Writing is demanding, messy, and disorderly. It will demand a lot of your time and energy. The only way to succeed at it is to build habits. Here are some habits that can be effective tools in your toolkit:
1. Write every day.
If there is one quality writers should pursue more than any other, it is to write every day.
Even when nobody is reading your work, even when you don’t know what to write, even when you know your work is not up to the mark, if you keep on writing, you will get better.
2. Don’t try to be original.
If you try to write an original article or a story, you will never get started. There are thousands of articles out there on the same topic. They still get read. Yours will be different because it will have your voice, your emphasis, and your story. That alone will make it original.
3. Don’t compare yourself with other writers.
Some people are brilliant conversationalists, while others have to learn the craft. Rather than comparing your work with others, compare it with your previous year’s work. If it is better, you are improving. You might still not be at the level you want to be, but you will get there.
4. Experiment.
Write haiku. Tell a story using just dialogue. Write non-fiction using fiction techniques of fiction. Try different forms of writing. Writing is creative, and creativity is making connections between other seemingly unrelated things.
5. Make mistakes.
Mistakes are the best way to learn. We can see what we didn’t see before by making mistakes. Mistakes also show us new possibilities. Making mistakes is not a sign of ignorance or inefficiency; instead, it is a sign of being courageous. We can attribute many discoveries to mistakes.
6. Note down your ideas.
Successful writers are fastidious about recording ideas throughout the day. Mark Twain carried a pocket notebook with him for his ideas. Thomas Jefferson jotted down notes about everything from the growth of plants and flowers to observations about daily life. Assign a notebook to collect ideas. Carry it with you everywhere. Commit to writing 5 -10 ideas in it every day.
7. Have fun.
It is hard to pursue any activity which is not fun. If you have fun, you can learn effortlessly and achieve much more. Have fun with your writing. Make a game out of it.
Entertain and be entertained.
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