Useful Habits for an Aspiring Writer
Triggers for deep thinking that underpins the creative process
Anyone who has tried at least once to put thoughts, ideas or feelings on paper knows that writing and the creative process are essential factors for a writer’s success.
It takes a routine for a writer to be able to detach himself from the real world and enter the imaginary universe of words. It takes a lot of work to be able to write books that will capture the readers’ attention, and talent should not be lacking either.
Great writers are also good readers. They read many books and are inspired, in turn, by the literary works of other great authors. They are also fine observers and write down on their diaries or in their notebooks the ideas aroused by daily events or by the people they know, lines that are then told by a character in the novel.
Over time, the world’s great writers have told us what their habits are when they write, what they like and don’t like to do, how they find inspiration, and how they put on paper the mixed thoughts that go through their minds every day.
Whether they wake up at 4 AM to write for five hours, like Haruki Murakami, or if they drink 50 cups of coffee a day to be able to write, as Honoré de Balzac, there are some habits that every aspiring writer should follow.
Write a little every day
Writing is, for most, the full-time job to which they give time and energy every day. On the other hand, novice writers find millions of reasons why they don’t write every day: they don’t have good ideas, they don’t have enough time, they don’t have enough self-confidence, or they don’t have anything interesting to say.
Those who want to become writers should write a little every day. It doesn’t have to be good texts, stories that instantly capture the audience’s attention. It’s about consistency and the desire to get better every day.
Writers read
Professional writers are, in most cases, also professional readers. All great writers read a lot of stories. We live in a time when there are many sources of entertainment, from social media statuses to blogs and newspaper articles. And such activities are relaxing and can be a source of inspiration.
That is why many of today’s writers have integrated reading into their daily routine. But a storyteller needs to broaden his horizons, let his mind imagine and “steal” from the writing of others. To find their own voice, those who aspire to become writers must first identify many other famous voices.
Writers are good observers
Imagination plays an important role in a writer’s life, but it is also important to be a good observer. Great stories can appear anywhere, you just have to look up from the phone and notice the world around you. Inspiration does not appear suddenly, it must be cultivated.
Therefore, those who want to become writers must pay more attention to the world around them, to the events of everyday life and to the people who get in their way. Each person can hide a story that is a good novel subject and any event can turn into a literary work.
Writers let themselves be carried away
The first draft is probably the weakest, but it is a start. Most writers are aware that not everything they write is quality stuff. I know I can’t show readers all the scribbles written in my diary. But I also know that I can come back anytime to rewrite a paragraph, find a new angle of approach, or rewrite a meaningless story.
On the other hand, editing while writing is time-consuming and demoralizing. A good writer always wants what he writes to be a work of art, but if he stops to analyze every word or expression after every paragraph, it will be even harder to finish what he started.
Touch at least one of the levels of being
The subtle interior structures are:
- The biological level. This is a feeling experience that awakens instincts such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and behavior determined by sensations, reflexes, instincts, which are expressed through hunger, thirst, cold, heat, sleep, conservation instincts, reproduction, avarice.
- The affective level. This has the shape of a subtle body made up of particles so small that they cannot be perceived by devices because they are made of materials belonging to the biological level. The vibrations of this body, which we usually call the soul, express emotions, affections of joy, sadness, pain, fear, love, tenderness, longing, anger, etc. They can cause sudden releases of energy, which, in turn, determine thoughts, decisions, concepts, new understandings. At the creative level, they express zeal through research.
- The mental level. This takes the form of an aura and coordinates memory, intuitions, and tendencies. At this level, we have dreams and other categories that reflect feelings. For the creative process, the mind is the place where the preparation is done.
- The logical level. This is where the logic acts and the effects occur. Here the logic of sublimation is expressed by an inner fire. This is where decisions are made, actions are decided. The cutting of one’s own will through logic determines self-knowledge.
- The intellectual level. Here are generated laws, principles, concepts, ideas, symbols, myths, representations, relationships. This is the place where enlightenment takes place in creativity. The understanding of the world is given by the level at which men live who concentrate on this level in the form of a concept about the world and life. It determines actions and feelings, virtue or passions. It is the level of intellectuals, of art creators, of philosophers.
- The temperance level. This is dominated by the law of balance and harmony. It is the place where verification takes place in creativity.
- The consciousness level. Here is the level of conscious acts, the models, the logic and all the categories of the creative system, which become bright and active. Thus, the light shines upon the mirror of consciousness. At this level, the evolution of human beings can be observed.
