❄️ Freezethawed: The Newsletter #017 - Writing is thinking on paper
Hello everyone!
This week’s newsletter has been written in parts from Pondicherry, Chennai, Indore and Kolkata! Indigo Airlines have been extremely indecisive with their flight schedules and hence, I have been shuttling around the country. Forgive me if this issue seems a bit haphazard.
It has been almost six months since I’ve tried to build a (semi) consistent writing habit and I am happy to report that it has been a successful practice so far. I spent the week looking up writing habits and I’d like to share some interesting insights I came across from some slightly more noteworthy personalities than myself.
Haruki Murakami: “The repetition itself becomes the important thing.”
Ernest Hemingway: “I write every morning.”
Khaled Hosseini: “You have to write whether you feel like it or not.”
And my personal favourite, Jerry Seinfeld: “People tell you to write like you can do it, like you’re supposed to be able to do it. Nobody can do it. It’s impossible. The greatest people in the world can’t do it. So if you’re going to do it, you should first be told: “What you are attempting to do is incredibly difficult. One of the most difficult things there is, way harder than weight training, way harder, what you’re summoning, trying to summon within your brain and your spirit, to create something onto a blank page.”
It might come as a surprise to you, when I tell you that I’ve never written this consistently in all my 27 years and the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has boned well for me, helping me cultivate this habit.
Anyway, I would like to share my two cents in the form of my top 5 pointers for how you can as well as why you shouldbuild a consistent writing habit too:
1. Where do I begin?
If you do not know what to write about and yet want to build a consistent writing habit, the easiest way is begin is to write about your day. This will give you plenty of things to describe every time you sit down to write. It helps you remember more from each day as you look back upon it. Also an added bonus, writing is the best way to talk without being interrupted.
2. Make yourself accountable
I started writing regularly only after I knew at the back of my mind that the world (whatever little bit of it at least) was expecting a newsletter from me every weekend (much like this one), hence making myself accountable to my readers. You can make yourself accountable in any way you feel comfortable. Set a writing goal and tell a friend about it. Give him/her Rs. 500 and ask them to return it back only if you come back after 30 days saying you’ve nailed that goal.
3. Reduce the friction
All you need is a pen and paper or your smartphone to jot your mind on paper. The mood is always correct and the time is always now.
4. Scheduling
If you can take out 10 minutes in a day or 30 minutes in a week to write, there is nothing like it. This is your time for uninterrupted writing. Jot whatever you can down in one go. There is no need of a filter system. Scheduling helps your mind and body prepare for the session and prevents you from missing it on an otherwise busy day.
5. Free up brain space
Your mind is made for having thoughts, not storing them. The quicker you get your thoughts out of your head and onto some tangible medium, the more time and space you make for having new ones. I feel this is the drive home point I want to make.
Hope you could relate to that!
Until next time.
Anujeet.
Anujeet’s book journey
This week I finished:
- Dark Matter – Blake Crouch
This was a cover to cover edge-of-your-seat sci-fi thriller that I would heavily recommend. It explores the concept of time travel, the multiverse and game theory. Give it a read!
Currently I am reading:
- Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo
Aggregate, the weekly quote
The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.
-Steve Jobs
Harmony, the weekly song
Stuck in a Moment -U2
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