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Writing about writing is a very difficult thing for me. It’s like writing about life — I am not qualified enough. I feel to write about life I must have lived life to the fullest. So I usually do not write about life, unless it is a writing laced with humor — which I am miserable at. A proof of it is this sentence you are reading, it is meant to make you laugh, but you won’t, because it’s obviously not funny.

I still feel to write about writing I need to write a lot first and earn the writer tag. By a lot I mean books and all. But since I haven’t written any book yet, I will settle with writing about not writing. I do that a lot, the not writing thing. So I can safely say I am an expert at not writing. If you are a writer who wants to learn not writing, I offer consultancy services. My fee is very modest, trust me.

Not writing is way easier than writing, if it weren’t, we all would be writing. So since not writing is easy, we do it all the time. Why bother with the hard stuff when not writing comes naturally? You don’t need to do any work, you don’t hunt for words, you are not bothered about complex themes, you don’t think about connecting your thoughts and to God be the glory, you do not need to edit. To not write, you just don’t write.

Writing after not writing for a long time is going to the gym after skipping workout, the longer you stay away, the easier it is to not write. You can interpret the previous sentence to mean the harder it is to write. For those who exercise regularly, it’s easier when you are on a streak. I used to go jogging, early each morning, my internal alarm kicks in and I find myself on the road. But whenever I skip a day or two, it becomes difficult to go back and the longer I am out the harder it is to hit the road. In one word, consistency.

Consistency breeds ease. The golden rule of not writing is not to write. The longer you do not write the longer you will not write, and the longer you will not be tortured with editing. Another rule of not writing is not reading. The not reading rule is closely followed by not reading critically. A writer friend confessed he reads book differently now, according to him, he used to read books only for pleasure but not anymore. He now finds himself pausing while reading, munching lines, pointing out mistakes and enjoying tasty sentences. I will advise strongly you ignore him if you really do not want to write.

Remember the key to not writing is to be consistent at the following;

  1. Do not write.
  2. Do not read.
  3. Do not read deeply.
  4. Repeat 1 to 3
  5. Bonus tip : Never, ever think about writing. Think about everything but never about writing.

As a professional none writer, I do not intend to spill all my secrets here. But I will appreciate if you join the conversation in the comments and tell us some of the things that makes not writing easy, from your experiences of  course, don’t tell us from a book you have not written. As for an actual post on writing, wait until I become a writer and have lived life to the fullest, then I will write a book On Writing and another On Living.

Quote by Jodi Picoult

Credit : pinterest.com

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