One
may write what he likes, what others may like or what, in his opinion, should
be written. In fact, when one is deeply engrossed in the process of writing,
one of the three thoughts may dominate over the other two at one point of time.
It is only when one is in the planning stages of writing that one is consciously
aware of one’s motive.
A true writer is one who can effect a change. Those who write
to please their readers are not the true writers, notwithstanding the skill of
writing a language they possess, because what they write cannot bring about a
change either in them or in their readers.
A true writer is one who tries to honestly write about what
he feels. We regulate our conduct to suit us and our surroundings with varying
degree of honesty; but we can afford to be more honest about what suits us or
liked by us, when we write. This freedom to be more honest to ourselves gives
us an opportunity to stay with our thoughts and feelings longer than what is otherwise
possible. For example, if I do not like people who do not respect women, I may
hesitate in informing them about what I dislike in them; but, when I write
about what usually men think about women, I am more likely to be much critical
about what I disapprove. It is not of
much consequence how many people read what I write; once something is written
by me or stored in my computer, I become
aware of the existence of a ‘virtual me’ who thinks the way I think. That is
what I call staying longer with one’s thoughts or feelings.
I remember, in my childhood days, many wise elders advised us
to maintain daily diaries, writing therein what good or bad one had done in a day
and what kinds of pledges one would like to make for making improvement in one’s
conduct. Those wise people intended that the young learn to stay longer with
their good thoughts. We find that most great thinkers and philosophers, who
aimed to build better surroundings for them, had been compulsive speakers or
writers; or they preferred solitude to avoid others interfering with their ‘truthful
virtual self’. When one speaks there is a compulsion that at least one listener
is present; and, there also is a risk that the listener might inappropriately
interfere, acting thereby as a ‘spoiler’. No writer ever writes in front of his
reader; that kind of freedom only a writer enjoys!
One
must write what he likes, and what in his opinion should be written. Writing
comes first; readers, if any, or many, appear later.
PROMOD KUMAR SHARMA
[The writer of this blog is also the author of “Mahatma A
Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” and “In Search of Our Wonderful Words”.]
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