Little madness is necessary

                             Tips for Writers

Any creative artist cannot lead a life of normal human being. Authors are no exception. They are branded as whimsical, erratic, cynic, crazy or mad by society. Actually the faculties of mind that Author uses like imagination, minute observation, narration, memory are just opposite to what is required to lead a normal life. So if you have received any of these medals from society, be sure that you are already on the path of creativity.

If coachman is lashing the horse of the cart, how many would embrace the neck of the horse and weep in compassion for him as Nietzsche did.

Remember:

“Only a good man can write a good book”

It is not necessary that society acknowledge you as good man. The society is too mean for that, you judge yourself conscientiously. Put a hand on your heart and review your life, if you have lived your life by conscience you could be a powerful author.

A powerful author would be remembered till the end of civilization. Do you think Dante, Victor Hugo and Tolstoy would ever become obsolete? Even if one does not reach to that height, he should at least aspire for that.

Life of a normal man does not make any story. Author cannot repeat the story told by someone else. He would add his own perspectives and would kill the core of the story. Main thing is to feel the pain of the sufferer and express the compassion without a care about what people would say about you.

Keep in mind you have to:

“Search for the nucleus of society”

If so far you have written boy-meets-girl types of stories, now try something different. Twenty five years back when I thought I have written a very good story, I took it to a great author of our region Vijay Dan Detha who received many literary awards. After reading he asked where the nucleus of the story is.

I was astounded. From that day I began my search and found that every individual, every society and every culture has a nucleus. They are all around us. Either we don’t see or we ignore. The boy does meet a girl in the society but that is what everybody else also sees. An author has to see and express it with an angle others might have overlooked.

Next time when you write a story check if it has nucleus or not?

 © Vipin Behari Goyal
Advocate, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, India