Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most inspiring and motivating people of our time. But, did you think he could inspire you budding writers too? You might want to have a read, if you want to know how exactly Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes are remarkably helpful for budding writers to improve on their writing skills.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win.”
Every writer can learn the art of not giving up from Mahatma Gandhi. When you start writing, you are bound to be ignored, laughed at, ridiculed and made fun of. The key is to know that somewhere down the line, you will succeed. A modest start, combined with hard work will certainly bring you success, albeit a little later than expected at times. Once you keep in mind these golden words, and work gradually towards achieving your goals, ignoring the detractors along the way, certainly, the sky is the limit for you. Another quote by Gandhi which fits this situation is “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” Never let the harsh words or criticism of anyone get into your head and affect you in any way.
“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with dirty feet.”
You must take all the positives of the writers you come across, or the writers you idealize, and implement them in your writing. The books that you read, the blogs you follow, and the writers you admire, all of them, in a way, walk in your mind. You need to make sure that only the good qualities of all these people are left behind in your mind. In fact, you are what you read, and that plays a crucial role in moulding you as a writer. So, you need to be careful about the things that you consciously or unconsciously follow, this will make or break you as a writer.
“Continue to grow and evolve.”
Another teaching that Gandhi gives to budding writers is the need to evolve over time. Every writer should work towards getting better after each and every piece of work. Once you finish writing a particular story or novel, you need to analyze where you can improve yourself and evolve as a writer. In today’s world, it is very important for a writer to evolve and grow after every book, keeping in mind the audience’s taste and expectations. You may start small, but if there is no growth over time, you are not doing it right.
“An ounce of patience is worth more than a ton of preaching”
A very important quote, especially in the field of writing. One of the most important characteristics a writer needs to have is patience. If at first you don’t succeed, you don’t need to lose hope. You need to be patient and believe in yourself, and keep working towards achieving that elusive success. Even a little bit of patience is much more valuable than any amount of lessons or teachings of other people around you. Once you get a hold of this patience within you, half the job is done. Eventually, the success, fame and money will come. You just need to work without losing hope.
“Without action, you aren’t going anywhere.”
Finally, once you have thought out your entire story plot, the characters, the ending, and even though you have thought of every possible outcome, all of that counts for nothing unless you put it into action. It is one thing to be mentally ready for your writing task that lies ahead, but unless you put those points and ideas into action, they are worthless. You need to be extremely alert while implementing your ideas, because if not implemented properly, it can lead to your story not being what it was supposed to be.
Image credit: Nagarjun Kandukuru on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Pranay.jpg[/author_image][author_info]Pranay Kanagat is a freelance writer who has a love for writing on various subjects. In particular, he enjoys creative writing. He is also studying for an Engineering degree.[/author_info] [/author]