Today, when we think of writing, the image of a man sitting in front of his desk with sheets of paper before him, a quill in his hand and an inkwell on the table, rarely comes to mind. But that was how writers practiced their craft in the olden days. In those days, the only tools a writer needed were an imaginative and creative mind, a powerful vocabulary, flair and passion for writing, a quill (probably many of them), an inkwell, ink, and sheets of paper.

Quill was the writing instrument that dominated the early years of writing — for more than 1400 years. Even now, some calligraphers use quill pens for their craft. Later, the quill was replaced by the fountain pen. Lewis Waterman invented the fountain pen and got a patent for it in 1884. With the invention of fountain pens writers could spend more time thinking and writing rather than preparing their writing instruments and inks. The ballpoint pen made its appearance in 1938; it was invented by Laszlo Biro, a journalist from Hungary. The writing instruments continued to evolve and got better thus making writing less cumbersome. But the power of the words still remains unchanged and the pen still plays a crucial role in shaping and changing the history of mankind and the lives of many.

Writers inspire, motivate, inform, engage, excite, empower, and take their readers through a range of emotions from absolute bliss to utter dismay with their words. Wars start and end, treaties and pacts get signed, people become famous or notorious, heroes are praised and villains punished, courtships start, love bloom and blossom, lovers get married, and some marriages end in divorces, authors are born and influence generations, people gossip, spy on each other, countries flourish and perish, all at the stroke of the pen. The Islamic prophet Muhammad is quoted as saying “The ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr.” It was in 1839, the English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton coined the adage “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Truer words were never spoken!

The power of words cannot be overemphasized. According to Lord Byron:
“Words are things; and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions think.”
Writers should master the words and should learn everything that will make their writing more accurate, effective, captivating, attractive, and influential.

The modern writers need all the skills their predecessors possessed. The skills remain the same — an imaginative and creative mind, powerful vocabulary, and flair and passion for writing. But the tools have changed. The quill got replaced by the pen long time back. Now even the pen is slowly being replaced by computers.

Stewart Brand, the famous American editor and writer, once said “once a new technology rolls over you, if you are not part of the steamroller, you are part of the road.” This is very true in the case of computers and information technology. In today’s information age, knowledge of computers is a must. We use computers, either directly or indirectly, in each and every aspect of our lives. We use computers on many different occasions in our day-to-day life. Computers, Internet, and Information Technology (IT) are changing the way writers write, copy-editors edit, reviewers review, and even readers read.

Today an author can publish what she has written in a matter of seconds. She can upload it to her blog, which will be read from people all over the world who can comment about the article, recommend it to friends, and so on. All this can happen in a matter of minutes. Writers can work from anywhere in the world and the audience is the entire world. For example, I wrote this article from my home in Cochin (India), which I uploaded to Blogcritics website in San Francisco (USA). It was edited by the Books Editor at Blogcritics from his home in Southern California. He then published it and you are reading it from wherever you are in the world.

The availability of new tools that can improve productivity and accuracy of writers, reduce the time-to-publish, improve accessibility, and provide access to a world-wide audience are changing the rules of the game and if you want to be among the successful, you have to learn the new tools and embrace the new technology.

Nothing can replace your writing skill, creativity, imagination, flair, and passion as there are no substitutes for those. But a mastery over the tools that improve the writing — search engines that will help you in finding facts faster, on-line dictionaries and thesauri that will help you find the right words and phrases, tools that will check the spelling and grammar mistakes, etc. – can give you an edge over the competition.

Anybody who wants to succeed in today’s world cannot afford to ignore computers and information technology. Computer literacy does not mean that you should take a degree in Computer Science. It does not mean that you should know programming and computer architecture. It only means that you should know how to use the computer for your day-to-day activities.

Today’s writers need to be proficient in the use of computers — they should know how to create and edit documents in a word processor, enter and manipulate data and produce graphs and charts in an electronic spread sheet, manipulate photographs and images digitally using image editing tools, create illustrations and flow charts using a diagramming software, use the editing and proofing tools, etc. They should also know how to access and use the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW). They should know how send and receive e-mails, search the WWW to find the required information, create a blog and post blog entries, upload text, files, and images to the Internet, use mobile devices like laptops, notebooks, and smartphones to do all the above mentioned tasks while on the move.

Lois Horowitz, the American librarian has said it well. According to Lois “Not having the information you need when you need it leaves you wanting. Not knowing where to look for that information leaves you powerless. In a society where information is king, none of us can afford that.” Thus, for the modern writer, knowledge of computers and Internet is not a luxury, but a necessity.

“You are writing more than you are reading… Surely the sign of an amateur!”

This is a line from the movie Quills, which is the story of Marquis de Sade. Quills is a wickedly funny and sexy movie, which is full of violence and gore. But the above words could not be truer.

If you want to be a professional writer, rise above the level of ‘amateurs,’ make money out of your writing, achieve fame and name, and be respected and admired as a master of your craft, then you should practice the craft and practice it rigorously with dedication, concentration, and determination. You must read more and you must write more. You must do this on a regular basis — as regularly as you eat and drink.

You must read a lot and while you are reading try to learn the new words and phrases that you encounter. Learn how the word or phrase is used in different situations to convey different meanings or different shades of the same meaning. Improving your vocabulary will enrich your writing. You will have more than one word for any given situation and that knowledge is power. Sometimes the apt word is not the one that comes first to your mind. But the knowledge that you have others in your repertoire will give you confidence and make your writing richer and attractive.

While reading, spend time to ponder about the writing style of the author. Think of the reasons why the author chose a particular style, word, or phrase to express his ideas. Try to find out what makes the writing tick. Learn the techniques that the author uses to capture your attention from the first sentence onwards and keep it till the end and keep you thinking even after that. Find out what makes the writing great.

Reading for writing is different from reading for pleasure or casual reading. There is nothing casual when you are reading to learn the craft of writing. Take notes while writing. Write down the words, phrases, and sentences that are interesting. Practice using the words and phrases in your writing. Three books that will help you in improving your reading and teach you how to read for writing better are:

• Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom

A book that will give you daily material to read each day, a book that contains excerpts from books that are examples of great writing is The Daily Reader: 366 Selections of Great Prose and Poetry to Inspire a Productive and Meaningful Writing Life by Fred White.

As you start reading regularly you should also start writing regularly. Make writing a part of your daily routine. Find a fixed time and space where you can sit undisturbed and write. Write about anything you want. But it is better to have a list of topics that you want to write about. Keep the list on a notice board and keep adding topics to the list as and when you get new ones. This will ensure that you are never short of ideas.

Think about what you are going to write for any given day well in advance. If you want to refer books, visit places, or do something that will make the writing more interesting, this will give you enough time to do that. For example, if you are planning to write about the evening life at the beach, then a few evenings at the beach will help a lot in making your writing interesting as you will be able to infuse a lot of color, characters, situations, and energy into your writing.

When you go for such ‘experiences,’ take a notebook or recording device and a camera with you. Notebooks are ideal as you can write and sketch on them. Recording devices are useful, if you are interviewing someone, which is a very good idea as the inclusion of a small interview in an article will give it a real feel. Photographs serve two purposes. It will help you to recall all the details. It will also provide pictures that could be included in the article. Today a reasonably good digital camera is very affordable and you can take as many pictures as you want and download it to your computer. The camera has become an indispensable tool for the writer.

There are many books that give hundreds of topics from which you can choose. Some of them are:

• The Daily Writer: 366 Meditations to Cultivate a Productive and Meaningful Writing Life by Fred White
• The Writer’s Idea Book by Jack Heffron
• The Write-Brain Workbook: 366 Exercises to Liberate Your Writing by Bonnie Neubauer
• 4 A.M. Breakthrough: Unconventional Writing Exercises That Transform Your Fiction by Brian Kiteley

When you sit down to write, write without thinking too much about grammar, spelling and sentence quality. Write fast and write whatever comes to you mind. Only after completing the first draft you should think about spelling, grammar, quality, and correctness.

Once you have finished writing, set it aside. Take the previous day’s writing and start editing it. When you edit or revise your first draft, you should do it slowly looking for mistakes — spelling, grammar, and usage — and also for the appropriateness of the words used. A dictionary, thesaurus, and a style and usage guide should be kept within easy reach for reference. Read aloud what you have written. This will help you in identifying the words that don’t sound nice or that doesn’t go well with the other words of that sentence.

As the days go by you will find that your writing is improving and your reading is helping you in becoming a better writer. As you read more, you will write better and as your writing improves you will get more time to read!

Click on the image to see the enlarged view.

Most writers, artists, and inventors,
Often use their Moleskines to
Live, love, dream, draw, and write.
Energize their lives and motivate them to
Strive harder to achieve their goals,
Kindle the mind and ignite the creative spirit.
Inspire and get inspired to create and develop,
New ideas, inventions, and innovations that,
Emerge from their Moleskines!!!

Earnest means “serious in intention, purpose, or effort”. It means serious in the pursuit of one’s goals. One of the qualities all successful writers have in common is the earnest desire to write. It is a quality that every writer, who wants to become successful, should acquire.

Like any other creative profession, writing too is 90 percent perspiration and 10 percent inspiration. Every successful writer will tell you the importance of making writing a part of your daily life—a routine activity or habit like sleeping, eating, or bathing.

The amount of time, the exact time of the day (or night), the place, the writing material—all can vary depending on the individual.

Some people choose early mornings to write. Some others write late in the night, after everyone has gone to sleep. Yet another group of writers write both in the morning and evening. Some of them use mornings to write and evenings to revise and edit. Some write for 4-5 hours at a stretch. Some others write for 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours at night. It is a matter of individual preference.

Some people use pen and paper; some use computer; yet another group writes their first drafts or outlines on paper and then key-in the work once they have got their ideas in place. Some writers use a Dictaphone to capture the ideas and later transcribe them on to the computer or notebook. Again it is a matter of preference.

One important thing every writer needs is a writing space—a quite place where he can practice his craft without interruptions and disturbances. It can be a well equipped study, it can be a table in corner of your room, or it can be the dining table when it is not used. You can use any place as your writing space as long as it is comfortable, you can write without interruptions and disturbances, and it is available every day at your preferred time. Some writers have the gift or ability to write whenever they want and wherever they want. But for most writers, writing space is a must for producing quality output.

Irrespective of the location, duration and mechanism of writing, one factor that separates successful writers form others is that they show up to write; day after day, week after week, month after month, and no doubt year after year.

Some days you won’t be able to write anything. You just keep staring at the blank page or the empty screen. Don’t get upset or become frustrated. It happens to all writers. There are good days and bad days. But the important thing is to show up for work—to write, to read, to research, to edit, to revise, to rewrite and to write again.

You can do many things to hone your craft on your bad days. You can read, learn new words and new usages of words you know, read books on the craft of writing, solve crossword puzzles, play word games, and so on. So even if you are unable to write on a particular day, it won’t be a waste of time. You are improving your craft, learning new skills, practicing the ones you already know; all with the aim of improving your writing.

If you are stuck or you don’t have a topic to write about, you can use the prompts available in many books on writing and idea generation. But for a person who keeps his eyes, ears and mind open, I don’t think there will be any shortage of ideas.

It is not very important whether you write or do some activity related to writing. If you write, what you write is not very important. The important thing is to sit in front of your computer or notebook at your allotted writing time every day without fail. Some days you will be able to write and some days you won’t. Some days you will write pretty ordinary stuff; some other days you will write exceptionally well and on a few occasions you will create magic. But for creating the magic, you have to show up and be prepared to capture it.

As they drove away, Gallagher asked, voice slightly muffled, “How did you manage to do such a difficult task so naturally and this fast?”
“Practice, Sean, that is what it takes. Lots of practice,” Martineau told him and turned into the road that led towards Red house.
- Jack Higgins in Night of the Fox.

Once you start and continue practicing your craft day in and day out without fail, your writing will improve and there will be more days when you could write brilliantly and create magic. Once writing becomes part of your daily routine you will find a lot of things to write about as your subconscious mind is always working in the background generating ideas and crafting stories for you. So, as you progress, your writing will become effortless, the ideas will flow smoothly, the words will come marching out and arrange themselves into beautiful sentences and most of the days you will be able to write something worthwhile.

Once you become a ‘daily writer‘ your output—the amount of quality material that you can produce—will improve and soon you will have something substantial to share with others—an article, an essay, a story, a poem or even a book! Happy writing…

Are you a writer or are you one who thinks you are a writer. According to Random House Dictionary a writer is a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., esp. as an occupation or profession.

A person does not need a published book or article to be a writer. And one does not become a writer just because he or she has published a book or story. The definition of a writer is someone who is passionate about writing, who lives to write and who cannot live without writing. So are you a writer?

Given below are a few tips given by N. M. Kelby in the wonderful book The Constant Art of Being a Writer. These tips helps you in identifying whether you are a writer or some sort of hack working on a pipe-dream. I really think that we all can learn a lot from these tips:

Real writers know that there is a market for all good writing, and so they hone their craft. Hack writers know they’ll be rich and famous if only they make the right connections.

Real writers revise and revise again. Hack writers say that the famed Jack Kerouac never revised and so they don’t have to.

Real writers understand that editors who reject them have made that decision based on their own taste and the marketplace. They know that somebody else will fall in love with their work; they just have to keep trying. Hacks know the editor has no taste and is stupid—and isn’t afraid to tell her that to her face either. Or send her an e-mail to that effect, or twelve e-mails. More is better.

Real writers work, even if they don’t feel like it. This is a job after all. Hacks work when they feel inspired. Writing, after all, is a calling.

Real writers know they can always learn from their mistakes and grow. Hacks know that they are right and refuse change despite what everyone tells them.

Real writers write because they love to write. Hacks write because it is an easy way to get rich.

Real writers know that sometimes you write a weak book. Hacks know there’s a cabal of publishers plotting against them.

Real writers know brilliance when they see it. Hacks know they are brilliant.

Real writers understand publishing is a cooperative and flawed industry. Hacks feel their talent makes them the exception to every rule.

Real writers know it’s easy to get discouraged and sometimes do.

Real writers are leery of praise and know that a publishing contract is the only true sign that the work is good.

Real writers define success by being able to write and know that sometimes that big paycheck never comes.

Real writers follow their hearts.

Hacks bellow, curse, blame, gossip, and snipe. They do anything they can do to hide their broken hearts—except work.

Source: The Constant Art of Being a Writer by N. M. Kelby.

[Source: http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/rules.htm]

Forgetting the readers and their level of understanding is one of the major reasons for a failed book. But it is one aspect that authors often ignore. So, let me say it once again—READER is the King. As a technical writer, you are the expert; you know the subject well; you know which areas are difficult to learn and which concepts are tough to grasp. So it is your duty as the author to simplify, illustrate and demonstrate the subject and its concepts in such a way the user will understand. If you can write in an ‘easy-to-read’ style so that the reader does not lose interest and can present the topics in an engaging manner then your readers will love your book.

Some of the techniques to simplify the difficult topics and make it easy to learn is the use of examples, case studies, diagrams, illustrations, photographs, tables, graphs, quizzes, trivia, etc. If the examples given are based on your experience, they will give the book a personal touch and that is very important to connect with the readers. The real-world case studies will help the readers to understand how the concepts are applied in real life and how they help in solving real problems.

Studies show that communicating visually, illustrating your message with visuals, is more than six times as effective as communicating with text alone. A single diagram, illustration, or photograph can convey what pages of text can. For example, the organization of an ERP implementation team is best understood if it is given as an organizational chart, rather than trying to explain it using words.

Organization of the ERP Implementation Team

So, use figures and illustrations appropriately and effectively. The photographs that are used should be apt for the situation. The figures should be neatly drawn and should be able to convey the concept clearly instead of confusing the reader. Here the author must take the help of a graphic artist, if he/she is not proficient in creating high quality sketches and clear diagrams.

Tables and graphs are used to present data that is difficult to convey as text. For example, the percentage of different types of software maintenance can be best expressed in the form of a Pie graph.

Percentage Distribution of Maintenance Activities by Type

The relationship between the cost of correcting a bug and the stage of software development where it is discovered is best illustrated using a table. Rather than writing pages of text, one can just give a single sentence—“it is better to find the bugs as early as possible as the cost of correcting the code increases as the software moves from design to production.” Then a table of the cost of of correcting a bug during the different stages of software development can be given.

Quizzes, interesting facts, and tidbits can be included in the book to keep the readers involved and interested. The quizzes will also help the reader in self-evaluation.

So when you are writing something the first thing you should consider is the target audience of the book—for whom the book is written. Once you identify the knowledge level of your readers—beginner, intermediate, advanced, etc.—you can decide on the writing style and the terminology that is best suited for the book. A book for beginners will be boring for an advanced reader; similarly an advanced book would be beyond the comprehension of a beginner. You can specify for whom you have written the book in the preface—Who should read this book?

If you have to include the introductory and advanced topics in the same book, then try to build the concepts and fundamentals in the initial chapters and introduce the advanced topics once the readers have a working knowledge of the subject. Also you can flag the difficult topics and can advise the beginners to skip those topics.

When you write a book or article with readers in mind, your writing style will change to suit the reader. The length of sentences, the choice of words will also change. The number of illustrations, photographs, and the presentation style will also vary. All these changes will go a long way in improving the usability of the book and the value it will deliver. So, when you are writing the next time, think about the readers and what they want.

One of the questions many aspiring writers ask is “When is the right time to start writing?” The answer in a single word is NOW!

A person who wants to write something, may it be a book, an article, a blog post, or even a letter can start writing as soon as he thinks about it.

In the case of writing about a technical subject, you will never start, if you wait for an appropriate or auspicious time. You know the subject, you know what you want to write and you know how you want to write about it. Then why wait? Start now…

Many people make the mistake of putting off the actual writing giving various reasons—I will start writing as soon as I finish this project; I will start as soon as I finish the research; I will start as soon as I finish this novel, etc. But in most cases, there will always be some reason or other to prevent you from writing. You have to get rid of the inertia and make a start. You need to take a conscious effort to do this.

Another common misconception is that you need at least one or two hours uninterrupted hours to start writing. While uninterrupted hours is great time for writing, you will be surprised how much you can accomplish with shorter durations—even five minutes could used productively if you know how to use it.

Every writer should know how to breakdown the work into small units. Some of these units might need a couple of hours while some others might take only a couple of minutes. Once you have the set of tasks with you, you can choose one that suits the time that is available to you.

Suppose you are waiting at the airport or railway station. You have 30 minutes before the journey. You can finish a small chapter or a section of a chapter in that time. While on the plane, train, bus, or car, you can spend your time constructively. You can write if you want; you can read an article or a book that you need for the next chapter; you can organize your notes or thoughts, and so on.

Once you start looking for writing time, you will realize that there are so many slots available for you to write or do something that will help you in writing.

So don’t wait. Start writing and continue writing whenever you can. You can carry a pocket notebook, (I recommend Moleskine), your laptop, PDA, or smart-phone with you. You will be amazed by the writing opportunities and with your improved productivity.

Irrespective of whether you are a novice or a seasoned writer, you can always improve your craft by reading what the masters have written. George Orwell is one such master. One essay that is a must read for every writer is his essay “Politics and the English Language.” Given below are the questions and rules on good writing taken from the essay.

When writing a sentence you should always ask yourself these questions:

1. What am I trying to say?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
5. Could I put it more shortly?
6. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

When choosing words, follow those rules:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.