Writing is a powerful occupation. Like Edward Lytton wrote in his 1839 play, Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy, ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’. Writing enables you to express emotions and experiences and share them with the world. And we all know how our experiences shape us and help us in our everyday lives.
Hence this is a great responsibility that you have undertaken. Once you decide to become a writer, you automatically sign up for this job; to educate and enrich others through your books. But as a writer, daily life for you can get monotonous. To help you pace up your writing productivity, here are five tips to follow in your everyday life.
1. Plan Ahead
Always make a rough sketch about the next day in your head, on the night before. I am not asking you to decide on precise activities and allot time and then strictly follow it the next day. Make a list of the things you need to take care of, people you need to call or meet, places you need to go, and things you need to buy. If you can plan these daily chores ahead of time you will probably end up doing them in a systematic manner. Otherwise, you might miss out a thing or two (or more) and later waste time fretting and worrying. Save as much time as you can by taking this one small step. All that saved time can be added to your writing time.
2. Fix Time
Which brings me to the second important habit – fix a time for your writing every day. A good writer is the one who scribbles daily. No, her/she will not write great literature every single time the pen is touched. But the individual will write regularly. This time should be kept aside. This time should be left untouched and un-meddled.
3. Eat Healthy, Exercise
I know. Writing goes hand in hand with a number of bad habits, one of which is eating junk and binging on coffee. While it is ok to have coffee every now and then, you really need to take care of the eating part. Eat proper food that will constitute a balanced diet. Though writing may not seem to be something that requires physical strength, yet sitting up straight and continuously typing or writing for hours demand a healthy and fit body. Also indulge in some sort of a workout or physical activity. Otherwise you will be having aching joints very soon for sitting in one position for long stretches of time.
4. Reading Time
To be a good writer, you need to read a lot. And not casually, when you feel like. To keep your writing productivity curve going upwards (and also be inspired) keep reading other authors. Read religiously. I would say set some time for reading too on a daily basis – maybe just before going to bed, or an hour during your morning coffee and breakfast. Whatever suits you.
5. Alone Time
It is crucial for a writer to spend some alone time by him/herself. This alone time every day is when you evaluate your today and plan your tomorrow. This alone time is when you look deep inside of yourself for answers to the questions that have been hovering above your head through the day. This alone time you need to think and to dream. So allot yourself this solitude daily.
Image credit: sunshinecity on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0
Abhinanda Banerjee is a full-time freelance writer and stage actor. She’s an avid reader, culinary enthusiast, and lover of everything about the sixties.