 Writing
as profession
"Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of
understanding it." - Lloyd Alexander, author
I am not a professional writer. I write because I enjoy putting pen
to thoughts that germinate in the mind. Writing may be tiny perfect
revelations; but if one is looking for a career, writing as a carrier in
Sri Lank is a poor choice for those who want to make a living out of it;
though undoubtedly, there are many talented writers who become
columnists and journalists. The freelance writer, on the other hand, is
a man who is paid a pittance per piece, or per word, or perhaps;
depending on the whims and fancies of the paymasters. He may have
entertained and captivated the hearts of millions. He may have revealed
in his works the secret of his soul; every experience of his life; every
commendable quality of his mind may be written large in his work; but to
his paymasters, he will remain an apprentice in a craft in which no one
ever becomes a master, except the paymaster.
Part
The greatest part of a writer's time is, spent in reading. To write,
a man will turn over half a library to make one article. Read a thousand
books, and your words will flow like a river. Yet, making people believe
the unbelievable is no trick; it is work and hard work at that because
belief and reader absorption come in the details. Most of our reader's
lives are basically, mundane and dull; and it is up to the writer to
find ways to make them interesting. If my writing sounds like writing, I
rewrite it. If proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I cannot
allow what I learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and
rhythm of the narrative. To know the literary tradition, to savor it, to
steal from it, is what all writers do; but when we sit down to write, we
forget about worshiping greatness, and fetishizing masterpieces because,
there are no laws for writing an article, or even a novel; there never
have been, nor can there ever be, except the constraint of space.
The most beautiful thing about writing is that madness prompts it,
and reason writes. Nevertheless, long patience, and application
saturated with the heart's blood, is the story of the writer; and in
that story, he finds some small portion of the meaning of life. In spite
of this, I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career,
especially in this country, that before developing his talent he would
be wise to develop a thick hide; because writing is something you do in
private, and like some things that you do in private, you need to wash
your hands afterwards. If not, the disease of writing will catch you,
and you cannot stop it. Literature is, strewn with the wreckage of men
who have minded beyond reason the urge to become a writer, and found the
world burning through them.
Serious
However, if you do not believe in being serious about anything; and I
think anyway life is too serious to be, taken seriously; aspire to a
career in writing: and when you write, do not hoard what seems good for
a later piece, or for another day; give it, give it all, give it now.
Write while the heat is in you; write like a maniac. The writer who
postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron, which has cooled.
A piece of writing is simply the container of an idea - like a bottle;
what is inside is what matters. While writing, one need not worry too
much about style. Style, in writing, is to forget all styles. Style
means the use of the right word in the right place, and nothing more.
The rest matters little. The main thing about style is to, not let the
puppets of our mind become the theme of our story. If there are no
realities in our own mind, there is no mysterious alchemy in ink and
paper, which will turn wooden figures into flesh and blood. Writing is
the art of ego.
If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood. After
all, after nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the
thing we need most in the world. We tell ourselves stories in order to
live. A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that
moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look
ahead. Every great love starts with a great story; and everyone tells a
story about themselves inside their own head - always, all the time.
That story is what makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of
that story: That is our role, our gift.
Tale
We may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul; becomes
their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive
them. Who knows what they might do because of it, because of our words.
Artists use lies to tell the truth. So does a storyteller. Yes, he
created a lie; but because you believed it, you found something true
about yourself. A beautiful song could tell a sad story because fiction
makes a better job of the truth. Thus, the purpose of a storyteller is
not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.
If history were to be taught in the form of stories; it would never be
forgotten because the world is, shaped by two things: stories told and
the memories they leave behind. What happens is of little significance
compared with the stories we tell ourselves about what happens. Events
matter little; only stories of events affect us and therefore, are
remembered. Most times, reality is too complex. Stories give it form;
and that is why power, especially political power, consists to a large
extent in deciding what stories will be told.
Although, writing as a profession seems less lucrative; at times, it
is encouraging to see hard work payoff through popularity and the
reverence with which the writer is, looked upon by society. Only a
writer can know how much hours of arduous hard work is to be done in
building the stories and research done to make them worth the read.
Plot
Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities
of life working at cross-purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they
strike against each other until finally there is an explosion - that is
Plot. In my writings, I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever
read; but put them in words that fit the occasion and gives meaning to
my writing. In Sri Lanka, there is a new category of writers, who have
developed since recent times, known as speechwriters and ghostwriters.
Though this is a common feature in countries of the western world, it is
just beginning here. This is because the bygone generations of
politicians wrote their own speeches or delivered them extempore. Today
mediocrity rules-the-roost and so, has given opportunity for the birth
of such a category: again not worth looking at it as a career because
the income from it will not keep your home fires burning. Yet, writing
may be a reason for living, because: to note, to pin down, to build up,
to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let
nothing go down the drain, to make something out of nothing, to make a
great flower out of life, is the art of the writer.
For views, reviews, encomiums, and brickbats:
[email protected]
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