results are forthcoming.
Our minds are full of thoughts and ideas, but for one reason or another, we put off writing them down. We read what others have written and a bell rings in our mind, “This is exactly what I was thinking the other day!”
Perhaps you could have written that, perhaps you could have written even better. You can never know until you have tried writing it. So, every time you have a great idea, just write it down. There will be ample time to polish it later!
In another interview, Jeffrey Archer said that he, when he is working on a novel, writes for almost ten hours every day, and before he has the final draft ready, he has gone through almost forty revisions.
It is clear that writing takes time and effort, but if you do put in the time and effort, the results are there to for everyone to see.
So, as I come to the end of this post, I hope I have made my point clear. There are many books about writing and many websites, and I am sure all of them have some very useful tips for improving your wrting. But the most effective tip for improving your writing is : Write every day! Write as much as you can!
I agree, writing everyday is vital when it comes to improving your talent. It doesn’t matter what you write, how you write it, how good or bad it is, just so long as you get words on paper. You can always revise it later or rip it up and throw it away.