The rules provided in the sources are mostly familiar and useful in the way of writing. I found them to be true and helpful. The rule which I believe to be very much real and interesting enough to motivate writers is “Don’t go searching for a subject; let your subject find you” (Whitehead, 2012). When a writer keeps searching for a topic or a subject to write about, he gets nothing. A writer’s mind is active and creative enough to catch even a small aspect of their daily routines to convert it into literature.
However, the subject or the matter reveals itself to the writer and makes him or her aware that “Only you understand me” (Whitehead, 2012). Colson Whitehead gives interesting and humorous instances of how the subject opens itself up to the writer like, “Your ideal subject should be like a stalker with limitless resources, living off the inheritance he received after the suspiciously sudden death of his father” (Whitehead, 2012). All the other rules, such as keeping a dream diary, writing what you know, and many others, are true since they help the writers put their thoughts into words. One can’t write something he or she doesn’t know about or properly informed about as it will lead to broken thoughts and confused words, leading the readers to a path where they aren’t provided with authentic information or something’s that’s not written by heart. Something that is not written by the heart does not impact the reader’s mind.
After going through the rules of writing, some other rules and tips popped into my mind that can motivate and help writers understand the art of writing. One such rule I strongly believe in is don’t fix a time to sit down and write something. It’s somehow related to the rule I discussed before that I found interesting about not searching for the topic. When a writer finds himself the leisure time in which he can sit down, relax, take pen and paper, and write, most probably the thoughts and all that was going on inside the mind before that time will somehow fade away. In short, a specific thought, subject or the topic doesn’t wait for the writer to take pen and paper in his or her hand, they just come into the mind without giving a signal. The best solution to this matter is that the writer must be ever ready to write whatever pops up in his mind, no matter what he’s doing at that particular moment.
Another rule which I came up with is that every night, before going to sleep, the writer must take notes of what he did the whole day, what things made him feel good or bad, what new things he learned, or what special experience he had that particular day. We are often told that an individual must think about all the activities and experiences of his whole day before sleeping. This makes him reflect on his actions and behaviours and their impacts on others. It also makes him realize where he did wrong and what he needs to improve. A writer should give himself the opportunity to write all these and make him or herself free from the shackles of words by letting them out on a piece of paper. Writing things doesn’t let you forget about them. So, writing about daily life experiences will not let the writer forget about what he did on a particular day or what he learned from any particular person when he got this information.
Though this rule isn’t on the number 1 in the list of rules of writing, its significance cannot be denied. Reading is the first and foremost step to getting your hands on the pen to write. One can never become a good writer if he doesn’t read much. So the rule of writing efficiently is to read something and then write about it, whether it be a short article or a whole novel. It makes you critically analyze the piece you read and make something new out of it. This enhances the creativity of the mind and refines the writing. The vocabulary the authors use in their writings gets instilled in the memory of the writers when they use it in their works.
Hence, I believe that the rules mentioned above, along with those proposed by Colson Whitehead, can help a writer initiate his writing process and also make it better. Writing is not easy, but following these rules can get anyone started if the person has that passion for transforming his or her thoughts into words.
Works Cited
Amanda Christy Brown and Katherine Schulten. “Writing Rules! Advice from the Times on Writing Well.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Sept. 2012, learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/writing-rules-advice-from-the-new-york-times-on-writing-well/.
Whitehead, Colson. “Colson Whitehead’s Rules for Writing.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 July 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/books/review/colson-whiteheads-rules-for-writing.html?mtrref=myaccount.nytimes.com&auth=login-email.
