Write, Write, Write

Earlier this year, I was at my parents' home in Delhi, and came across a paper that said, simply,

"A Busy Man Has Time For Everything".

I took this as a sign from above. Sometime earlier on this blog, I had already come to a realization that writing is my thing. It's what I am good at, and it's the muscle that gets least exercise in a corporate job. So, in order to flex them writing muscles, I took on an oath to write everyday.

Writing is like gym, best done with a partner. Building a capacity to write requires ceaseless discipline. It is said that if you want to stick to a routine, find a friend. In my case, I found two friends to write with, and have calls in to others. Collaborating makes writing easy work- there is that much creative tension, and that much more flow of ideas. The jugalbandi that you can do in a collaboration creates a lot of energy.

Alternate different formats to ensure that the "writing muscles" don't get bored. So, now I tweet (@Alpharust), I have written fiction earlier on this post, have written on philosophy, am co-writing a business book , co-started a light-hearted business blog,, and have made commitments at work about contributing to a couple of work-related-compilations. Then there's the other longer term non-fiction books I intend to work on once I am done with these commitments. ( I figure that Robin Sharma can't be the only bald Indian dood writing inspirational books).

Feedback is important. Over time, of course, I hope to become good at writing. Even as I write, I can sense a better ability to conceptualize new ideas and write about them. Book publishing would give me a better sense of how that racket works too. All this, however, depends on the feedback from you, the reader.

So write back, please!

Why am I not writing?

I made a promise a few months ago about reducing my reading, and increasing my writing. Big success THAT has been so far! So, while I carry index cards with ideas about the next big things I am going to write about, I thought I'd slip in a small note of explanation. Sort of a "dog ate my blog", if you like.

Look, I've just been busy, OK?!
Let me lay that out up front - I've been busy awfully busy at work. Have been "trying" to transition from an older job to a newer one, with little luck in getting someone to take the old job up! That left me with more job than one man could handle for a long time. Fortunately, that's all history!

Quitting reading isn't all that easy either!
Much as I had committed to minimizing other people's writings, the habit has only got worse. Firstly there's Amazon, then there's the fantastic Alameda County Library, and then there's Google Reader. There's too much good stuff to read out there. Then, of course, there are the podcasts - which take up my driving time! With so much to read and hear, where's the time to ruminate and articulate? (List of books and podcasts below, for those that are curious).

Creative juices flowing elsewhere
I'm starting a new business, so it requires a lot of creative thinking. I've taken massively to ideating in groups, and then converting my amorphous ideas into visual idea-maps. (Check out http://www.digitalroam.com to see someone else's visual thought-work. Mine are similar, but better! ;-) ). This creative ideation has been immensely satisfying, leaving me with little hunger for self-expression through my own blog! Bah!

I tried speaking
OK, so I realized that my usual thinking process doesn't have to begin as my fingers touch the keyboard. (hence the visual work described above). I also realized that many of my great ideas come through conversations. Then, I thought, maybe the ideas come from the subconscious mind and I can bring them into the open by speaking out loud. That led me to speech-to-text softwares. One order from Costco later, I am the not-so-proud owner of the Dragon Naturally Speaking. All I didn't plan for was my Indian accent and my accented speech! Contrary to the company's insistence that this software is 99.5% accurate, in my case the accuracy if wayyyy off! Therefore, my blogs can only come out at 40 words per minute (typing speed, apparently).

Now, I'm ready!
I have so many ideas, so many idea-maps, and so many things to write about. Just do it!

Watch this space...a little longer! ;-)

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Reading and Listening list
Books I'm reading, or have recently read:
Karen Armstrong's The Great Transformation - just started reading, but great author
Robert Sapolsky's Monkeyluv I absolutely loved this book!
Robert Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir - Absolutely a must-read. Very well written.
Rachel Herz's The Scent of Desire - This is very interesting read, especially with the one below
Sandra and Mathew Blakeslee's The Body Has a Mind of Its' Own - very, very insightful (must write about it sometime)
Dan Roam's The Back of the Napkin - this is great for visual thinking, and I highly recommend this
Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Black Swan - an interesting rant, and a good (not great) follow up on Fooled by Randomness

Podcasts: ABC Radio National's All in the Mind, WNYC's RadioLab, NPR's Wait Wait (Don't tell me) - all great!