I'm a writer.
There, I said it.
I want to stop being apologetic about it.
I want to stop predicting the questions that will follow this statement.
And mostly, I want to stop feeling the need to justify myself for being a writer.
How I pay my bills is none of your concern.
If you don't like what I write, why are you here again?
And if you have critique, save it.
I have plenty of critique for my own writing and I still haven't gotten around to adhering to it yet.
This place is more so that I can type uninhibitedly and not feel ashamed or petrified that I am making errors.
This place cannot be a diary because God knows I have tonnes of those. It needs to be public. It needs to be out there. That is the only way it completes its life-cycle.
Words realise themselves in the eyes of others. Stories settle karmic debt when they are read. This is how a writer completes the writing cycle. It has to go out into the open.
It's not easy being a writer.
It isn't because of the reasons that you have been told before.
Yes, staring at the page is traumatic, there are no real avenues for creative writing, you don't get paid enough... the list goes on.
But these are not the problems that hold most good writers back.
I'm not saying there are no avenues for good creative writing talent. There are.
But in a country of over one billion people, there just aren't enough.
There also aren't enough avenues where promising writers can hone their skills. You're lucky if someone better or accomplished takes interest in your work and guides you along.
And that is mostly luck, even if you work hard by yourself, sometimes you have no idea if you're improving or thickening your own messy stew.
Why?
I just want to be able to do what I love. I want to have places where I can go to train myself to be better at what I do (In India. In blasted Mumbai. Why not?).
And I want to be compensated monetarily for it.
I don't want to be rich.
I don't want to be successful.
I just want to be recognised for being good at doing what I love.
It's a cliche but they exist for a reason- I just want to build a life doing things that make me happy.
There, I said it.
I want to stop being apologetic about it.
I want to stop predicting the questions that will follow this statement.
And mostly, I want to stop feeling the need to justify myself for being a writer.
How I pay my bills is none of your concern.
If you don't like what I write, why are you here again?
And if you have critique, save it.
I have plenty of critique for my own writing and I still haven't gotten around to adhering to it yet.
This place is more so that I can type uninhibitedly and not feel ashamed or petrified that I am making errors.
This place cannot be a diary because God knows I have tonnes of those. It needs to be public. It needs to be out there. That is the only way it completes its life-cycle.
Words realise themselves in the eyes of others. Stories settle karmic debt when they are read. This is how a writer completes the writing cycle. It has to go out into the open.
It's not easy being a writer.
It isn't because of the reasons that you have been told before.
Yes, staring at the page is traumatic, there are no real avenues for creative writing, you don't get paid enough... the list goes on.
But these are not the problems that hold most good writers back.
I'm not saying there are no avenues for good creative writing talent. There are.
But in a country of over one billion people, there just aren't enough.
There also aren't enough avenues where promising writers can hone their skills. You're lucky if someone better or accomplished takes interest in your work and guides you along.
And that is mostly luck, even if you work hard by yourself, sometimes you have no idea if you're improving or thickening your own messy stew.
Why?
I just want to be able to do what I love. I want to have places where I can go to train myself to be better at what I do (In India. In blasted Mumbai. Why not?).
And I want to be compensated monetarily for it.
I don't want to be rich.
I don't want to be successful.
I just want to be recognised for being good at doing what I love.
It's a cliche but they exist for a reason- I just want to build a life doing things that make me happy.
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