Image Credit: jeffrey james pacres

One way to think of writing is to jot down abundance of words, leading towards a story or an account. Another way is to simply think of it as a medium to express oneself. Every person often comes across such occasions to put his thought, his ideas, his expressions in words. Occasions are aplenty. Event in his own life. Event in the lives of acquaintances, friends or near & dear ones. Or just a public event.

One of my friends had a similar occasion, one close to his heart. It was anniversary of his engagement with his fiancé, their's 1st. He took all the pains to decide on the gift, the place to buy it from, flowers to go with it and the time they to be delivered at.

And then he did what I see people doing most often these days. He went to google and typed “1st anniversary wishes/messages”. I wondered why did he not simply scribble what he felt?


It’s saddening to see people resist the efforts to pen the words they think of. They go after what others have written, beautifully never-the-less, but at the cost of it being not real, fake. They underestimate the power of conveying ones own feelings in whichever way possible. The words, their structure won’t matter much then. And that is one way one can start writing.

Start short, simple and personal.

To start with, don’t miss a chance to write to your loved ones, breed a will to do so. Wish them for their successes/failures. Appreciate their kind acts. Console them for what they have lost. Keep it simple, write the words you feel. Take effort to make it personal. Involving.

Next go for an outline that you feel would be more effective. Decide what is the best way to put your thoughts through. Try and improvise on different ways you could communicate. Do you want to narrate an incident you people were involved in? Do you want to glance with them at the journey you had together? Do you want to reflect upon their qualities, good or bad? Or do you simply want to tell them what they mean to you? Think how best you can convey what you want to convey.

And you would be surprised to see the effect that has; on both the reader and you as writer. Don’t act amazed if you want to open up, to express yourself more. Have belief in yourself and try to write more. Do so even on more public forums, about public issues.

Only difference is, in public, the reader might not be the one you can personally connect to. Write for yourself first. Write what you would like reading, something that will please you.

So if there is one person, you, who you could please with what you wrote, chances are there will be few more. There will always be a group of readers with whom the thoughts you feel would connect. Adornment of affulent words is no longer a need then.


Remember. Will, Outline and Belief is all it takes

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

-Sylvia Plath

So next time you get an occasion to wish someone, don’t doubt yourself. Start writing. Express.

[Postscript] I had originally written and published this post on Medium. That was before I started writing on my self-owned blog.