How to be a Writer Bangladesh Perspective -Kazi F. Eshita

Writing happens to be one of my greatest sources of solace. I’ve been writing since I was 11, and I try to hone my writing skills everyday. I know, that many of my readers might have a hidden writer within themselves. If you really want to be a writer, it’s not that hard, really. Try to follow a few techniques, and by Allah’s grace, you will succeed.

Reading is a must
To be a good writer, one must be an avid reader too. Try to read newspapers of different languages everyday. Being used to more than one language will help you increase your vocabulary easily, within a short period of time. Newspapers will also open the door to knowledge about various current issues and different points to ponder. To be a good writer, it is important to be updated with the world.
On the other hand, reading a vast range of books starting from classics onto modern- day literature, will enable you to be accustomed with various writing styles of established authors. Biographies of well-known people across the globe will tell you how they had successfully reached their goals despite having a lot of obstacles in their way. For example, the celebrated author of the Harry Potter series had thought of committing suicide at a very early age, due to the rough challenges life threw her way. She concentrated on writing; she had enough confidence on herself and her pen. As a result, today Harry Potter is a globally recognized character both on and off screen.

Write everyday
Reading and writing goes hand in hand if you want to take your writing seriously. Keeping a journal or an online blog comes handy for free writing. Even if the only reader of whatever you write, happens to be yourself, please write on. Writing can be therapeutic and has a lot of psychological benefits. For example, writing about a bad experience that might make you angry now, helps with emotional reconciliation later on. Also, writing on paper before putting the document on screen makes the editing process a lot easier.

Participate in competitions
There are always a ton of competitions (essay or story writing) available in various newspapers or magazines. Don’t think of receiving an award for participating, but just simple participation will boost up your confidence to a great extent. Moreover, if it’s a competition overseas, you can be happy about representing your country in the midst of plenty of people from various countries and cultures. Moreover, prizes and awards can come as bonuses your way, which can inspire you to take your writing even more seriously.

Don’t edit beforehand
Please do not start editing after you finish writing just a line or two. At first, just let your pen flow. Once you’ve finished writing your first rough draft down, only then go back, check line by line and do the edits required.

Keep a dictionary/thesaurus near you
Dictionaries and Thesauruses are important to check the meanings of words, and to replace words with proper synonyms/antonyms. Nowadays, the word processing software has these things installed inside, even then, the traditional, thick books can never go out of fashion, and those are always helpful.

Avoid Writer’s Block
Every writer knows how painful writer’s block can be. Sometimes, the powerful pen just gives up. “No, I do not want to write, and that’s final,” it tends to say. To avoid such unexpected demons, you should write at least a little everyday. If you don’t feel like writing at all, at least try to solve crossword puzzles or word mazes. Playing will save you from running out of topics. Remember, your brain is a muscle, and writing can help that muscle develop in more than one way.

To be a proper writer, you don’t really have to run after a lot of money, you just have to fell in love with writing over and over again. Remember, you can be a great writer if you are passionate, and if you are confident enough about your thinking abilities. Moreover, writing certainly requires a lot of research, especially if you plan to focus on non-fiction topics.  So, please be patient enough to do sufficient research both inside and outside the Internet before you start writing.

Please avoid plagiarism
I believe that every writer works really hard to produce his/her brainchild. Therefore, if you are quoting or paraphrasing some parts of a different author’s work into your own, please don’t forget to mention the original author’s identity, that is the simplest form of respect we can send each other’s way.

To sum up, being a good writer might seem hard at first, but believe me, it’ll become a sweet piece of cake if you follow certain writing etiquette and if you are honest with whatever you write. Keep that pen vertical; it is more powerful than a sword.