I have a deeply-rooted desire to become the greatest writer I can. I've had that since I was very young, and I've been working on improving my technique for a long time.

You have a different perspective

If you think about it, every person who has ever lived has had an entirely new way of thinking. You can hear new stories, new ideas, meanings and truths about which you would never otherwise dream, just because you haven't had certain types of experiences. That means that everyone has some value to give, and everyone can share it through self-expression, which is a beautiful thing - sharing perspectives is what makes life make sense to me.

What Makes a Piece of Writing 'Good'?

If the point of writing is to share perspectives, what's the best way to do that? Well, to me it's a combination of things, which boil down to two main ingredients: the story (the subject matter), and the style (rhythm, diction and personal flair).

The most important thing is actually the style. I live in a country where many writers have their own very distinct way of writing, much different to the very formal prose presented to us in the form of Emma while we were in High School. The style is what makes the story your own. Think of it this way: if exactly same story were to be told by both you and your best friend, in what way would his version be different from the way you told it? I have a friend who has such a remarkable style, which I believe he acquired from practising 'ghettospeak' as a teenager, that he has become a fairly popular blogger on the internet just because of it. That's because he owns his style - his content flows from a place deep inside of him, and thus the content is wrapped up, soaked with his own personality. Think of J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye', compared with John Irving's 'The World According to Garp' - can you imagine the one written in the other's style? The way a story is written makes the experience what it is for the reader. Another notable example of distinct style is that of the recently popular Eckhart Tolle. If you've ever read some of his work you'll know exactly what I mean - his words seem to create a mood of relaxation and presence that completely suits the profile of his books.

Creating your Own Style

You can begin to create your own style by starting to notice the style of other writers. When I started to practise writing, after having read Tolkien at age 12, I would practically rewrite chapters of The Lord of the Rings, reworking certain events into slight permutations of my own. Through this process, I became identified with Tolkein's style of writing. Of course, in the years to follow I acquired new favourite authors, and my style again changed to incorporate new techniques that I found captivating. By modelling my writing on other writers, I was quickly learning all I needed in terms of how to compose a stellar piece of work. Once you have this down, it's already easy to produce high quality content - all you need is a story. Sourcing stories is something that every writer needs to be good at. Constantly practice remembering good experiences as they happen to you; write them down, tell them to your friends, but always do so in your own style. Take the experience and use the gift of your unique perspective to express something completely new and interesting.

Don't ever be worried that people won't like your style of writing. Don't worry about people finding it cheesy, or boring. Many people think that Jane Austen is boring, but does she care? I think not.

The Process Itself

When composing a piece of creative content, I actually find it easy to start by 'tracing' the work of someone else whose writing I admire. For instance, you might find a brilliant passage in 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', and start rewriting the story in your own way. From there it's very easy to expand the content using your imagination. Very soon you'll have a few pages written completely of your own, and the makings of something that is perhaps far greater than what you started tracing in the first place. At least it will be more exciting because it's yours.

Don't be too quick to edit while you're writing. Writing time is for creating content, editing is for later. This is coming from someone who is an obsessive self-editing machine. I spend hours pouring over every paragraph I write for publication, but I've learned not to spoil my creative flow. Write your story first - get all that you can out of your brain and onto paper, and keep the mundane editing for a time when you don't have invaluable thoughts floating around in your mind. Remember this: editing is easy, creating content is valuable. Don't sacrifice the latter for the former, no matter how strong the temptation. Who know's for how long you will be in that creative state?

Know when your best times are for writing. For me, I write at my best just before I go to sleep. This can literally be at 3am in the morning. For some reason, my thoughts are ready to pour out at this time, though there are schools of thought which say you should train yourself to write like this at more convenient times. Personally, I don't mind writing late at night. Everyone's asleep, I haven't got anything pressing to do (hopefully), and there's a peace about me that only comes when the lights are out and the world is in bed.

Believe in your work, be passionate about it

Whenever I'm writing something, I keep any doubts about my content as far out of conscious thought as possible. When you're writing, be vigorous - your readers will feel it coming through. That passion has to overwhelm you, pouring out of the sheet in a whirlwind of drastic diction and carefree expansions of expression. This is a piece of you, and your readers need to feel that, so give it everything you have.

Set challenges for yourself

If you want to increase your writing output, try set a challenge for yourself. A good place to start is the 10,000 word challenge (which I happen to be doing right now). You'll feel great when you realise that you've surpassed all expectations of how much value you can share in one day.

I hope this has been comprehensive enough to help and motivate you to improve your writing. The world needs moments of great expression.

PyThoughts