Top 4 successful ways of writing effectively

 (“Keep a diary, and someday it will keep you”-Mae West. Image source: wallpaperflare.com)

“If music is peace of mind, then writing is peace of soul”. I strongly believe that in each of us lies a sleeping writer patiently waiting to be awakened. The writer within myself was awoken when I was sent away to boarding school at the tender age of 7. The first year of my boarding school was the toughest, for I was terribly homesick and did not have friends. On 1^st January 1998, my wise mother gave me my first journal diary and a new pen and said “today is the first day of the remaining 364 days. Start writing effectively every little thought and you would never feel lonely and sad”. 

This little gesture from my beautiful mother on a foggy winter morning has given me strength countless times to pen out my emotions and sigh a relief. Although I had begun writing from a tender age, I have lacked any formal structured training in writing effectively. My latent desire to become a successful writer has propelled me to research and learn techniques that I would like to share with you today. 

A memorable KISS

When we think of our first kiss, we are either filled with nostalgia or disgust. Well for a reader, a kiss is equally important. Simply put as Keep It Simple and Sweet (KISS)! As writers we might get entangled in syntax, grammar accuracies, choice of bombastic words and impostor syndrome. This could leave the reader unfulfilled and unhappy. In contrast, when the article is written in straightforward short active voice sentences, it would enhance your writing effectively and becomes a child’s play for the reader. 

Nudge from a Grammar Buddy

While writing we might often get carried away, leaving the reader tediously dragging their eyes through unyielding long sentences, with no sight of an appropriate semicolon or a full stop. To keep the reader engaged, we could use online grammar buddies like Grammarly, and Hemingway to improve grammar inaccuracies and syntax errors efficiently. 

Catchy Headlines are like Aged Wines

Being a voracious bibliophile myself, I have often found my roving eyes settle on articles and book titles with catchy headlines. I had always wondered in awe of the creativity of the writer for a captivating caption. Well for those of us who are amateur fledglings there are headline helpers like CoSchedule Headline Anaylser and Squibler to our rescue. A headline score above 70 is considered a good catch!  

Plagiarists Cause Major Rifts

In our childhood we would often tease our peers with ‘copycat, eat a rat, day-by-day, growing fat”! Similarly, imitating another person’s ideas, presentation and writing style could potentially harm writing effectively. Fortunately, in today’s age of technology we have numerous software like Copyscape, SmallSEOtools to maintain the reliability of our creativeness. 

In the words of Willian H. Gass “the true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words”. Cheers to finding artistic inspiration and writing effectively as word alchemists!

Love Saga of the Inspiring Internet and the Ever-Petulant Phone

                               

                                (Internet and Phone: A Power Couple. Image Source: www.pixabay.com)

Do you remember the first time you were mesmerized at the sight of someone? Do you remember falling in love at first sight? Have you ever felt the pain inflicted by bouts of unexpected anxious separation and a desire to be reunited with your beloved? If yes, then I am sure you would want to listen to the greatest love saga of the Inspiring Internet and the Ever-Petulant Phone in the 21^stcentury!

The birth of the internet and the phone occurred in the 20^th century to a family of pioneering scientists and inventors in the United States of America and Europe. Although birthing of the Internet and Phone were decades apart, both of them were born with a communal purpose and an auspicious destiny. The sages of technology had performed a great Swayamvar where the Internet could choose a spouse to live happily ever after. The contenders at the Swayamvar traveled from faraway kingdoms ranging from the oldest Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) kingdom, Digital-AMPS, IBM Simon, 3G Mobile broadband and the youngest Smartphones kingdom. 

At the turn of the 21^st Century, the Internet encountered the stunningly beautiful Smartphone, who was lovingly nicknamed ‘Phone’ by all and sundry. The marriage of the Internet and Phone was divine intervention. The 21^st century heralded a strong trend of human migration away from their loved ones in search of political asylum, better-paying jobs, financial security and a stable life far away from war-torn countries. Their marriage digitally connected the entire humankind across the racial divide, political affiliations, and religious inclination in a 24/7 manner. The human citizens were forever grateful and fondly christened their rulers as the Inspiring Internet and the Ever-Petulant Phone, for Phone would often be found moody and ill-tempered when the Internet was away. 

The conjugal bliss of the Internet and Phone brought in a golden era and proved at every step of life that the Inspiring Internet and the Ever-Petulant Phone were incomplete without each other. The Internet and Phone decreed that their human citizens adhere to the following rules: 

1. Popularise emailing over writing telegrams
2. Device ‘Apps’ for every aspect of life whether be it financial banking or Yoga
3. Organise online forums for social communications like Facebook and Twitter
4. Start electronic commerce for entrepreneurs and companies
5. Avail online shopping in portals like Amazon, Flipkart
6. Transmit videos and photos in real-time through WeTransfer, DropBox, Google Drive
7. Travel to new places using digitised maps and global positioning system
8. Read books online in Kindle
9. Listen to music in Spotify
10. Play online games remotely across the globe
11. Prepare for examinations through online portals like Unacademy and Simply Learning

The rules set in the kingdom reigned by the Inspiring Internet and the Ever-Petulant Phone remained unchallenged; until one day there was a coup, which forced Internet and Phone’s separation. The enemy called ‘Fake News’ had infiltrated through the ironclad radar of antiviruses and forced humankind to imprison the Internet and Phone into dungeons of obscurity. Fake News disseminated its army of deliberate misinformers to create mistrust, social disharmony and delegitimise facts especially in countries when laws and governance were challenged and changed. Fake news succeeded in disrupting 24/7 global human interaction irrespective of time zones, online marketing, ‘App’ based e-commerce. 

In the years ruled by the Internet and Phone, humans had disregarded archaic habits of reading bound books, writing letters and interacting with people in their neighbourhood. Alas, humans fondly remember the Inspiring Internet and the Ever-Petulant Phone as “death leaves a heartache no one can heal; love leaves a memory no one can steal”. 

Cooperation not competition leads to success

(Image source: freesvg.org)

In 2011 we remember with tears of joy when we had watched Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the erstwhile Captain of the Indian cricket team raise the Cricket World Cup. While the cricketers in the Indian team batted and fielded each ball against the Sri Lankan opponents deftly, a majority of us sat glued to our seats, cheering the Indian team with pride- cutting across all lines of religion, caste, and bipartisanship. Have you wondered if all the Indian cricketers would have focused only on bettering their personal cricketing scores, could India have won the Cricket World Championships in 2011 ever? 

Competition in an ever-changing world

Whenever I think of the word competition I am reminded of a quote by Jules Henry “a competitive culture endures by tearing people down”. Each of us has had numerous instances through-out our lives where our achievements were paled to that of our peers. This constant comparison and the drive to compete often sets psychology- ‘If I am not the best then I am not good enough’. In the long run, we cannot always be ‘the best’ at everything we strive towards. We would sometimes fail and also face tremendous criticism. A person if brought up in a culture to constantly compete might embed a spirit of tenacity to overcome adversities ruthlessly and become more individualistic. At the same time the individual could fail to see failures as stepping-stones to success and instead due to the high pressure to be the best, might begin to harbor negative feelings of jealousy, envy that could decline ones’ self-esteem. 

Cooperation: a more altruistic way to a successful life 

Alternatively, if a child is brought up in an environment devoid of the constant pressure of being the highest scorer at a test or winner in an athletic race, it could help them instil a sense of contentment with their success. I am often reminded of instances where my sister would be over the moon if she got an overall pass of 50% and was happy with every small achievement. She would often say ‘my result matches my effort’. Although one may not be the best at a particular subject or presentation, it does not reflect on the overall person’s ability nor determines success in the future. In the long run of life, individuals such as my sister who have adapted to ward off the high-pressure system of competition usually are team-work oriented, altruistic decision-makers, and open-minded to risks due to an absence of a fear to fail. 

Although you and I have had different experiences throughout our lives, we have faced the harsh high-pressure system of competition and been both victims and perpetrators of this ideology. In the generations yet to come to fruition, let us help them imbibe the words of T. F. Hodge “a cooperative spirit enjoys a better harvest” to make them a kinder and humane generation cutting across all lines of religion, caste, and bipartisanship.