Today, I scoured through various articles, quotes and comments related to writing. I was looking for an inspiration to write for today’s post. I gained some interesting insights to help me build an integrity for writing. But still I couldn’t come up with anything interesting to write about. Until, I finally settled to write something now, and then again, I ended up slightly changing the “title” of this post; this seems to me that now I am quite certain what I am going to write.
“My writing vows”. And what’s that? Well, it’s just collection of insights that resonated with me and inspired me. When I read these many articles and views about people on writing, not only did it add fuel to my writing aspirations but also confused me. Write everyday or weekly? What should I really be writing about? Maybe I should do this and implement that too and so on. So I finally came up with this idea of writing “Writing vows” which is compilation of my personal take-home messages that I would like to keep reminding myself every now and then, when I need inspiration. This compilation is subject to change. Always.
If each one of us make vows for ourselves with a motive behind. It’ll help us get through the doubtful days. Therefore, what I choose here are somethings that I think will help me write and commit to it in a better way. This could be a framework to create your own vows that suits better with your time and value.
1. Write everyday
Leo Tolstoy said, “I must write each day without fail, not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of my routine.”. Some people argue that writing every day could be something like imposing writing on yourself. Better write weekly, biweekly and other strategies. But after reading through so many opinions, I know what I want. I want to write daily. Yes somedays are not going to be easy but I’ll still write something, everyday. The process of writing makes me hate or love myself. But when I do finish it, it’s always great to see that I did write.
2. Check stats and comments only on Sundays
I have a bad habit of checking WordPress every morning I wake up. Although, I don’t try to let it affect me much yet it’s annoying how I sometimes waste time on that. So, I just do it on Sunday from now onwards.
3. Writing every morning
I am a morning person. But I usually waste my morning hours doing unproductive things. Many famous authors made writing the first task, they did in the morning as it’s the time of maximum peace and concentration. So, instead of doing unwanted things I would rather write some words. Given that I have a University life too, I’ll allow myself to manage hours.
4. Allow myself to break some of these vows once a week, if I want.
There might be days when it’s too much to do something. Then I won’t shy away to take a day off.
5. Write regardless of conditions around you.
“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”
E.B White
I always use my surroundings as an excuse for delaying my writing. Instead, now I will concentrate more on getting my work done.
6. Don’t forget other important things amidst writing
An excerpt from an interview of author Barbara Kingsolver, where she talked about being mother and a writer tells how other parts of our life are also important. That, how they are interconnected and affect us as a whole.
“…On the other hand, I’m immensely grateful to my family for normalizing my life, for making it a requirement that I end my day at some point and go and make dinner. That’s a healthy thing, to set work aside and make dinner and eat it. It’s healthy to have these people in my life who help me to carry on a civilized routine. And also to have these people in my life who connect me to the wider world and the future. My children have taught me everything about life and about the kind of person I want to be in the world. They anchor me to the future in a concrete way. Being a mother has made me a better writer. It’s also true to say that being a writer has made me a better mother.“
-Barbara Kingsolver
7. Update my vows whenever required
These vows culminates as an anchor for me to continue writing and build the habit. And there are chances that some of these vows will work for me and some won’t. So, these vows will update whenever they need to be as I learn and move further.
“Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way.”
–Bernard Malamud
The Quernal 