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18 Mar 10 Is Writing Really Fun?

No. It is not.

Writing is hard work. Go and ask anyone who is in the business for long and he or she will tell you what a drag this is. As they say it, “The worst part of writing career is to sit still on your desk and write.”

Writing never comes easy, no matter at what stage you are into your writing career. It will never come easy. It takes time, effort, and pushing from your side. Do not assume that someone just sits on the desk and starts stroking keys and articles or books or reports or whatever starts forming itself. It never happens this way. To draw an analogy, let me tell you that writing is akin to polishing gold necklace—it required time, determination, precision, attention to details, and ability to continue even when your mind is saying “F” Word out loud.

I have been long enough in this field to realize this. Initially, I was delusional. I thought it will come easy to me as I am into this since I was a kid is class 3rd. But, as I wrote I was delusional.

Should you take up writing?

Indeed, you should. If writing is tough then what is not? Nothing is easy. You will have to exert yourself in everything that you do. But there is one thing about writing that none of the profession shares, at least not in the essence that writing does.

Writing creates a world, where you are in control of what each of your words will do. But, still your readers are in control. As it is upon them to make whatever sense they want from the writing. Writing is a game being played between the minds of the writer, readers and everything that falls in between.

This indeed makes writing fun.

Yes. Writing is fun. In the truest sense of the word, not in the sense that mean no work all play.

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02 Dec 09 Writing and Power of Metaphor

Metaphor is a powerful tool used by wise orator, astute politicians, seasoned writer, professional bloggers, etc., to persuade audience to a certain way of thinking. If you want to be successful in persuasive copy and/or content writing then you have to master the art of using proper metaphor.

Metaphor as described by Merriam Webster dictionary is:

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.

Read the following two sentences and tell me which one sounds more compelling to you:

He was silent, very silent, and completely motionless.”

“He was as silent and stationary as the dead.”

Of course, the latter one. The former sentence didn’t have the punch required to make us realize how much the person was silent and how much immobile he was, but once we supply the metaphor of dead, everything becomes clear, as we know how silent and motionless a dead person can be.

Metaphor helps us inject emotion in the written words. It helps us make the passage of texts relatable for the reader. The metaphor makes the read feel what has been written. A proper use of metaphor transforms the text making it meaningful for the readers.

Caution

Metaphor is a cultural thing. A wrongly used metaphor will push the audience far, far away. Hence, you should be careful in using it in your writing, and understand the cultural background of the users before infusing a metaphor in your writing.

A metaphor that works well in India may or may not produce the same result in Brazil. Culture plays an important role in it. If you are in doubt, use neutral metaphor. Like the one I have used in above example. No matter where you go, what cultural background you have the dead will be silent and stationary. Similarly, sky in the moonless night will be dark, stuff out of refrigerator will be cold, mid summer’s afternoon will be unbearably hot, etc.

Do not walk the cultural line while using metaphor if you are not sure.

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