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05 September 2018

Book Review: On being a writer: Author: Stephen Faulds

I purchased the book, 'Being a writer' written by Stephen Faulds, on Amazon after seeing a recommendation in Twitter. It was worth it. 

While writing a story recently, I was stuck with a writer's block. I knew what I wanted to write about, I knew the sequence of events, I knew the characters, their struggles and their ultimate success. I knew all of these, but I found that my writing was pedestrian. It was uninspiring. I was labouring writing each word and I was not able to visaualize the complete story in my mind. 

I had all the ingredients and the recipe, but I was struggling with the basic task of cutting and blending the ingredients. 

That is where I took to reading books on writing. The first book that I read was 'You are a writer (Start acting like one)' by Jeff Goins. That book covered the basics of writing and publishing, but it was more process oriented. I needed inspiration. I needed books that told me that what I was facing was quite normal and it was quite okay to be frustrated. I wanted tips on how the other writers have overcome writer's block. I wanted to read about the inner workings of a writer's mind, not a user manual or a 'How to' book on writing and publishing.

That is when I discovered this book.

It is a very small book, almost half the size of the books that I normally read (about 1200 page locations against 3500 page locations). The book is a collection of random thoughts of the author that he documented in his blog. The beauty of this book is its broad brush coverage. The author has touched up on all the topics that are important to a writer. In addition to Writer's block that I discussed above, the book covers aspects like the book title, cover design, characterization including what to name them, how they arrive and how they evolve, syntax and punctuation, importance of consistency in writing, how journalling is important for a writer, how to write book reviews, dramas and screen plays, how an autobiography is different from a fiction, why traditional publishing is better than self publishing (you get feedback from expert editors who know the market pulse), how to handle rejection and finally that much hated topic, importance of marketing.  

Since these are a collection of notes from the author, the topics are not arranged in any particular order. However a discerning reader can identify blocks that I mentioned in the previous paragraphs. 

Book title and the cover page are the first things that a reader sees. It is the reader's window into the book. It is very important that the title and cover design convey the gist of the book and kindle an urge in his mind to continue reading the book. The cover design should be inviting. I can't agree more. One of the aspects that I see in Indian writing in English is the fascinating cover designs that I see on the book shelves. They invite you to open the book and give it a decko. It asks the reader to check out the author's profile and give her the benefit of doubt. So yes, I agree totally that the title and the cover design are very important and a writer will need professional help to create one. 

Character is the story teller. The name of the character is important since it sends subtle messages to the reader. Indian names are particularly tricky. For example name of 'Rahul' suggests youth where as 'Shantanu' could suggest a serious demeanour. This is one area which is usually neglected. For example, while growing up I used to read mystery novels where the key protagonist was 'Detective Pushpanath'. The name 'Pushpanath' suggested to me an middle aged clerk in a government office and did not sound like a crime cracker. As in real life, a character in a story should introduce himself through his words and actions. The reader should identify with the struggles of the character and should suffer and in the end exhilarate with the character as he achieves his goals. 

Since I review a lot of books in my blog, Faulds' views on how to write a book review was particularly important for me. He suggests that the reviewer should not add his interpretations and a good review should convey what the author wanted to convey in his story. The end objective of a book review is to generate a consensus between the writer and the reviewer about what the author wanted to communicate through the book.

I disagree. The readership of the reviewer is different from that of the author. They want to make their purchase decisions based on the views of the reviewer. They have come to trust his views. Just as you go to watch a movie after reading its review or go to a restaurant based on a good review, people buy books based on a good review. With so many options out there, the people use the reviewer as the initial filter. In my opinion, while a reviewer should no doubt tell what the author wanted to communicate, she must also tell if this is the kind of book that her readers would want to peruse. 

Faulds also covers the importance of writing journals. While that is the first step in the path to becoming a writer, the act of dumping your thoughts on a piece of paper without being forced to by the rigours and structure of a story is cathartic. In addition, writing a journal creates a continuity in your writing regimen. I should know. I have been writing journals everyday for  the last one year. While I don't have anything to write on some days, on some other days, I end up writing for more than an hour, inflicting on the universe my views on everything under the sun.

Writing consistently at a specific time everyday is a great way to overcome writer's block. Consistency ensures continuity in writing. In addition, a trick told by Earnest Hemingway, is to always stop when you know what happens next. This will ensure that when you restart your writing you have ample material to write about.

Author's suggestion to young writers is to ensure consistency and continue writing at a specified time everyday. A writer needs to be very disciplined in his writing. Consistency wins over inspiration every time. 

Writers can use either of the two methods, In the 'Stream of Consciousness' method, you write whatever that comes into your mind. The paper acts as an unstructured dump of your thoughts. In Zen Koan method, you break down the ideas and descriptions to the barest minimum, allowing the reader to discover the meaning out of your words. 

Can a writer have different styles? Each genre calls for a different style. It is important that the characters exhibit different styles based on the genre. While it is possible for a writer to write in different genres, I suspect that each writer will gravitate to a favourite genre over time.

How do you know you are a writer? A true writer is always walking around with pen and paper in her pocket and is constantly writing down ideas and observations. 

This is a great short book that should be in the arsenal of all aspiring (and even seasoned) writers. This book inspires you to keep writing. As the author  says somewhere 'Writers write'

You can get more detailed pointers on all aspects of writing by reading the Book Notes.

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