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  1. Haribol Acharya

    Haribol Acharya New Member

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    Writing the unwritten

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Haribol Acharya, Jul 31, 2008.

    As a writer we give something to society and the motive behind every piece of art is either money or recognition in actuality. While we write we base our ideas on what we come across, something mundane. Some become interested in the domain of spirituality.

    Yet, all write getting circumscribed by a periphery and hardly anyone goes off the periphery.

    A writer, if he is really honest to his or profession and wants to offer something worth taking he must labor hard. Saying just what is already being said just pruning and retrenching the style does not make a piece good writing.

    A writer must transform the reader. When I read resurrections at a very tender age I was really moved by the grandeur of it, something matchless. Tolstoy had that skill and one becomes compelled to think differently once one completes the text.

    So is Gorky, Dostoevsky. They are immortals and live through centuries to come. Now modern writers have bulked their publications and I really doubt most will leave a mark and endure the test of time.

    Writing is an adventure and it gives you the intense feeling the rest of other genres hardly can do. It is more life like and transports the reader to a domain he has never visited and gives the feeling he has never undergone and transforms him into a personality he never even imagined.

    This category of writers are rare species and you can not come across them in the ordinary course of writing.

    We generally write as pass times and we do not do so dedicatedly and therefore is less luster and sheen in our writings.

    I apologize if I am blunt on you. I typify this category mainly. I feel I have not honed my skills enough to be presentable. I have a long way to go.
     
  2. TwinPanther13

    TwinPanther13 New Member

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    Writers must find the balance in what they put out. A lot of writer's are comercial sellers and do well there. Some works that change the way people think are not as popular sales. Van Goh is an artists who starved when he was alive and died poor. his paintings go for millions now, but he never repead the benefit of changing the art world. To survive make some things that are good and sell and take the time to crate something that trancends good wether or not it sales. Balance is key and when that is found we can truly say we are in a golden age of knowledge
     
  3. tehuti88

    tehuti88 New Member

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    I think you should perhaps not generalize writers and writing so much. There are many other reasons for writing aside from the ones you listed (as motives), and while I myself personally agree that writing should transform people, and that it moves me more than other media do, other people will not agree. Someone will say photography is the ultimate art; another person will say sculpture, or dance, or sports, or even good conversation.

    I'm also fairly certain that many people write for more than just "passing time" and are pretty dedicated to what they do. If all the people I come across in these forums whose primary motive is publication are any indication. I'm not even seeking publication, but I'm very dedicated to what I do, and I try to put as much "luster and sheen" into it as I can.
     
  4. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    as tehuti noted, those are not the only motives for writing... in my case, for instance, neither of those is true, as i want neither money nor recognition... as a philosopher, i write to 'enlighten'... that is, in the sense of 'shedding light' as well as to impart knowledge of certain things about humankind to those who might not already be aware of them...

    neither do i write as a 'pastime' and i do do so with great dedication, thus readers do find my writings have sufficient 'luster and sheen' [if by that you mean they are 'polished' and of professional quality]...

    i think priscilla mullins' purported words to john alden are most apt here: "Pray, speak for thyself"... it would seem you are imbuing all writers with your own faults and motivations, as if you knew them all and could judge them accurately...

    as you, yourself noted, you have not honed your skills enough to be presentable and have a long way to go, which is immediately apparent to readers of your posts, since even your command of english is not up to speed yet... my best advice to you is that you rein in your eagerness to judge other writers and advise beginners on things writing related, till your own writing has that 'luster and sheen'... and until you have the knowledge and wisdom and experience to do so more accurately...

    namaste, maia
     
  5. Haribol Acharya

    Haribol Acharya New Member

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    Yes of course I am a non native writer in English. Yet even if I am not perfect and make some grammatical errors in my writing I have some message to give so that I can interest others for I have gone through books in different languages. Yes I know Sanskrit and it is a great ancient language with rich literautre in it and I am familiar or well read in English literautre, French literature and Russian literature. I have ranges of knowledge in a variety of literary domains.

    The one and only domain I lack is perfection in English. I can write in English but all I lack is confidence in it, for I have never been in touch with the English speaking community as a matter of fact. As such I lack the skill of communicating.

    All I learned is only through books not through interactions with people. And as such I may lack the sheen and luster with which the rest of you write, yet I too can write no matter I have yet to go miles to arrive at where the rest of you have already arrived.

    Of course I am very optimistic about it, for I always defy difficulties in life and I am fully confident that sooner or later I can arrive at where you take pride in having arrived at when it comes to expressing your ideas in English.

    I assure all of you that I have something to interest you notwithstanding the fact that my language is not at par with you.
     
  6. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I take no pride in arrival. I take my pride in making more progress along the journey.

    If I believe I have "arrived", I have nowhere to go but backwards.
     
  7. Etan Isar

    Etan Isar Contributor Contributor

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    I think the issue with your post is not so much that you do not command "perfect" english, but rather that you are using terms that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. "Passtime" could mean any number of things. Time certainly passes as one writes, and it is not unheard ofm to write for fun alone on occasion. But it isn;t exactly like collecting baseball cards.

    "Dedicated" is another good example. I spend a lot of my time on my writing, sometimes hours at a time, and on a reasonably steady basis. I am not yet as good as Tolstoy, but that doesn't mean I am not dedicated to my writing. I do not prioritize my writing over every other activity, such as a job, learning, relationships, food; but that does not mean I lack dedication.

    Also, there are different types of writing. Many people here are "commercial" writers, or would like to be, meaning that they wouldn't mind recieving some monetary compensation for their labours, but this does not mean they are necessarily any less than someone who strives to write an unsaleabl literary masterpiece.
     
  8. Rei

    Rei Contributor Contributor

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    The grammatical errors are not the issue here, though they can lead to misunderstanding your message. Previous posters were saying that you are making judgements on writers in general which are not fair. Personally, I do hope to earn money as a writer, but that is not the priority. The priority is to educate and share my stories. If we only wrote to earn money and get told that we're good, we would all just give in to what books are bestsellers and write like them. Yes, some people do write books intentionally similar to bestsellers, but they only gain success themselves if they mean something more to the writer. The reason I want to earn money as a writer is only to gain the freedom to do it more.
     
  9. Dcoin

    Dcoin New Member

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  10. lipton_lover

    lipton_lover New Member

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    The trick isn't to find something new to write, because that's impossible. The trick is to rewrite it with your own take on it, so it seems new.
    Writers HAVE to act commercial now, if they want to write for a living. It's hard to get published, harder to be sucessful, still harder to be really sucessful and stand out, and even then you still don't get much. I don't write commercially, even though I love writing. I write for pleasure, then slather it all over the internet for free, in the hopes that people read it and recognize it. My friend, even though she loves writing as much as me if not more, has to think about trends and stuff because she writes commercially. I don't think very many people who write for money get published. It's the people that love writing and write something to be published that get published. Wow I took that further than I meant... not even sure where I was going with it lol. Oh well, food for thought I guess :D
     
  11. delhi

    delhi New Member

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    After thousands of years of writings, of course there is very little left. Still, isn't it true that the more you know the more you see that you don't know? There is plenty of ideas yet unexplored, unimagined, and there is plenty of writers - of any kind - in the world. I believe that those who love writing - including me - put the best of themselves in their works, also in the sense of leaving a part of their soul there. That soul is unique, and so shall be the writing style, points of view, ideas... Sometimes the resemblance to known writings is more noticeable, sometimes it isn't. That doesn't mean that writing what has already been written is bad or that writing the unwritten is always good, as long as you feel that by writing it you are accomplishing whatever your goal was (earning money, being recognized, teaching something, expressing a feeling, passing time, giving life or just using a worthless piece of paper), so that you actually feel it was worth.
     
  12. Emerald

    Emerald New Member

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    I don't seek money or recognition. I just want people to understand more about the world through my writing. And buy my book. And know my name.
     
  13. captain kate

    captain kate Senior Member

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    doesn't that mean you after money and recognition then? To buy your book means money for you...to know your name means recognition for you...
    :rolleyes:
     
  14. Emerald

    Emerald New Member

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    Wow, you totally got me there! Damn, that was rather stupid of me, wasn't it?
     
  15. Forkfoot

    Forkfoot Caitlin's ex is a lying, abusive rapist. Contributor

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    I just write what I'd like to read. If someone else had written it already, I'd read that instead.
     
  16. captain kate

    captain kate Senior Member

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    Since almost everything is written, most things are homage to other writers before you. David Weber, with his best-selling Honor Harrington series, is basically retelling Horatio Hornblower in space-and he'll say pretty much the same thing. However, some of the battles involved are actual naval battles from the past. Some of my own writing pays homage to David Weber-with my MC having a similar nickname for dfferent reasons. HH is called 'the salamander' because she 'always seems to be where the fire is hottest.' My MC is called 'the banshee' because 'she's always where the loudest explosions are taking place' and the fact that 'she can't keep her mouth shut when she needs to.'

    So, just write your vision, and keep on trucking.
     

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