Writers are Experts? Think Again

Is it good enough? The moment you decide to bare your soul to others through creative expression, you realize the inherent complexity of the exercise.

Can you really convert your thoughts and ideas to concrete language? Can truth be replicated on screen/paper?

I can say this about my experience as a writer. I constantly have this tussle. Are the words and phrases actually conveying what I want to say? 

Heck, are the words authentic at all?  Are words enough? Am I being authentic/genuine enough? Am I just writing to please, being politically correct? Do my words reflect my stance/my world view or someone else's? So many questions. so many conundrums. 

To tell the truth, the writer is something of a nervous wreck! 

Do I need to Say it?

In this age of information overload, who wants to read or see something they have already read or seen? How do you bring newness into what is essentially a universal feeling or a routine experience? Will your language, expressions, words, images really be able to depict your angst? Or your exhilaration, or trepidation or stress?

Several factors colour our perception, recollection, and what we choose to remember, don’t they? Primary factors are what we were feeling/sensing at that time and how we were affected by the consequences. These control what our mind has rejected as unimportant or has retained as significant. So, what I feel is the truth about an incident, an event may not be the actual truth, right? 

Similarly, when I write a story, the truth of my characters - as I see it, may not be wholly correct. I can create a character who lives a different reality through imagination and borrowed knowledge, but I haven't really lived in his/her/their shoes. Case for example - a poverty-stricken youth, a transgender, a prostitute, a corrupt politician, etc. At the most, my strong empathy will allow me to feel close, but is that enough? 

Can I make You Understand?

As a content creator, you are beset with the risk that what you want to portray is understood entirely differently by any one of your readers/viewers.

Maybe what you wanted to show as longing is seen as obsession by her? What you have portrayed as loyalty in some character, looks like slavery and dependence to another reader? Worse, your reader or viewer can’t catch the irony, or sarcasm you have tried to convey!

This is the essential duality of the experience of creation. While being cathartic, trauma-releasing and recharging, it is also excruciatingly painful. It can maim, it can leave you vulnerable, and even more broken.

Does It Touch a Cord?

Even if what I write is perfect - both in language and also in structure, does it strike a cord within you? Can you feel what I am trying to convey? How much should be left unsaid?

The moment the book is out in public scrutiny, the writer dies a thousand deaths every moment. Every word of appreciation comes as oxygen to her. 

The impact of trolling, negative comments, or scathing sarcasm can crush a creator. Of course, some of it will go into making a better writer. Most of all what destroys a writer is indifference or apathy. Simply said, when you ignore a book, it kills a writer.

So, pick up that book, read, and encourage a writer. Say what resonates with you. Suggest what can be improved.

Do not ignore a good writer's work, please. For what you know, it may be the end of his/her writing.

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