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‘Celebrating the Introspective and Reflective Aspects of Writing.’
To write or not to
write has never been the question. From an early age, I grew up with books
strewn around me at home. Everyone I knew was a reader or a writer. When people
asked me if I wanted to be a writer, my answer was always a resounding ‘Yes!’
In fact, I wrote my first poem at the age of ten.
However, that first
poem of mine did not get written for altruistic reasons or because I wanted people
to read and savour my writing. Instead, I was bitten by the green-eyed monster of envy.
A young friend of mine would come with her poems to my mother, herself a lover
of the English language, and spend hours showing off her prowess. There were evenings
when she would attach herself to my mother, and leave only three or four hours
later. What was worse was that mom would wax eloquent about her talent, her
flair and her dedication, all the while casting sidelong glances at me. When
the pressure got too much for me, I sat down and promptly wrote my first poem,
only to enjoy the process so much that I continued to write on whatever little
scrap of paper I could find. Much later I realised that my mother had played
the smart card and got me hooked on to writing.
That was Lesson Number
1 that I learnt from the Write Path.
Often, positive results can come out of
negative emotions.
The green-eyed monster
having vanished by them, I fervently thank that friend who was the catalyst for
my writing.
The Green Eyed Monster – Alamy
My father was an
Army officer, and we were posted in the picturesque city of Vizag. I was in the
11th and there was a Naval Week essay competition that I took part.
I recall Dad telling me, “Make sure that your opening paragraph has a punch strong
enough to catch the eye of the readers.” I took his advice and wrote out an
introduction which was catchy and had an apt quote. I used the dictionary to find
words that would enhance the narrative. To make things easier, I learnt the whole
introduction by heart.
On the day of the
competition, I began writing with an air of confidence while my fellow writers
were nibbling on their pens to put words to paper. Once I had finished the first
bit, I continued writing everything else which I had compiled earlier. When the
results came, I was adjudged the winner and received a certificate and prize
money, but what was priceless were the words from the chief judge.
“What an amazing introduction
you presented! You have a flair for writing.” Elated, I went home to tell my
parents about my win, and gave my father an extra special hug, saying, “Dad, if
I did well today, it was due to your amazing suggestion.” Lesson Number 2 had
come my way.
It is vital to
hook the reader right from the beginning, something I try and do with my short
stories and my novels.
By the time I got married to a smart young Army Captain, I had already written several stories
and articles for magazines like Woman’s Era, Femina and Mirror. Our first
posting was to Bhuj, a tiny cantonment which came into prominence during the Gujarat
earthquake.
As a bride I
was welcomed into my husband’s regiment by the Commanding Officer’s wife, along
with three other young brides who had also come in along with me. We were all
royally pampered by the senior officers and their spouses, who invited us for
every meal for almost a fortnight. It was such a lovely feeling that I would
sit down and write about everything to my mother and sisters back home. By then
Dad was no more, but his spirit hovered above us, as though he wanted to make
up for having left us so early in life.
We moved on to
Deolali, where my husband was posted for a course, I wrote regularly for a
little newsletter called ‘Deolali Doings’. I found so many amusing things to
write about my life in the Army – right from the accommodation, the cooks, the
parties, the pets and just about everything. That is how my first book titled ‘Arms
and the Woman’ was born, a book that took a light-hearted look at my life as an
army wife. Lesson Number 3 presented itself.
Humour is a
useful way to get your point across.
Lesson 4 sneaked in deviously
into my life, as subtly as my fascination for thrillers of all kinds. Starting
with Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Mary
Stewart, whose intriguing books I devoured as a teenager, I moved onto the
equally suspenseful books of Jeffrey Archer, Dan Brown and Mary Higgins Clark.
I loved the twist in the tale concept, avidly searching for red herrings and
mysterious clues that these stalwarts threw in, often to confuse readers.
When I wrote my
first thriller short story, I realised that the bug had bitten me as well. From
then on, many of my stories and books revolved around thrills and chills… my
Shadow quartet and my thriller story anthologies. I was even invited as a Guest
editor for a horror anthology titled The Abandoned House Horror from the Chrysanthemum
Chronicles publishing house curated by Monalisa Joshi.
That is how Lesson
Number 4 crept in.
Childhood
interests grow into lifelong passions.
Very early in
life, I also understood how important it is to love your writing and make it
sparkle. If what you write bores you to death, how on earth would you expect it
to interest your readers?
“I know nothing on the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and look at it, until it shines.” Emily Dickinson
Thus, I learnt to sift
quality over quantity, only writing about what interested me, adapting to the
times and the interests of readers. Sometimes, it felt terrible to discard a
piece I had written or a plot that had fascinated me, but I would steel my
heart and run a red pen over it because it was not convincing enough. Lesson Number 5, I would say, is one of the hardest lessons learnt, and one of the most vital
ones as well.
Write with your
heart and edit with your mind.
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It was Oscar
Wilde, that delightfully witty writer, who said,
“It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is absolutely fatal.”
I have always believed that it is better to talk about your own learning experiences than to give dollops of advice to others. I continue to be an aspiring writer because I feel that there is scope to improve with every piece of writing. In fact, look upon writing as a blessing and a pleasure. Let it be an activity that takes the stress out of your life, instead of a tiresome chore that you must complete due to a Damocles sword of a deadline hanging over you. Make friends with reader and writer groups and communicate with like-minded folks. The more you share your work with others, the more joy you get out of the whole exercise. Lesson Number 6 catapults its way from this trampoline.
Keep reading, writing and sharing your writing for you never know where your next reader is going to spring from.
“You should write stories because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different pages on a page.” Annie Proulx
THIS POST IS PART OF ‘THE WRITE PATH BLOG HOP’ HOSTED BY SWARNALI NATH.
https://theblissfulstoryteller.com/
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