Written by Dyami Millarson

My approach to writing articles is simple. One may find all the writing tips to one’s heart desire online. Much people make elaborate lists of writing tips. However, this author has read through countless lists and found little of practical use in them. What seens to be lost on the list-makers is the importance of simplicity. This is why list-making is generally eschewed on this blog. As a writer, I have a general idea of what I want to say and this is how each article starts. My goals are clear to myself, because I write them down as axioms. I tell myself: Just commence by writing down something and continue from there.

Take for instance the axiom, “there is a growing international awareness about Aasters, Eilauners and Hielepes,” which formed the basis of one of the recent articles that I have written. Before fully writing out an article, I usually write down one or a few sentences, which are axioms. The article naturally grows from there as the ideas start to pour out. If I am stuck or lack inspiration, I may ask myself a few questions about what I want to achieve with the article or what I want to express, and sometimes as in the case of this article, I may write down a few axioms because I have haste, but I come back to later within a few weeks, months or sometimes even years.

I write down a lot of axioms for articles that I am going to write and sometimes I may scrap some ideas, because I find the topics are no longer relevant news at some point in the future or I may not like the idea itself for whatever reason. I write down lots of axioms to inspire myself. However, this is no strict rule. Although my articles often start from a truism, i.e. a general fact or concept that helps me lay the foundations for what I am going to write, not all my articles start that way.

Sometimes I just have an idea in my mind and immediately write it out without any prior preparation by writing axioms. I desire not to rely on axioms too much. I feel this would limit my creativity. Oftentimes inspiration just comes and one needs to write it down immediately. It goes in a flow, which usually depends on one’s mood, which often depends on one’s energy. I may often express my goals beforehand using axioms or truisms, but this is not a system that I will ever adhere to rigidly.

Simplicity, to my mind, also demands that I make no constant use of time-consuming methods that would distract me from production. I write down axioms only if I fear that I might otherwise forget my point or goal of writing. However, when I am very energetic and jsut want to write my ideas down immediately, I make no use of axioms at all. It really depends on whether I still need some inspiration or still need some time to meditate on a certain topic.

Flexibility is key. One ought to adapt to one’s own needs in different situations. I know when I am tired I need to rely more on axioms to help me, and if I am too tired, I need to postpone writing the article, yet if I am energic and feeling inspired, I need to write out the entire article immediately before I lose my inspiration.

However, often when I got a lot of inspiration, I may still postpone writing the articles because I am reluctant to write it out immediately and giving in to this urge gives me comfort so that I can write a better article later. Just listen to your own heart and be flexible so that you may feel comfortable whilst writing.