Creative writing is different from
scientific or technical writings. It is different from tech blogs.
1.
Creative writing is an expression of self. There
is nothing like objectivity in creative writing. No creative writer can be 100%
percentage objective. No creative writer can stand off and write like a
newspaper reporter. Even a newspaper reporter is not completely objective. A
creative writer, even when he is writing like an objective narrator is narrating
incidents as he sees it. A medium always make transformations to what pass
through it. Since every medium is different from the other, the output is also
different. The output is like the rays of light that comes out of a prism. So
creative writing is an expression of self.
No blog reader sees the writer
in physical form. The reader sees and understands the writer through the words
written by him in his blogs. Words gather together to form sentences and then
ideas. Ideas are a mirror image of the writer.
So express what you want your
writer should know about you. Express only the part of the writer that may
benefit the reader. Hiding a part of the writer is not a sin. Every person has
a private face that sometimes even he may not see often.
2. Do
not be emotional over the blog unless the subject demands it. Do not
emotionalize your theme. Even emotions can be presented rationally. Rational
presentation is not opposite of emotional presentation. Rational presentation
is restrained expression of emotions. None can predict the effect of words on
its readers. Words have their own power and path. They run uncontrollable once
they are set free from the writer. Once a word is written by the writer it is
no longer chained to him. The writer can only watch helplessly as it run
creating impressions.
3. Be
a responsible writer. A writer should have a responsibility towards the reader.
Ideas near die. Ideas cannot be withdrawn. Ideas never obey ownership. Ideas have
no masters. Ideas once expressed do not belong to any particular person. Ideas
have magnificent power to change the society. The change may be for good or
bad. History is a proof of the power of ideas. Nothing has impacted the world more
than ideas.
So a writer must be careful in
expressing his ideas. Do not shout in the dawn what you dreamed in the night.
Permit it to go through a settlement time in which it may act and react with
many other ideas and circumstances and gradually precipitate. Show the world only
the precipitation.
4. Most
of the readers, even a casual reader who read a blog at a railway station to
waste his time, are searching for an answer to the question: “How to
live?”(Matthew Arnold – Study of Poetry). Tech blogs are answering
questions on technology. They cannot answer the question on life. Only creative
writing can give a direction to life. Even today’s education fails to give a
proper answer the question on life. There is the space and role of a creative
writer. Remember, every creative writer is shaping the future of the world.
5. Do
not use jargons, complex terms and hard nut theories. None read your blog for
hair splitting philosophy. Still there is no serious writing without
philosophy. Serious poetry, prose and drama are presenting a philosophy on
life. A great part of religion is philosophy. A serious blogger too cannot
ignore philosophy. He too will have to present a philosophy on life. Then
present it in everyday language that it may look like a common saying that is
popular among the peasants. That is the skill of a creative writer.
6. Blogs
should be instructive and entertaining. Readers of blogs are not there for a
deep thought to immerse themselves for the rest of the day. Still being instructive is the commitment of
the writer. Readers may be searching for pleasure. The writer should provide them
bitter pills coated with sugar. The reader unknowingly swallows the sugar coated
pills and gets healed because of the medicine inside the sweet coating.
7. Write
always for an international audience. Among your readers there may be English
speaking natives, those who have learned English because of migration and many
who are using it as a foreign language. Write for all of them. Give some
explanation here and there for local customs and usages. English has a lot of
variants as many as the nations where the language is learned. Today English is
not the language of the British, but it is an international language. Since the
purpose of writing is to communicate, the writer must take care that his ideas
are communicated well across the borders.
8. You
should not leave anything obscure in your blogs. You may not get a chance to
explain what you have written to every reader. Do not give a chance to anyone
to interpret your words. Let them explain, but never interpret.
9. Finally,
make it brief, as brief as you can. No maximum length for a blog can be
ordered, not even by a writer. Write not all you want to say in a single blog.
If you have many more to tell, write another blog. You may suffix the title
with “Part 1” or “Part 2”. Remember the great saying, “brevity is the soul of
wit.” Do not go on explaining and explaining thus creating confusion. Fewer
words are more powerful than loose words.
Wishing you happy blogging,
Professor Jacob Abraham
Further reading:
No comments:
Post a Comment