What fuels my writing?

Elsie Hagley honored me with a Unique Blogger award, today, and asked a number of questions, which has prompted a lot of reflection. I could not capture it all in a single blog, but have answered her questions honestly. So, here we go, Elsie ….

1. Can you remember the first story you ever wrote? Can you remember what triggered it/influenced it? Or are you more like me – writing so much that you can’t remember that far back?

I do remember. The first story was a 100-page novella in a school note-book, when I was 13 years old. It was a tragic love story. I continued to write poems and articles after that, for the college magazine, but never touched fiction again, till WordPress happened to me

2.  Why do you write online, opposed to keeping your writing to yourself? I only ask because I used to be very private about my writing. I didn’t have the courage to show anyone because I was too scared that they’d criticize it. Was it the same for you?

Gone are the days, when one would wait for months for response from a publisher, or to be invited to a poetry evening, to share your talent with the world. I wanted to be a journalist once, but it did not happen. The internet has now opened the gates to all writers, or those like me, who presume themselves to be writers. After 800 blogs on different platforms, and two poetry collections, I have not yet been able to figure out, whether I should call myself a writer.

3. Which one of these do you think is the more powerful – a sad story that makes the tears flow, or a story that fills you with confidence and determination? I think it’s interesting; obviously, both are powerful, because they affect us so much, but which does so more?

Stories either show us the side of life which we have not experienced, or validate our own stories. The power of both genres is undeniable.

 Personally, I prefer the ones where the protagonist overcomes the hurdles. I guess it is a kind of wish fulfilment for the masses. This is how several actors have become legends, as they captured popular imagination with tales of victory. Those few hours allow the viewers to live out a fantasy, of defeating their oppressors and opponents.

4. My favorite authors and books

The authors/books who have made me what I am are

•  Ayn Rand

The entire range of her writing, and her biography. I read Fountainhead in my college days, and Atlas Shrugged at a mature age of 28. I saw the world around me reflected in Atlas Shrugged, though it was written in another country, several years earlier.

• Dr. Brian Weiss

His work on past life regression therapy is commendable. We Hindus have always believed in reincarnation. The “Messages from the Masters”, as Dr. Weiss narrates those, are identical to messages in the Bhagwad Gita. I am not sure, if Dr. Weiss has read the book. I guess the belief and the influence, reflect in my writing. Maybe, the theory rationalizes several strange behavior patterns, as emerging from a previous life.

• Scott Peck

I found “The Road Less Travelled” to stop at a certain point. It does not provide solutions. But the insights are life-changing.

• Gary Chapman

“The Five Love Languages” helped me to understand and forgive the people in my life, whom I saw as intrusive or demanding. I was able to put my needs across, succinctly, that I prefer being left alone, rather than being ‘loved’ with food and too much attention.

5. Favorite music

I prefer the soulful Ghazals, which are getting kind of outdated now. Yes, but the song needs to have a meaning, not just high decibels of sound.

 

Reflections prompted by

Unique Blogger Award 2017