Write Something!

http://content.msn.co.in/Contribute/Lifestyle/UCStory6317.htm
Write Something!
-by Gopinath Mavinkurve Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Blog this story

One of the emails I got from a reader, in response to a piece I wrote for the MSN Contribute recently, urged me to write more…”hopefully, something positive”, it says!
I had begun writing since I was in college for my college magazine and though it has been a long time, I am not a prolific writer, I must admit. My friends and close relatives always prod me to write more. But one of the basic problems when it comes to writing “something” is, “What do I write about?” The trouble is that any subject from Price Rise to the US Recession, from Raj Thakeray’s attack on Amitabh to Mayawati’s take on Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Dalit homes, I know very little about! And as to what I think about these incidents….well, what do I think? I normally don’t!
So let me write about writing! The first thing I was advised is to read a lot of books, newspapers and magazines. Back then in the ‘70s there wasn’t such a phenomenon as internet. My English teacher had a very useful tip to improve my English language. “If you want to perfect the language, not only talk in English, think in English!”. Believe me, this came in very handy!
In some of my initial articles, I had used very flowery language to show off my vocabulary. My friends would ask, “It was good… but what did you mean when….” An anecdotal tale from my well-wisher, which I treasure till date is about the writer, who always wrote and spoke flowery language, to such an extent, that he forgot simple, common words! It is said that this writer was trapped in a building, which caught fire! He opened the window and shouted, “Conflagration! Assistance!!”. The Poor fellow died! If only he were to shout “Fire! Help!!”, his life would have been saved. My next lesson was learnt. Use simple words!
Some of my initial contributions were just too long! They came back to me like a boomerang – along with the rejection slip, of course! This is when the lessons of “Precis-writing”, so laboriously learnt in school, came to my help. A well-known part of literature goes thus: “I could not make this letter shorter as I did not have much time”. This sentence, besides being a paradox, also impressed upon me that it takes time and effort to be brief and yet to express with precision and clarity. Indeed, Brevity is the soul of wit!
Finally, I got loads of feedback. I once even went across to some senior editors, who encouraged me to write! (inspite of my several shortcomings). It was only one of them who shared this anecdote on writing which goes as follows:
“A budding writer, who approached a well known author with his writings. The renowned scribe was kind enough to read them all and told him, "Your work is both original and interesting….” . The young lad was thrilled! “ …But the original part is not interesting and the interesting part is not original”, he concluded. The young lad’s heart sunk!!” I have been lucky indeed!
:“Why don’t you write?”, they would still go on! “I still do …but nobody publishes!” – I would never tell them!