How do I write? Why do I write? What do I write? When do I write?

While I write, I thank Google for this picture

How do I write?

Firstly, I won’t call it writing. Just Noting down things & thoughts. I note down majorly on

1. In the Notepad of my phone
2. In the Medium & Notion on my laptop
3. In the Notebook in my bag

The conditions and my mindset decide where I need to put down the words.

Notepad

1. When I roam the streets of a new city, I see things — if I find them unmissable, I write down the exact vibe I feel in the notepad. My thoughts — I do this too. When I see things that provoke new ideas and thoughts in my mind, I do note down those in the notepad. I don’t want to miss any of them.
2. When I walk on the terrace under the moonlight after my dinner, I generally talk to myself. If I feel something is very important or something has got a great impact on me at that instant, I do note down my thoughts. Sometimes, I record my talks. Sometimes, I put down it in the form of words. I do record my talks only when I feel the desperate urge to not miss even one of the thoughts in the train of thoughts my mind is flowing with.
3. When I’m on the move in my city, specifically, when I’m in the autos or cab taxis or metro trains, I love to observe the people, buildings, open places, vehicles, food plazas, etc to know to feel them. Especially, the people. I love getting into the shoes of someone else. I start thinking about what it would be for me to be him or him or some stranger and how I would think then and all these things come into my mind. Then, I start observing my thoughts and things are simple after that, I just take notes of the mind’s presentation.
4. And last but not the least, the most lovely part of this, Sometimes, I just get out of what I am doing and suddenly pick up the phone and open the notepad to type the words of my mind. It just happens. When some random thought gets stuck in my brain, or when I watch something that needs to be noted down. I do this.

Medium & Notion

1. When I’m at my house in Hyderabad, I’ve got my room. Almost everything I do is in that room and on the balcony. Basically, here, it’s about writing something on purpose most of the time. So, I sit on the bed with the laptop in front to jot down my thoughts on the Medium site and save it in the drafts. Medium has become my home for writing. I don’t prefer any other sites over Medium. Recently, I started loving Notion and even this piece, I’m writing in Notion.
2. I’ve got some 200 drafts and 50 published articles on Medium. I distribute these to other platforms like WordPress and Blogger. I don’t generally write an article with the aim to publish, because that aim can make me hide my dark and extreme thoughts to put down on the keyboard. So, most of the time, I make myself comfortable that this is going to be just another draft. And once I feel that I’m okay with the written piece, I decide if I need to publish or shove it into the drafts. If I want to publish, I just go through it and see if there are any extremes or intimidating vulnerabilities.
3. When I’m at my home in Chennai, I’ve got my cozy chair and table and I get into the zone of writing my thoughts down and getting into the process. I’ve not written much in Chennai on Medium. It was all in the notepad of my phone. But yeah. I’m writing this piece in Chennai ❤

Notebook in the Bag

1. I started writing like this. I didn’t want a keyboard and laptop monitor to distort my thoughts. I wanted to be the authentic, genuine 1800s 1900s kinda writer. That’s the reason I used a pen and a book to write down. I started this as a part of the 30-day writing challenge. I used to pick up a random topic that comes into my mind and write 200 to 250 words about that topic in the notebook and then type it into the medium.
2. It was a single-ruled notebook. I loved writing so much that I put a lot of effort to find a similar notebook on the web and ordered another one from ITC. I find it very raw, real, genuine, and straight from my mind. Nothing else.
3. I write in this notebook only when I’m at my Hyderabad home with my parents or at my Chennai home. That too, when I’m alone. I don’t really like the idea of people watching me when I write. I’d love to write amidst the crowd minding their own business but when you pick up a notebook and pen, people would obviously notice you. I have a tiny dream of going on to a seashore and pulling out the notebook from my bag and starting writing my thoughts while I cherish the wind flowing through my hair and enjoy the sea breeze sitting on the sand while people are doing their thing.

What do I write?

In a sentence, I write my thoughts. I write how I feel. I write what I see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. I write what I sense. It’s mostly about what I see and hear. I firmly believe that:

1. Stories are what make the individuals they are. A 70-year-old Panipuri seller on one side of Jankidevi School Rd in Andheri West of Mumbai talks about his life when I ask him. How and when did he get to Mumbai? What did he want to become back then? How did he start the spree of blue-collar jobs? Where would he go back to after he’s done with the day? This is a typical example of what stories look like inside the people. You just need to tap in. This is something I’m very much intrigued to write.
2. I am what I think. That’s the biggest reason to write down my thoughts, ideas, opinions, etc. I’d love to see my thoughts down on paper or a screen. I’d love to get inside my mind. Life, Startups, Politics, Self-talks, Psychology, Love, etc is what I mostly write about. Simply put, I write my thoughts. That’s it.
3. The mind has got the ultimate answer to the question of the universe. This is something that fascinates me to the core. I’m sure I won’t get to know any answer this lifetime but there is 0.00000001% of hope that my writings and thoughts would take me forward on this path of understanding the mind and universe.
4. The world can be a better place if we wish to and strive for it. You’d have seen me quoting Muhammad Ali almost always. He says “Service to people is the rent that we pay for our space on earth”. This quote hit me on a different level and I’m a big believer in this. Whenever I see the contrast and disparities, it’s mostly on an economic level, I feel that it’s my duty to help the unfortunate and level them up so that they can grab the opportunities that life has got to offer them.
5. Women deserve the same as men. Growing up in a South Indian Orthodox family, having a peer group with similar backgrounds at almost all ages of life so far, I strongly believe that women need to be treated with a lot more respect. More importantly, women need to be given the same opportunities as men. The culture has been distorted in many ways to exploit women. I am a strong advocate of women’s employment and the consequent financial independence. In regards to this topic, I’ve got a lot in store in the coming 30 years. I’d be more than willing to give my 150% to make sure I can help at least a woman.

These are the few things that I constantly ponder over, research, form an opinion, and write my piece eventually to take a stand and understand others’ perspectives. I’ll be adding the points whenever I wish to.

Why do I write?

Simply put, because anything is worth being told. And writing makes me happy and peaceful. I always say this, Language is the coolest invention of humankind. What better than writing gives you a fitting tribute to this coolest invention?! I love writing. One sentence answer. There might be many reasons but nothing comes close to this.

When do I write?

Whenever I feel like writing, I write. It might be straight after waking up in the morning. It might be in the middle of the night when I woke up because of a dream. Almost always. I think something. I try to save it to write down. I see something. I make sure I remember it to write down.

Try writing, you might not see it coming but you might love it!
Happy writing ❤