WRITE-HABIT

It was on the first Monday of 2004, that yours truly started what is now called the Monday Muse. I was fascinated with the theme – touch to transform – of the then National President of JCI India, Rajesh Chandak. When I shared with him a couple of musings on the theme, he insisted that I mail him one such musing on every Monday. I did so until April 2005, when I succumbed to the pressure of having to write every Monday.

Six Mondays I broke my write-habit, only to realise that my writing was being seriously followed by a few persons whom I held in great esteem. They included my leaders, mentors and trainers in JCI. It was the persuasive motivation by the people who mattered most to me, that Monday Muse continued with a consistency, save for an odd Monday when I would be away in the wild, disconnected from internet connectivity.

Today at the end of the seventh year of this write-habit, I choose to hold a rear-view mirror to look at the learning of the journey. To everyone who wants to write, the way is simple… simply write, without worrying too much about how it will be received. Be open to criticism and make the changes where you agree. Acknowledge sources and never pinch another’s work and pass it off as your own.

But the most important principle is to write as a habit. It is only when one writes consistently, two things happen… firstly, one grows with every creative venture and secondly a unique style of writing emerges. So many poets, writers and others never connect to their fullest potential, only because they do not engage in it as an effective habit. It is good to start something, but to be better we must transform it as a habit.

Keep at the habit and sure we will BE BETTER

Monday Muse shows how, seven years later!

- Pravin K. Sabnis