As time passes and things become more abundant, their quality naturally degrades. This argument can be applied to almost everything. Consequently, fake or less important works are produced every single day, as I’ve discussed before in my recent article.
This happens because we no longer appreciate the struggle and effort behind a work. “Others” take shortcuts to create things, and this diminishes the value of your hard work, which took a long time to complete. As a result, you may begin to doubt your talent or expectations, which were probably lower than usual in the first place.
However, achieving a quality life and a quality personality requires time and challenge, as we are well aware. This principle remains valid regardless of the context.
Therefore, it’s wise to listen to those who have succeeded on a similar path, your predecessors. Since I enjoy writing and reading, I should pay attention to the advice and suggestions of authors, especially those who have achieved success. They were once in the same place where I am now. Learning from others’ mistakes is not a shortcut or a form of cheating; it’s a way to enhance your learning and apply solutions to your own progress and life.
This is why I like to spend time reading quotes and recommendations from my favorite authors, like Ray Bradbury, whom I’ve mentioned many times in my articles. He has some valuable ideas on becoming a better author, and according to him, one of the key points is maintaining consistency. This is referred as the Bradbury Trio. Here is a quote from him:
“Every night, for the next 1,000 nights, read one short story, one poem, and one essay.”
Now, this sounds both terrific and burdensome at the same time. Imagine doing this every single night. First of all, you have to adapt yourself to this and change your daily life. Then, you have to read all the materials you found for this case. Needless to say, it already sounds challenging. However, you know what they say, “no pain, no gain.”
I believe in this principle, and I’m not saying that I do better than the majority, but our characters have become more fragile, slothful, and prone to giving up easily. I genuinely hate seeing this, whether it’s in others or realizing it in myself. We need to find our inner motivation to push forward, if we truly want to become someone else, someone we really look forward to.
I want to become an author, a prolific one. I’m not sure when that will happen, but this is my goal in life. I want to complete my first novel and then turn it into a series. If it takes a lifetime, then so be it. I want it to be my purpose throughout my life, if possible. Life may bring some harsh times, but it’s up to us to get up once more in the end to make things work.
Photo by Mike Hindle on Unsplash
Regarding the Bradbury Trio, I can say, first things first: find your materials for it. Obviously, Bradbury wanted people to read skillful authors. Perhaps classics, but also avid and prolific ones like Poe, Shakespeare, Wells, Verne — just read whatever short stories and poems you can find by them. Read the award-winning ones, like Nobel Prize or Pulitzer Prize winners. Since they are deemed worthy of such prestigious awards (whether you believe those awards mean anything or not), we can safely assume they must be far better than the ones you can find anywhere else.
I also like to give myself a chance to inspire from amateur authors. Encountering like-minded individuals brings a smile to my face, and reading interesting twists excites me, regardless of their level of renown.
In addition to the Bradbury Trio challenge, he also mentioned his daily writing challenge discipline. In one of my previous articles, I discussed his book “Zen in the Art of Writing”, in which he provides some valuable advice. You should read his book to gain insights into his mindset and life.
“I wrote at least a thousand words a day every day from the age of twelve on.”
That amounts to at least 7000 words in a week. Again, it’s entirely understandable for a person who can’t fully dedicate themselves to it, whether due to lack of time or passion during that period of life. We can create our own disciplined writing tasks. Don’t forget that; nobody expects us to be perfect, and if they do, we don’t have to listen to them. If we do, we risk losing our attitude, curiosity, and motivation towards our goals.
Another one of my favorite quotes from him is from his 2001 talk. He encourages you to write a short story every week for at least a year. Although it may seem challenging at first glance, doing it on a weekly basis, as opposed to daily, might be an easier option for you rather than the Bradbury Trio challenge.
He mentions that writing an entire novel might take time, so he advises using your own life as material. This is a point he frequently emphasizes in his book “Zen in the Art of Writing” as well. He believes that it’s simply impossible to write 52 bad short stories in a row. What can I do but agree on that?
I think that we can’t fail miserably because we learn more as we write. We develop ourselves and recognize the mistakes we make along the way. We won’t repeat them all the time and won’t become emotionally attached (especially to the first ones) as we create more. Because an emotional bond might be dangerous for a person to have with their works, especially if they really are failure, considering the amount of energy and time invested. Things can fall apart, and it’s normal; what’s important is that we should be aware of it.
My personal challenge/task is writing here consistently and working on my novel on a weekly basis. I can clearly see that a lot of progress has been made so far, but I won’t stop until I get there. If this doesn’t make me excited, then what will?
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