A spirit that once was full of life and art

Has now become dull, feeling it difficult to start

Even the most delightful task –

To spill out words on paper and bask

In the mood of accomplishment that like

None other would hasten and hike

Your spirit as a being.

What has gone wrong?

Is it a phase that’d hang along?

Maybe a test to make you strong?

Stay put and prove you’re made of stronger metal

Fight back with words and show your true mettle

Not to surpass some random judgement

But for yourself to become triumphant

Over your inner self that at the moment is redundant.

1. Throw a hook to book attention

Begin your writing with a hook line, which can be anything including a question, rhetoric, an example or even a story. But remember, being desperate to make the first impression the best, do not end up writing irrelevant things, which has got nothing to do with the context of your content.

2. Be crisp as you frisk around

There is a chance that you might have a small encyclopaedia hidden inside you. However, your write-up is not a stage set up to exhibit all your learnings. Never let your readers experience that irritability which you had faced when putting up with a relative of yours who goes on and on with their stories, for the simple reason that your reader would not require the help of Google maps to go all the way to the ‘Close’ button.

3. The ability called readability

Graceful presentation of content is of great significance. It shows how disciplined you are as a writer. This isn’t a mammoth task but is easily achievable if you bear in mind a few things including the font style, size, colour, alignment, single spaces between the words, uniformity in spellings, and so on. This is no hype. No one would serve their Ravioli in a broken vessel, would they?

4. No faking it till you are done making it

There is no rule that your content should sound cool or funky unless it comes naturally to you as a writer or with a wee bit of extra effort. It is very important that your content should sound genuine and not look like a made-up block of text. Unless you want to make it awkward for the reader like some online influencers who, for the sake of being genuine unpack umpteen number of “gifts” their followers had sent them out of “sheer love” that they end up adding the links to their followers’ page in their Insta bios.

5. Keep your search on till the research is done

A full-fledged research is the key to a good piece of writing. Research makes the whole process of writing exciting and knowledgeable. It is a simple logic that you can share only what you have. If you have no clue or conviction on what to write about, there is a high chance that you digress from your focus point and go haywire. So, invest your time in doing ample research and finding new things. After all, if it was not for this article, I wouldn’t have known that ‘ravioli’ translates to ‘little turnip’ in Italian nor that Mr Nietzsche had said something proving the strength of words.

6. No beating around the bush

Your content should be direct. Even though a little wordplay is impressive, the essence of your write-up should not wade off in the act of doing so. If you need to talk about a lotus bloom in the middle of a pond, emphasize the flower rather than the colour of the man’s shirt who is fishing nearby or the size of the house adjacent to him. The content you present should have a solid structure and a natural continuity in the ideas you express. Also, be careful that you do not bring up the name of your product/service/topic a hundred times throughout the content, and display it like baubles on a Christmas tree. Implicitly convey the crux of your writing because subtle is the new cool.

7. A strict no to jargons unless unavoidable

You might be a pro with words, but your reader might be a beginner who has come online in search of some information. Stuffing your article with a handful of technical terms might end up scaring your reader and making you sound like a boring writer. That would be the last thing you would want at the moment, right? However, do not hesitate to use technical terms while writing for subject-specific journals or for academic platforms that demand you to do so.

8. The pen (keyboard) is mightier than the sword

Last but definitely not the least, you shall win any content war with the right strategy. You may plan your writing to include Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) keywords to boost the ranking of your site. Your catchphrase can become Cupid’s arrow making anyone a potential client. As a writer, this also leaves you with a certain social responsibility. Use your words as wisely and as kindly as possible to not sound offensive. Indulge in a conversation with your reader, reach out to them as you speak to a friend. Write, change their world and yours in the best way possible.

To feel like screaming out to the world a dozen things and more,
But swallow the words to the depth of your being.

To feel like travelling the nook and corner of the world,
Not leaving aside even a yard of land untouched,
Yet having to stay chained to a place.

The urge to break free and expose the faces, tearing off masks,
Revert back in the exact emotion you bear,
Lest yourself wear the mask of liking and composure,
Nodding head in agreement.

These are not hypothetical scenarios
Nor scenes from a melodrama.
But true stories of the world,
Maybe with an exception of two or three or!
It is for real. We do. We endure. We live.

The sun was all set to call it a day. She sat facing the sea, her arms and feet all feeling the sand. There were waves in her eyes. As the wind toyed with her wavy hair creating a tangled mess out of it, she started speaking.

"The sea always remind me of people. The people who were, are and will be part of my life. There are no obvious physical connections, but these two bond at the psychological level. Both, the sea and the people equally fascinates me and leaves me curious with never a clear answer to my queries. The waves come to you, leave on their choice and you are left to expect for a new one. So are people. They enter your life and ought to leave after some time and you end up meeting new people. Some waves and some people turn up at the least expected time. Just like some waves leaving a pretty little shell at your feet, so do some people fill your life with happiness and surprises. But then, there are waves that would come to you and return taking away the sand under your feet, leaving you seeking for a grip to support yourself. This is how certain people would treat you, that you will need to take some time, breathe and pull yourself together before you move on. The sea is a mystery box, deeper than the deepest. So are human minds. Predictable, confusing, gentle, bizarre and much more all at the same time. You look at the sea, you see life and you learn life. Your life is the sea."

Her words ceased as she felt the smell of cotton candy approaching her. She looked aside and found a little boy smile at her showing his candy coated teeth. Soon she heard a voice from behind.

"Watch out boy! You never know when such women might turn violent. Why doesn't someone lock her up in the asylum I wonder! "

She kept gazing at the sea. Such mundane comments made little interruptions to her "Learning Life" sessions.

People say, it keeps you going
They call Hope a fuel
That'ould help you
Ignite your spirits,
Make you a phoenix that would die
To rise again with vigour.

But, to expect is a different thing.
It can turn your glee filled heart
To a piece of stone or a cracked wall
In no time, maybe a second or two.
It can pull you down
From the zenith of joy
And hover around your phoenix's wings,
Make you stay buried in the ash.

So beware! And learn
Life's most important lesson-
The lesson to distinguish
Hope from expectation.
For the former brings light to your life,
And the latter turns it to fumes!

I know you disfigure yourself
To enhance your beauty on nights like these,
And tonight, like every other night
With your sight I find solace
And the fickle periphery of your material self
Bothers me not to a bit,
As you have always proved
The witness and only listener
To my erupting blabbers
When the world around displayed
Indifference through sleep.

With the freedom of our acquaintance
The one thing I would ask you is,
Tell me what is it that most facinates you?
"An unbroken human spirit in this messed up world", came the answer.

When I believed in “Forever.”

But now I know

Forever is a lie

Perhaps, the most complex one of all.

It’s nothing but thorns

Presented as soft toys,

A nightmare disguised as a dream,

A rapist advocating for human rights.

Take my word-

I’ve lost faith in Forever.

Still, if you choose to repeat

“Forever” to me,

I would reply with blinking eyes

And a plastered smile.

For, you’re either too tender a stalk

In the bouquet of life

To understand,

Or a hardened hypocrite

Still sticking behind the mask.

The next thing I did was simply run for help. My messages literally screamed for help and rushed to the inboxes of a handful of "my people." I thought at least one of them would understand my state of mind, but all they did was make me realize that I had no scope to escape. Finally, I decided to face the heat.

Later, on introspection, I did realize that somewhere within, a part of myself wanted to converse with the world. To scribble out first and then to know how many others reflect the same vibe. Or maybe, I would come across so convincing an opinion that my perspective gets totally altered. Words flowing freely has the power to touch the heart of a total stranger. When someone randomly reads your writeups and then exclaims that their feelings have been put into words by a person from some other part of the world, totally oblivious of your existence, then that moment marks the beginning of an unknown connection rooted with a sense of belonging.

Apart from reaching out to the world, writing in a way is regaining your voice. When you write about a certain topic, you come into terms with yourself on your knowledge, attitude and perspective about it. Thus, a process of rediscovering of self happens.

Writing is hence meditation, where you indulge in a conversation with your innerself. Writing is music when your words reflect the feelings of a total stranger. Writing is a silent commitment, an act of being responsible and sincere to yourself and the world. Moreover, writing is an art, the most liberal one I would say, for all it takes you to write is your knowledge of a language and a little bit of lessons learnt from life.

So, gathering all the bits of knowledge and experience I could so far earn in life, along with lots of encouragement and love from a bunch of wonderful people, I begin my journey - the journey towards the evolution of a writer!