10 Simple Steps to make writing easier and more effective

My previous article on writing regularly and getting better at it in 10 easy steps has been received very well, and I could not have been more glad. There is no better way to start your day than by waking up to a mail by someone who read my article saying that it has helped him in his writings and he follows my tips (blushing 🙂 )

Obviously my learnings while writing has not been limited to only ten points. So when I thought of writing a sequel to the above article, it didn’t took me enough time to come up with 10 more points. These are some tips which helps me in writing easily and effectively without much distractions. I am sure it would help you too if you are facing problems on finding ideas or concentrating while writing an article.

1. Disconnect from the internet

Take that network cable out or turn off your wifi before you start writing an article. This way, you can concentrate fully on your writing and not be distracted by new emails, facebook notifications or pings by friends on messengers.

2. If you get stuck, take a break

If you get stuck while writing and could not figure out what to write next, get up from your seat and take a break. A break could be just taking a 10 minute walk outside your office in fresh air or chatting with friends or colleagues over a cup of coffee. While on this break, try not to think about what you were writing and just have some fun. Crack some jokes, spread some gossip, or just spread smiles. This way, when you come back, more often than not, you will find words flowing out naturally. It has worked for me on numerous times, and I have no doubt it will work for you.

3. Write at a time when you are at your best

Everybody has some time of the day when they are at their best. For example, I am at my best in the morning and get my most productive work done before noon. Some people work better at evenings and late nights. To be able to write more effectively, I recommend writing during your most productive time, or in other words, when you are in the mood.

4. Hang around with people related to topics of your writing

I think this is very important. If you are writing about politics, meet people who talk about politics and indulge in a dialogue with them. If you love sports, find a group to talk about sports, or even better, play the sport. If you don’t know people who will talk about your interest, find them. I tend to observe people and then write about human behavior, and for this, I get out on long walks sometimes and just observe people on the roads, in some shops and try to find ideas for my articles.

Have fun, but make your life worthwhile

Have fun, but make your life worthwhile

5. Write multiple articles at the same time

There is no restriction on writing only one article at a time. Instead you can always work on writing two (or more) articles at one time. Write for one article for 15 minutes, and then switch to the another. I think it helps me as I write on one article, the mind still churns out ideas about the second, which I then write down when I switch. It keeps my mind from getting saturated and bored with the pressure of writing on just one idea.

6. Write an outline first

Before starting to writing an article, try to write some bullet points on what you want the article to focus on and how you want to structure your different points in the form of an article. Once you are done with it, you can start expanding each point into one or two paragraphs. For example – Before writing this article, I wrote down the 10 points first and then proceeded to write a paragraph of text for each point.

7. Don’t wait, start before being ready

Don’t wait for a good mood, or the right time to start. Start without waiting to be ready, for when you start writing, you are ready. I have always believed beginning is the most important part of doing any task. Many times we give ourselves excuses like the mood is not right, or ‘I don’t feel like writing today’, or ‘I don’t write well’. Instead, leave all these reasons and start writing. Period.

8. Concentrate and focus in a quiet place

If you are getting distracted by people around you and the noises they make, go sit in a quiet place. It could mean closing the doors of your room for 30 minutes while you write or find some peaceful place in your office. Personally, I sometimes book a conference room in office and go and sit peacefully and write 🙂 If you are at home, make sure you have your TV and music turned off, unless you like some music playing while you write.

9. Go out and write. In a cafe. Watch people. observe

Contradicting the above point, you might want to go out to a crowded place and write. The aim is to change your regular environment and write in a new place. I sometimes go out to a cafe, sip some cold coffee and eat some cookies while I write. After an hour of two, as I get my task done, I get up and leave. Sometimes just by watching and observing people as they come, chat and leave in a cafe you get many ideas flowing which you can write down.

10. Make it fun

If you take a look at the above points, and even in my previous article, you will find that I tend to make writing fun. I don’t take it too seriously (infact I don’t take anything seriously) and focus on having fun along the way. So don’t write because you want a good article to come out. Write to express yourself, write to have fun, and write to write. When you focus more on bringing your ideas to life and not on the actual words, you will find that the output is undeniably good which people can connect to.

My weekly tweets archive for the week ending 2011-10-31

  • Glad to see India successfully hosting the F1 Grand Prix at the Buddh
    Three cheers for India and here's wishing… http://t.co/AIMT08T6 #
  • To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. – Lewis B. Smedes #
  • For some laughter!! http://t.co/R7AF49f2 #
  • Interesting argument being made in the article, "If being focussed on providing a decent standard of life to one's… http://t.co/dLqDJRVD #
  • One of the earliest poems I wrote on http://t.co/M04fqRoq http://t.co/WAQvc5H7 #
  • Remember: you can sell your time, but you cannot buy it back. #
  • The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. – Author Unknown
    How true 🙂 http://t.co/crEvBuUK #
  • Are we doing justice to this word 'engineer' we so proudly associate ourselves with? Take a look at this article… http://t.co/6bD0v3MH #
  • दीवाली के इस Pa.One अवसर पर…
    भगवान आपके G.One को Ra.One से बचाए. #
  • RT @saleraja Most of Diwali offers are on till this Sunday, do u know? See all Bangalore offers at http://t.co/bYw8lEaY  #bangalore #offers #
  • A picture is worth a thousand words, and there could be no better than testimony to that than this pic depicting a… http://t.co/5EXB2JM5 #
  • Waiting for Nov 6, the day when test matches start… Some real cricket finally http://t.co/umkg4qz5 #
  • "Be satisfied with life. But, unsatisfied with The results you produce. That's the best way to keep Growing and discover your hidden… #
  • Camera Therapy: How Photography Gave Me Hope Again, A wonderful story http://t.co/AglOMJYs #
  • "A dream you can dream alone is only a dream. A dream you can dream together is reality." -John Lennon

    Give… http://t.co/uc7WzYQ4 #

  • May millions of lamps illuminate ur life
    with endless joy,prosperity,health & wealth forever
    Wishing u and ur… http://t.co/fj7klnD7 #
  • Spread Love.. Smile.. Laugh.. Play… Light the inner soul even if you can't light candles and diyas.. That is real #HappyDiwali #
  • Follow ur heart. Be true to urself. Be kind to others. Celebrate ur small victories. Learn 4m ur mistakes. Forgive. Live.. Happy Diwali 🙂 #
  • Wonderful article.. must read.. http://t.co/HkDmRAwq #
  • Stay cheerful at all times, and if we introspect, most of our worries and tensions are our own creation only http://t.co/Jjk2erVr #
  • True or not true, but a thought provoking and good-to-read article http://t.co/QqB9Uyrq #
  • Wonderful book about retail and entrepreneurship.. Read my review of "Trading Up" http://t.co/MNhoD22Y #
  • A lot of offers and discounts are up for grabs this Diwali… says TOI.. The proof is at… http://t.co/QvcZeqNO #

Five Things Forgiving is not?

After my last article in which I pointed out how being angry will only hurt us and how forgiveness is a gift, I have heard from many people asking for clarifications on what I meant. For most people, it is very difficult to even comprehend how can one somebody forgive a person who has done some wrong to you? Do we absolve the person of his crime or wrongdoing? Do we start accepting bad behaviour? In this post, I will try to clear these doubts and list out five things forgiveness is not..
 
1. Forgiving is not accepting bad behaviour or acts of crime
This is the most common misconception about forgiveness. It is not about accepting bad acts or behaviour by saying that mistakes happen. Any act which is illegal or immoral remains so. Forgiveness doesn’t mean approving of any such act. But at the same time, forgiveness is recognizing that it happened in the past, and making sure we don’t waste even a single second of the future by repenting or pondering over it.
 
2. Forgiving is not pardoning somebody of a crime
Even if you are willing to, forgiveness is not absolving the other person of a crime. It is not about letting somebody free, it is about letting yourself free. It also doesn’t mean we approve of the same crime again in the future. In other words, it is not about forgetting and pardoning. You can forgive someone and then testify against that person is court. It has nothing to do with justice.
Seeing the funny side of forgiveness

Seeing the funny side of forgiveness

3. Forgiving is not a one time event
There is nothing one time in forgiving, neither does it mean that after forgiving someone, you will not feel the pain of a bad act. If somebody killed your son, the memories will always hurt, and you might have to forgive the offender every time you feel hatred against him to set yourself free. In this sense, forgiveness is more of a journey.
 
4. Forgiveness is not about doing good or showing mercy
You can’t be more wrong if you think that by forgiving someone, you are doing him/her a favor. Forgiveness is like a gift you give to yourself, not to your offender. If you think you are showing mercy to someone by forgiving, then that is more about looking good than forgiveness. You forgive from your heart, not from your actions. The next time you forgive someone, make it a point to not tell that to anyone (maybe even to that person), that will be real forgiveness which will set you free.
 
5. Forgiveness is not about the person on the other side
Forgiveness has nothing to do with the forgiven party, it is about you, and how you choose to behave and act. It is not a fine gesture, it is about acknowledging (not forgetting) the harm that was done, and despite of it, forgiving. Forgiveness is freeing yourself of any resentment and ensuring you not waste even a single moment thinking about the past act. It is living like the wrong act never happened.
 
Always remember, forgiveness is neither forgetting nor reconciliation. It takes one person to forgive, but it takes two to reconcile. You might reconcile or not, but you can forgive nevertheless and be free. And only you can give this gift to yourself.

Book Review – Trading Up by Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske

Trading Up - Must read for any entrepreneur in retail

Trading Up - Must read for any entrepreneur in retail

I have read many books in the last two years, ranging from business to auto-biographies to self-help to fiction books. I just put down a book titled “Trading Up” (find it on Flipkart or Amazon) after reading it for two weeks. And what a captivating read it was! It was difficult to put it down once I started it. One reason could be that the book was about retail and shopping, and I am already interested in that because of my experience with SaleRaja and exposure to the retail world. But apart from that too, the book was very well researched and a lot of data has been presented in the book to justify the points made.

The book has tried to illustrate how middle class consumers are ‘trading up‘ to buy high quality products that deliver benefits on many different levels, even at a price premium and how that is breaking the traditional price-volume demand curve. The product could be as simple as a soap and as complex as cars. The basic premise is that traditionally, the markets have had two kind of products, the conventional goods that sell at low margins and high volumes and the luxury goods which sell at high margins and low volumes. The author has remarked in the book that in many industries, there is a huge gap between these two segments.
 
He has called the products falling in these two categories as ‘new luxury‘ products that are technically superior and also have an emotional advantage for the consumer. He has given many examples of such companies such as Starbucks (coffee), Callaway Golf (golf equipment), American Girl (dolls), Panera Bread (bread), Belvedere (vodka), Whirlpool Duet (washing machine) and others. One distinct characteristic of these products is that they sell at high margins and high volumes, much above the traditional price-volume demand curve.
 
He has presented these stories as case studies of how different companies saw the huge gap in the market and came with their innovative products that created a new ‘want‘ and market for these consumers who traded up. He has backed his theories with data to substantiate them. He has also looked at some characteristics of the entrepreneurs and tried to find a common ground between them and their approaches as they created products for the new consumer.
 
The authors have defined some characteristics of the new consumers as below –
  1. The new middle market consumer is smart and has more disposable money than ever.
  2. The new consumer won’t mind buying products at a premium if the product is superior in quality and gives them a feeling of comfort and satisfaction.
  3. The new consumer choose which brands and products they want to be associated with, ones that define their status and personality.
  4. They are ready to buy these products at a higher price, and will trade down in other unimportant products.
Some characteristics of the companies and entrepreneurs that build these products are –
  1. They are mostly outsiders to the market, and even if not, attack the market like an outsider. They strive to set new standards for innovation, quality and providing an emotional experience for the consumer.
  2. They understand their target markets, and are aware that they will pay a premium if provided a product that can engage with its customers on an emotional level.
  3. They love what they do, and are consumers of their own products.
  4. They customize their value chains and distribution networks to deliver their products in the best possible way, and use influence marketing with celebrities rather than traditional advertising. They focus more on word of mouth marketing.
 
Perhaps the most important point the authors have made is people perceive value differently than previously thought. They will pay a premium and buy such a product in higher volumes even during a down economy. If the product is superior and gives much more satisfaction than the currently available products, the consumer will perceive its value differently and trade up in this category, even if it means they have to trade down in other unimportant categories.
 
This book, which you can buy on Flipkart or Amazon, helps a lot to understand the current changes happening not only in developed countries, but also in emerging economies like India. It not only gives examples of such companies and entrepreneurs but also explains HOW they did it? It is a must read for anybody in business or someone who plans to launch a new business soon. This sets the book apart from other business books and keeps the user hooked throughout the book. It also made me understand why my friends and peer group spend the way they do, and how can an entrepreneur (future me) develop products and services to target this ever expanding segment. In summation, I totally loved it!!

My weekly tweets archive for the week ending 2011-10-24

  • Soothing those who need soothing. This is compassion. Shaking up those who need shaking. This is wisdom. Both in perfect proportion. This… #
  • A Diwali poem I wrote last year when Obama visited India on Diwali day http://t.co/zm0i0Ibh #
  • There is no point putting up lights all over our houses….when there's a lot of darkness inside them….. Let us… http://t.co/ZpuWc5rx #
  • A very welcome step by MIT and Mohammad Yunus — http://t.co/UG3KtzEt #
  • Some stories are meant to read, some to be seen, but this one is meant to be felt with the heart.. http://t.co/Agt9JWsU #
  • Old jars, some plants, and a design idea turns them into a wall planter..
    It is very rightly said that Good… http://t.co/aLhfIyct #
  • 🙂 http://t.co/Kw9n0HgR #
  • My latest poem – Why?

    I am sure many people would have something to say about this 😉 http://t.co/OJ2WfBAn #

  • “What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to… http://t.co/0fKgsn7Y #
  • My take on Bangalore through a poem http://t.co/CvjafSYG #
  • Simply awesome presentation http://t.co/kk5rSZfM #
  • A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years. See this wonderful pic which has gone viral on digg.. http://t.co/U6fj2CIe #
  • I complete 3 years in Bangalore today 🙂 and here is my attempt at summarizing it.. http://t.co/tEksreqI #
  • 'You can do anything, but not everything.' – David Allen #
  • 10 days left to travel back 10 years for 10 days.. #
  • “It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.”
    ― Paulo Coelho #
  • How true are the words in this pic? All of us have a wonderful gift called life but it amazes me to see so many… http://t.co/8WBdMxpj #
  • One person with courage is a majority.. http://t.co/KdKHeCY4 #
  • Read my views about ego and how it can be a good thing too!! http://t.co/p297QOXA #
  • Gift Your Organ | India 365 | MSN Specials – MSN India http://t.co/hp76RmHj via @bloggerplugins #
  • Rocky.. One of my favorite movie series http://t.co/UmFeoBYY #