The Art of Writing
By Ashutosh Ghildiyal
Words are a writer's tools as the brush and the chisel of a painter and a sculptor.
Words are the essence of thought for all thought is but verbalization. Words are man's invention for communication. Words which are the labels meant to be indicative of objects or feelings or illusions are shared by man, where the same language is involved. Symbols and images take place of words, where the language is not the same. It is this tool that a writer wields to paint the picture of his own imagination and to convey it to the readers.
A good writer is one whose words can be as faithful as possible to his thoughts and the best writer is one whose thoughts are as faithful as possible to his impressions and perceptions.
Writing is a serious business. Serious in the sense of the responsibility involved, towards oneself and towards the reader. Serious, not in the traditional sense but in the sense of being dedicated to one's art. True seriousness can include humor, just as silence can include sound.
Writing can also be a dangerous art. The writer must confront whatever he comes across in the course of delving into his own consciousness. Consciousness, which is shared by the entire humanity includes racial memories, the pains and sorrows of main, fleeting joys and pleasures and all the accumulated experiences of man. This book of life, which is the consciousness of man must be read by the writer with care. And it is in reading this book, and the use of his own imagination and capacities that he is able to bring about the expression which he seeks to convey. Writing can be a dangerous art because it may lead the writer out of the established patterns of his own mind and he may enter an unknown territory. He must face whatever he comes across in his exploration and not be afraid. He must face his own fears and avoid being entangled in his own established patterns. A good writer is one who is not afraid of the intimations of his own mind and is able to look at them and bring them to life through words.
A good writer is one who writes with freedom and not from knowledge. He writes out of freedom, which comes from an emptiness rather than preconceived notions and his own prejudices. He must be free to allow the free movement of his own expression take place through his words.
Expression is an arduous task. Not only it requires slow, deliberate thought but also good knowledge of the tool - the words. Apart from the objective things, words may have different significance for different people. A good writer is one whose expression delicately balances the meaning of the words and the content and significance they seek to convey.
A good writer is concerned only with his art - the expression, and not with anything else. He is not concerned with the reward and punishment. He is free from all commercial and self-centered motives. Without absolute freedom from all sense of reward, true expression is not possible.
There must be a meditative quality of mind for perception to take place. The mind must be empty and still for creation to take place. Out of that emptiness, our out of that uncalculated silence, expression takes place. And then it is acute, faithful and honest.
A good writer is not conscious of his writing.He has no style but his expression creates its own style. When he reads his own work, he reads it in the same way as he reads another's work.
A good writer doesn't identify himself as a writer. He is a human being first and last and lives his life fully He is no - thing, and because he is no - thing, he is everything.
His art is not divorced from his life. He doesnt keep his art and his personal life in compartments.He doesn't separate himself from his writing and his writing is but an extension of his life.
His life itself is his art.
Ashutosh Ghildiyal is a salaried professional based in Mumbai, India. He was born in Lucknow in 1984, where he completed his schooling. He completed his graduate studies in New Delhi and his post-graduate education in Mumbai. He is the author of "To Think or Not to Think and Other stories" (Book), various blogs, articles, and short stories.