Bitten by the Columbus Bug
Should you become a writer? Can you write fiction? Is writing for you?
Are these are the questions troubling you? You have come to the right place. I will try to address these questions in this post.
Who am I and am I even qualified to answer these questions? I am a novelist, and I can tell you how I began. You decide if it works for you.
What is the right age to begin writing?
I started writing at an early age, sometime after two. Before you gasp and assume I was a child prodigy, let me clarify. Like most children growing up in India, I was officially inducted into the sacred realm of enlightenment through a simple ceremony at home on the auspicious ‘Victory Day’ (Vijaya Dashami).
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This is a common practice in India. On this day every year, thousands of children learn to write in a token ceremony. These initiation rituals extend to leaning in all fields including music, art, dance . . . Learning / Education was held in high esteem in ancient India and some of these traditions have survived in spite of being thousands of years old.
Thus began my tryst with the art of writing.
Until a few years ago, all I had ever written were things related to academics, reports, emails, etc. I tried blogging when it was a new phenomenon but abandoned it after writing one post. I felt I had nothing original to contribute! The only out of the ordinary writing I can claim to have done is resume writing.
For all family members and many acquaintances, I have had the privilege of designing and writing resumes / cover letters etc.
Does any of this hint that I showed signs of becoming a novelist one day?
The Columbus Bug:
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On 03 Aug 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail to the west. His ambition, to reach Asia, on the East. How cool is that or should I say, how crazy. He launched himself into an endless unexplored ocean, travelling in the ‘opposite’ direction of his intended destination, defying logic . . ., and failed!
He landed on another continent that the world never knew existed. He failed to find the westward route to Asia but he discovered the Americas, the New World.
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“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
By Robert Frost
What am I getting at here? If you have the Columbus Bug in you and you are itching to explore it, I say go for it!
Exploring Writing:
On 01 Jan 2015, I made a New Year Resolution. I promised my friend Prabhs, that I would try my hand at writing a novel.
I have an admission here; this was to be my third attempt at writing fiction.[image error]
I had converted to Bookwormism way back in the fifth grade, when I discovered Enid Blyton. Since then the library has always been a sacred place, which I frequented at every opportunity. Sometime in high school, I thought about writing and began a Nancy Drew style ‘detective story’. It began well enough but I had no plot, characters or story in mind. Taking my pen for a walk led me to a solid brick wall, and after meandering for twenty pages, I ran out of steam. I gave up; deciding story telling was not for me.
Years later, unemployed and frustrated, on a hot sunny day, I began my second tryst. This time, I thought of writing something wholesome and there is nothing more endearing than the story of a happy loving family. With this brief brief, I began. After typing away for a few pages, I had seven beautiful characters and nothing else! I had no clue what to do with my creations and how to take the story forward. I gave up, for the second time.
On 01 Jan 2015, my third attempt was different. A resolution and a promise to a friend drove me to begin with a little more preparation. I dug out my earlier story with the beautiful characters and thought about what I could do with them. I made a broad outline of how I was going to take things forward; nipped out segments I couldn’t use, took inspiration from Shakespeare, and started working on Twice Blessed.[image error]
So, if you are wondering if you should become a writer, you’ll never know until you try. It takes a bit of your time and nothing else to try. If time is something you cannot spare, then probably it’s not for you, right now. Otherwise, you should at least try.
The idea is to keep trying a few times, if you find that your first attempt bombed. Remember Abraham Lincoln. What if he had given after his first defeat? America would be a different country today.
Can you write fiction?
That is a difficult question. As I have already described, fiction can derail you anytime. Let us give it some thought. We all have stories to tell, right; about our day, our work, our life . . . . Stories are everywhere. You can write them too.
This is what I found.
Putting pen to paper is the hardest. (I prefer to type into my computer now, but the actual process of begriming is very tough.) You missed all the opportunities you never attempted, so make the effort. Write a few words. Begin.
Having a broad storyline helps. Each time I began without having a storyline in mind, I got struck after experimenting with words. Multiple stories crowd your mind and you end up getting nowhere. So decide what you are writing, put it down on paper somewhere, and Begin.
It’s ok to be unsure of specifics. Often, the specifics come with the flow of the story and cannot be decided upfront. That is perfectly ok. You can pen the specifics as you progress once you Begin.
Don’t worry about how things are progressing. Write. The most important thing is to Begin.
Is writing for you?
I have pursued diverse interests throughout my life’ I studied science in school and opted for humanities in college, at work, I migrated from customer care to sales and operations, and I even ditched corporate ambitions in favour of entrepreneurship. But I have to admit that I enjoyed every one of those choices to the fullest. I believed in what I was doing and I was happy.
Writing is different. It began as an experiment about which I had limited expectations going in. But I have discovered that when I write, I am at peace. It’s something I hiver experienced with any of my other ventures. Writing for me is like meditation. It enlivens me and gives me a sense of accomplishment, even if I am the only one reading my day to day output.[image error]
For you to know if writing is for you, please take time to experience your emotions in association with your writing. When you are able to judge that, then you will know.
Whether your books will sell, whether you will be a millionaire . . . , I don’t know. Time will tell. But if you pay heed to your emotions, you will know if you will enjoy your journey to becoming a millionaire, long before you become one.
Happy writing!
In the next post, we will discuss, what to write?
