People who write have one thing in them. They are ready to face the world, whether in a good way or bad. They are ready to take criticism for what they write. Anyone who is afraid cannot be a writer.
One needs to become responsible for what one writes. Just because one has courage and is unafraid, doesn't mean that the writer can write whatever she wants. Because the written word is so powerful, because people take it seriously, the writer has to be careful about things she expresses.
Writing for the public is not a personal diary, where one can spill out whatever is on her mind. The public needs to be spared the chaos in an individuals' mind. Otherwise, that chaos would spill into the public arena, which would cause more confusion.
Since the written page is taken so seriously by readers, it comes with a lot of responsibility to the writer. It is a record for posterity, and everything isn't grist for the mill in a future world. Now, with the media explosion because of the internet and social media, people's attention spans have shortened. The writer needs to keep that in mind.
With so much information floating around, in the future, when it would be time for the society to look back, it would be selective, and look at the useful, what would be useful to itself, and discard those that are of no importance.
Showing posts with label society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label society. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
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.
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.
Monday, September 21, 2015
The Writer in Me: The Mind Body Connection
I grew up as a child spending lot of time with books. What outcome could you expect in such a scenario? Someone who wants to write. And hence my life is now long years of reading, writing, and more writing. And the best place to visit all time has been the library wherever I lived.
It isn't surprising, is it? My earliest clear memory is of going to the District Library in Jorhat, a small town in Assam, India, where I spent most of my school years. That was the formative period of my life.
For some reason, I wasn't much into games and sports. I wasn't a weak girl. Somehow, that aspect of life never interested me. Later, after passing out from school, I became a yoga enthusiast. and right now, I regularly go to the gym and walk in the park, also bike sometimes. Haven't reached the half-marathon level. But this isn't that bad. It isn't about all head and body care. I do try to live a holistic life, taking care of my physical as well mental well being.
One thing I've learnt over the years is that, one cannot live just the way one likes, especially when it comes to the body, mind and spirit. Eating and drinking anything, at any time, or inputting anything into the mind, sleeping at any hour, no control in life... One cannot abuse any part of it. There is a clear connection between all these aspects.
Life continues because of balance. It's so important to take care of the body if one wants to use the mind. Writing is nothing else but using the mind to produce words from ideas. Dynamic ideas are born in an active energetic body. Just like an oiled machine works efficiently, similarly, a well maintained body (not just aesthetically, it's about health) works better than when it hasn't been cared for.
Health is wealth. I don't know who said this or from where it has come. The older I am getting, I realize the significance of good health more seriously. Everything in life is connected to health. As long as one is alive, health affects that person. It could be good health or bad health. When we talk of bad health, it brings up the image of a sick person, who cannot walk straight and tall, or someone in a hospital bed with pipes everywhere, or coughing an eyes watering.
These are just a few images that I get when I talk about bad health. a person who is in bad health is not in normal condition, is unable to perform optimally, and is a drag to herself and others surrounding her. The opposite scenario applies to a healthy person. She is full of energy and can apply herself to the task at hand with full focus.
Not that good health guarantees the best writing. Many other attributes also go into making a great writer, like life experiences, perception and empathy, power of observation, ability to interpret incidents in a writerly way, etc. etc.
But a writer in good health, and with better than average abilities is a boon to everyone. A society needs writers who write well.
It isn't surprising, is it? My earliest clear memory is of going to the District Library in Jorhat, a small town in Assam, India, where I spent most of my school years. That was the formative period of my life.
For some reason, I wasn't much into games and sports. I wasn't a weak girl. Somehow, that aspect of life never interested me. Later, after passing out from school, I became a yoga enthusiast. and right now, I regularly go to the gym and walk in the park, also bike sometimes. Haven't reached the half-marathon level. But this isn't that bad. It isn't about all head and body care. I do try to live a holistic life, taking care of my physical as well mental well being.
One thing I've learnt over the years is that, one cannot live just the way one likes, especially when it comes to the body, mind and spirit. Eating and drinking anything, at any time, or inputting anything into the mind, sleeping at any hour, no control in life... One cannot abuse any part of it. There is a clear connection between all these aspects.
Life continues because of balance. It's so important to take care of the body if one wants to use the mind. Writing is nothing else but using the mind to produce words from ideas. Dynamic ideas are born in an active energetic body. Just like an oiled machine works efficiently, similarly, a well maintained body (not just aesthetically, it's about health) works better than when it hasn't been cared for.
Health is wealth. I don't know who said this or from where it has come. The older I am getting, I realize the significance of good health more seriously. Everything in life is connected to health. As long as one is alive, health affects that person. It could be good health or bad health. When we talk of bad health, it brings up the image of a sick person, who cannot walk straight and tall, or someone in a hospital bed with pipes everywhere, or coughing an eyes watering.
These are just a few images that I get when I talk about bad health. a person who is in bad health is not in normal condition, is unable to perform optimally, and is a drag to herself and others surrounding her. The opposite scenario applies to a healthy person. She is full of energy and can apply herself to the task at hand with full focus.
Not that good health guarantees the best writing. Many other attributes also go into making a great writer, like life experiences, perception and empathy, power of observation, ability to interpret incidents in a writerly way, etc. etc.
But a writer in good health, and with better than average abilities is a boon to everyone. A society needs writers who write well.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
About The Pearl
Yesterday night, after a dinner of wine and what my husband calls 'retrofitted' pasta, I picked up the slim volume of John Steinbeck's novel, The Pearl. On the firt few pages, the family of Kino, his wife Juana, and their son Coyotito are waking up in the morning and getting up from bed. It is a perfect day, a day similar to any other day when Kino eats the corn cake breakfast his wife makes in their traditional fireplace.
The entire scenario is so pristine, untouched, that it is a little out of the way when I get to know that they live in a brush house, away from the concrete and plaster houses on the other side of the land, and light a brush fire to cook their meal. There is a world of difference between these two segments of society. They are poor.
A sudden development brings their poverty into full focus. A scorpion bites the beloved child on his hammock. The mother Juana wants the doctor to come and look at the child, but she is informed by the neighbours that the doctor would not come to cure the child living in these houses.
Hence the march of the entire crowd to the doctor, who lives in a palatial house. The mony minded doctor refuses to examine the wounded child. He is also unable to find any value in the rough pearls that Kino offers instead of money.
What happens next, I'm eager to know. Would have to be patient.
The entire scenario is so pristine, untouched, that it is a little out of the way when I get to know that they live in a brush house, away from the concrete and plaster houses on the other side of the land, and light a brush fire to cook their meal. There is a world of difference between these two segments of society. They are poor.
A sudden development brings their poverty into full focus. A scorpion bites the beloved child on his hammock. The mother Juana wants the doctor to come and look at the child, but she is informed by the neighbours that the doctor would not come to cure the child living in these houses.
Hence the march of the entire crowd to the doctor, who lives in a palatial house. The mony minded doctor refuses to examine the wounded child. He is also unable to find any value in the rough pearls that Kino offers instead of money.
What happens next, I'm eager to know. Would have to be patient.
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