Mastering the Art of Writing with Tanya Munshi

I grew up reading novels, and since then, stories have been a part of life. They are inspiring in serval ways. And when I thought of writing one such piece, filled with goodness, I had a mental blockage. I didn’t know how to express my thoughts in the most beautiful and inspiring way. I knew I needed a mentor to guide me. 

It was then I called Tanya, and since then, the rest is history. The exposure she gave by putting me out of my comfort zone is remarkable. Tanya is a marvellous mentor. She brought diversity to my writing style. I wrote on different topics and conducted interviews with people from other aspects of life. She published my works, and the appreciation I received from others boosted my confidence in writing. Other than enhancing my writing skill, she has been a superb friend to me. She gave me all ears and guided me on the personal front, time management and what to expect at the workplace or as a freelancer. Even before the completion of the course, I’ve started to get work. She has trained me so well! 

Writing is a unique expression of sharing our thoughts with others. But little did we know that with time we become egocentric when we write. Our senses begin to overpower our thinking capacity. We write about things that please our senses, forgetting about the toxicity it builds within us. We begin to believe our view, self-perspective is the actual reality, and nothing matters beyond that. But when we have a dedicated mentor in blood and flesh, we are bound to make fewer mistakes. Each mistake is the stepping stone of our writing foundation.

Tanya Munshi, the founder of The Lifestyle Portal, is one of the mentors who helped me soul search through this 6-month writing program. Under her guidance, I grew as a person. I learned the power of writing, its impact on the reader and why conscience writing is essential. 

How I grew as a person 

Learning is a big part of evolving. From time to time, we need to shift our perspective, silence and rewire our minds. Without it, growth in our career and personal life is not easy.

Criticism – Acceptance to different possibilities 

Writing is never perfect. Somewhere, someone will dislike the content, and when someone criticises the work – it is because of a conflict of interest. 

Many of us take it personally, but only if we can shift our perspective; criticism builds our foundation. Criticism means to hear and accept that there could be different possibilities of looking at things. 

Silencing your mind 

When we write, sometimes many thoughts drop in. We do not know which one to pick and how to approach the topic. Rather than pondering over it, the best way is to write it down and slowly breathe in and out. Rather than telling ourselves – “I don’t know.” We should question why we do not know and what we don’t know, and how we can know. 

We can implement the same in our personal lives to filter constructive thoughts from the pool of thought. We then start to give less importance to self-sabotaging ideas.  

Rewiring your brain 

A good writer can quickly rewire his brain. They easily adapt to the topic and behave like the subject. Having the same attitude in real life helps us see through the situation and act as it demands. Moulding with time is necessary for survival. 

The power of writing 

Every thought that comes to our mind finds a way to manifest itself through our actions and words. The idea is future-oriented by nature. It changes now and then with our situation. But the minute we act upon it, it finds a way to express it through our writing. The writing style creates a visual effect in the mind of the readers, which can have a positive or a negative impact.

How does writing impact your reader?

Writing for oneself is different from writing for people. When we write for people, we need to understand what makes them tick. The art of write stimulates the mind of the reader to visualise and form perception. Visualising the writing connects the reader through a strong sense of emotion. It can trigger the reader for the good or worse. It can relax or agitate the mind. Foremost, writing can influence the decision making of a person.

Why conscience writing is essential

The idea is not to hurt others’ sentiments from our writing. Our writing purpose should be well defined with a balanced write up like a coin with two sides. A good write-up compliments each other, just like how a superhero compliments the supervillain. A superhero is nothing without a supervillain. The event that brings them together serves a purpose.

From Tanya, I learnt that writing reflects our state of mind – how we think and feel in that very moment. Sometimes, our thoughts expressed in words creates a negative influence on the mind of the readers. It is our responsibility not to pass on the destructive message to our readers. The more aware we become of our writing – the better person we become. The best time to write is when we are calm. We are then in a neutral space of mind that helps us see reality and its impact on readers.

I will always be grateful to you for your support and kindness. It would be impossible to count all the ways that you’ve helped me in restarting my career. Thank you so much for all that you’ve done. Thanks for being a good mentor and for guiding me on the right path. 

Contributor: Kavita Srivastava

About our Writing Program Student
Kavita Srivastava (35) holds a degree in MBA. She’s an avid reader of business strategies, digital marketing strategies, mythology, mystic and fine arts with a focus on content marketing. In her spare time, she loves to spend time with nature and animals. Some day, she wishes to adopt a puppy with whom she can go hiking and jogging. Currently, she’s pursing a career in digital content marketing.