Honesty is the best policy

                   Tips for Writers : Honesty is the best policy

Like in all other walks of life, in literature also “Honesty is the best policy”. When it is written with honesty and read with equal or rather more honesty, it makes the book immortal. The more burden lies on the shoulder of the reader. If he reads the book that are based on false values, it means he appreciates and promotes Hippocratic literature. Ultimately he becomes responsible for dragging the society in the wrong direction. He does not want the people to understand the true meaning of life, and condemns any efforts made in that direction by the author as well as other readers. Why he would do so?

Upbringing of a person plays a very important role. What type of parents, school, friends and environment an individual is subjected to in early childhood, frames his personality. Society condemns a person with a negative approach, but it is society that has played an important role in making him so. “I am not OK, you are not OK” to “I am OK you are OK” an individual has to travel a long journey, identify his conditioning and work on it to make his mind pure and unconditional.

We may think that it is the best option for anybody and he would readily accept once it is pointed out to him. But unfortunately it is not so. Such people have another problem of inflated ego. They are not ready to accept that their projection to outward situations of life is imbalanced and they need to work on it, on the contrary they become furious and react aggressively to defend their self projected image in their subconscious mind, that they are perfectly normal.

If you come across such person by misfortune, who are commonly called pain, you know where, believe me you are at the end of a blind alley. This is the high time to rest on laurels on behavioral therapy and subjugate yourself and the subject in the hands of supernatural powers. Some miracle may happen and the strong bond of stimuli and response in the mind of the subject would break, and he would be able to see the spark of Holy light that dwells in the pure unconditioned mind.

Honesty is a tool to explore the different realm of your psyche and thus takes you to the core of your existence.

                                                              ~Vipin Behari Goyal © 

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