Writing Habits

One of the questions I get asked the most is: "why are you such a good writer?"
And it kind of bugs me because the person talking to me often accompanies it with a comment about how they will never be as good as me.
Of course it benefits my ego greatly, but I don't feel like that's a "good" way to compliment somebody.

And I wasn't gifted with magical writing powers, it's all from having writing habits.
So in an attempt to answer these questions, I'm writing a post about good writing habits.

No. 1: Keep a journal dedicated for any ideas you get, or even just to rant in
Not everything that you write will be ready for publishing immediately, and the journal is for making a collection. I'm kind of obsessed with collecting, which my dad says is bad for feng shui. But collecting is okay if it's organised, right?
Basically, don't have your writing floating around on loose sheets of paper because you will lose those papers.
And speaking of collecting, I like to collect notebooks. Writing in a pretty notebook really motivates me. Here's the one that I write in (by the way, I have an obsession with stationery from Typo. I WANT IT ALL):

Ironically, my grandfather studied rocket science in university.
From typo,  9.95 AUD

No. 2: Write in a diary

There are no rules for writing in a diary. I don't mind if you're a guy, I won't judge. Writing in a diary is perfectly fine anyway. 

Just make sure that if you're writing down all your secrets, nobody is able to find your diary. 

No. 3: Make a vocabulary list

#throwback to elementary school - am I the only one who genuinely enjoyed spelling? 

I am? 

Okay. 

(In all seriousness though, this does help. Do this for a couple of weeks and the next time you journal, throw in a few fancy words)

No. 4: When working on a longer story, always stop when you get to the good part

If you stop at a part where you get stuck you won't want to return. But if you get to a part you're excited about writing, you'll get back to your notebook pretty soon. 

Always press on if you get stuck. 

No. 5: Write for an audience

What is it that you're trying to tell the readers? It's great to write for pleasure but sometimes if you want a challenge, write in a different genre or target your writing towards a different age group. 

Authors note: this is good for if you want to make profit off of your writing

No. 6: Clear a "writing space"

I'll admit: I'm bad at this. I just write at my desk, but that works for me. But I get my ideas when I'm about to fall asleep, or when I'm lying on the sofa doing nothing. Which brings me to my next point:

No. 7: Ideas

The trick to writing is having something to write about. If I get an idea I usually write it down before I forget. Which is why sometimes I have drawings or writing on my hands. And no I am not at danger of getting ink poisoning. 

So hopefully that clears up any questions about writing. What helps you to write? Leave suggestions, ideas, habits, questions, et cetera down below. 

Themes

From the point in time that humans decided to tell stories, we have been conveying themes through words. There are only so many themes to write about, and these themes reappear all the time - in movies, novels, comics, cartoons, etc. Some of the themes that I find to be most common are love, friendship, death (or mortality), family, power and words.

But why are these themes always there? What makes them so special? Why do we care?

Themes are subjective and can be put up for discussion. Themes are like images, they portray opinions. Just because something looks one way from this angle doesn't mean it will look like that from a
different angle. Theme is all based around perspective. Themes are relatable and themes can make you feel emotions that you didn't know you possessed the ability to feel (in my case this is often extreme rage, happiness or sadness).

And most importantly, themes deal with things we don't yet understand. Where exactly do we go when we die? Why do we have to die? Is it possible to live forever? Why do we love? How powerful is love? Themes make us think and ponder and try to dig deeper. Everytime we find out new information about them, there are more questions to ask.

People are constantly trying to figure out the 'secrets of life' (call it that if you like). It's our thirst for knowledge that prompts these themes to return again and again. 

The good days and the bad days

Sometimes it feels like I'm a piece of furniture.
I'm there but nobody notices me.
I'm not there and nobody really cares.
It's nice sometimes but not always.

Sometimes it feels like I'm the centre of attention.
I'm there and people swarm around me like flies around a cake.
I'm not there and when I come back, people ask where I was.
It's nice sometimes but not always.

Sometimes I feel like nobody really knows anything about me
Maybe I'm strange
I don't know

This post is nonsense
What is life