The flow of writing does not come easy. In the last few weeks, I have
picked up certain writing tips from here and there, and they seem to
make sense to my own writing practices and personality. The very first
one is no great tip, rather it's an observation which a journalist who
also does freelance writing made.
Writers have to love reading too. And they have to have real love for
reading -- the kind that inspires and forces them to empty their eon
thoughts on paper or electronic orbits. That makes sense to me. Only
when we read different authors, critique their writing styles and
imagine how we would have dealt with similar (or different) plot lines,
do we feel the urge to write surge within. We gather language,
vocabulary, usage, phrases, expressions, descriptions and scenery. When
this happens, writing shall come easy to me.
By reading, I would take it to mean all kinds of reading. Right from
reading the newspaper to articles on the internet, other blogs to your
more serious reading such as literature, history, mythology and the
whole bouquet of knowledge and wisdom transferred to us through the
various media. Perhaps some of us hardly open a paperback or hardbound
anymore. We have it all in the ether all around us, waiting for us to
but touch, tap or flick it on. But still, reading it is. It could be
like the poem My Generation, written by a fourteen year old that went
viral through Twitter a few days ago. It could be an epic like the
Mahabharata in another language. But if it makes me think, it inspires
me to attempt writing at least a line, or adding color to an idea or
aspiration, it is my meat!
A natural appendage to having a reading fixation is the happenstance of
keeping oneself well-informed. I don't restrict my knowledge to news or
gossip here. It could be events, personalities or ideas. But being in
the know is a useful habit to keep up. It can lead to many more
wonderful things. It can inspire or depress, or scare or confine. But it
will seldom leave you unmoved. So if you are an insensitive brute,
still read. And if you are a sensitive, sincere contributor, read even
more, for through you, great things might come to pass. You can be the
lens through which brilliant visages find reflection.
Writing is hard work. It needs industry, planning and perseverance. On
this context, some say it is not possible to push oneself to write. Up
and coming writer Amish Tripathy of the the Shiva trilogy said he never set
himself targets to finish a certain number of words or chapters. But he
did mention that he finds the forenoon the best time for his writing.
This discovery is worth making, as it will give a writer a schedule and a
possibility of being productive with something that is as fixated on
inspiration and creativity as writing.
Amish also mentioned in his newspaper interview that he answers letters,
media persons and connects with family. Maintaining these relationships
evidently helps him write better when he does sit down to write.
This piece is nowhere near done, and I doubt if it ever will be. I will keep adding pieces to this as and when I have some new insight into writing, or if I come across something interesting said by someone that's worth recording. As my Psychology professor at business school remarked once, "theories do not come out of thin air", so I with some pretense or inspiration, will find something or other to keep my writing going, and that's how, I hope, this post will keep lengthening too.
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