Regularity: Sticking to it all the way

Over the years, I've realized that if you have the talent to write, if you know how to compose a piece of work, whether prose or poetry, short story or novel, the next important thing is carrying power.

How long can you persevere at it? Writing is not for those with a faint heart. It demands total dedication and long hours of work. Merely writing words on paper (or the computer) isn't called writing. It has to be readable and comprehensible. Someone should be able to read and understand it.

Even basic types of writing like diary keeping has one condition attached to it. That's called regularity. One has to be regularly writing to accomplish one's goal. Keeping a diary is not as complicated as writing a book, which needs more dedication, because one has to figure out the content, as well as shape that content into a coherent whole spanning several hundred pages.

When I talk about a few hundred pages, immediately it feels as if I am talking of a daunting task. To fill pages and pages with interesting and readable material is not for the flimsy or flaky minded. One has to apply one's various faculties to and stand one's ground, for long hours, weeks and months, even years.

There are also some who are adept at making great starting. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the beginning, until they get stuck in a rut, for various reasons, which has one name in the writer's dictionary. Block. I don't believe in the kind of writer's block that I hear people talking about. There cannot be a block when one write's regularly and approaches writing as serious work, like any other day job.

The general belief is to think of writing as a hobby or a lighter activity. Our society doesn't give that importance or legitimacy to someone's work unless it is an award winner or a blockbuster, earning loads of money. But writing is not any whimsical activity that one can pick up and drop off any time. One a writer, always a writer. As they say, You are a writer before as well after publishing.

Many people would find it difficult to believe that it requires months, and sometimes years of work, to get that book in hand ready in print. And now, with the surfeit of information because of the internet in our lives, that little, or big volume, requires a writer to be more dedicated to her work. She has to keep all distractions at bay and write every day, even if it is less than what she set as her daily goal.

Being able to sit at one's desk and producing those words that would eventually become your book, and doing it regularly, is the secret to a writer's success. By success, I mean getting a good quality book in print and ready for the reader.

Miracles do Happen, I agree

As usual, Alexander McCall Smith, the Scottish writer, weaves magic with his observations of simple life in his novel, Miracle at Speedy Motors.

He writes about this detective agency in Botswana, of all places. A detective agency that solves various problems in a rainless, rural, underdeveloped country, with its cultural values, family system, and specific problems.

In Botswana, the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the series to which this book belongs, does not deal with complicated murder mysteries, or million dollar ransom cases. It is engaged instead in finding answers to the issues that people in this small place face. Like Sebina, who is on the lookout for her family, hoping she would find someone to call her own, although she has no one. She might find someone somewhere, if she was lucky. So she contacts the Ladies Detective Agency with a request.

In the book, the interactions between Mma Ramotswe and, the owner of the agency, and her assistant, Mma Makutsi, are so clearly portrayed. And often, they are hilarious, and that made me smile all along.

Admired Sri Lankan Writer

Reef, by Romesh Gunesekera, the Sri Lankan writer, is one of the most beautifully written books I've evr read. It is small, yet detailed and subtle. Every word evoked the Sri Lankan land and seascape. The descriptions of the surrounding vegetation, and of the food, which was a focal point, was real.

The words are precise, and not superfluous. Just the way a book should be written.

Triton worked as a cook for Ranjan Salgado, who researched the sea. Nili came to live with Salgado. Friends and parties happened. Then Salgado and Nini quarelled, and split.

Salgado and Triton went to London. Salgado returned to Sri Lanka hearing that Nili was in a sanatorium. Triton stayed back and worked at his own restaurant.

Throughout the book, there was a lot of interwoven description about the Sri Lankan insurgency. But nowhere was there any jerky movements in the pace of the novel. Everything was smooth and believable.

Laws of Inheritance

Finished reading the novel Esther's Inheritance by Hungarian author Sandor Marai a few minutes ago, and I'm still in a daze. It was a page turner. I couldn't stop reading. Of course I shouldn't have taken two days, considering it is slim. But I've been doing my own stuff, so finishing it means a lot.

There are very few books that say so much in so few pages. And all great writings are about love. And also about life, death, intrigue. It was so deep, had to stop and re-read occasionally, either to grasp the meaning, or to let the idea sink in.

As if I had a long talk with the writer. As if he was telling his story only to me. It was absorbing. Please don't be surprised by my gushing his praise. I'd love to read all the other novels that he has written. Including Embers, Casanova in Bolzano, and The Rebels.

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

I didn't take Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs seriously, in the sense that I thought it would be more about eating high sugar, low nutrition food. You know what I mean. I took the title literally. Of course I shouldn't have.

And I am surprised by what I'm finding as I'm reading it. I must say, the book, although it overarches the theme of cooking for TV, has more drama than in the recipes you'd find for any comfort food. And then, it isn't comforting, 'cause I turn the page to know more, and end up turning it again and again.

Would love to read the other book by Jacobs, The Friday Night Knitting Club.