Author: Sreelata Menon
‘What are you reading these days’ is the oft heard query among members of the intellectual set. Tossed around airily it emphasizes the point that all intellectuals not to speak of writers must necessarily read ‘something’ if not several things at the same time! And many folks do indeed read four to five books at a time! This in truth doesn’t say much for the quality and absorbing power of those books. Be that as it may the fact is that many do.
To go from the ‘Experiments with Truth’ to the Discovery of India via a Dick Francis or a Sidney Sheldon may probably help you enjoy all four at different levels. The mood necessarily making, whichever, the book of the moment. So if you are among the elitist many, you could be delving into the innards of a geographical outpouring, a historical travelogue or a romantic treatise at the same time with the same enthusiasm that lesser mortals may reserve for a single tome.
But if you are an aspiring writer your take on books is bound to be different. For a writer reading is not unlike breathing. It is yes an alienable part of you. You were first a reader before you became a writer. There is no one without the other. And what you read is what you willy nilly internalize-without perhaps realizing how much- rearrange or create anew and throw up as your own.
And without doubt your writing is usually colored by the genre you inhabit!
If you enjoy poetry, a poet you would like to become. If its ‘thrillers’, then you are sure to come up with plots that are takeoffs (of what you’ve read and absorbed) only now with your own new brand of spit and polish. It goes without saying that even for a writer the more you read the more you take in. And yes the better you write. And its beauty lies in the eyes of the reader waiting to be discovered.
We are not talking plagiarism here. We are however talking of how what we read colors our thoughts, our ideas, our very being.
Thoughts and ideas are actually as old as the hills. And our success as writers depend on the kind of makeover these old and hackneyed themes get.
Isn’t it how it’s packaged and presented to the reader that makes one writer different from the other? A Ruth Rendell from a Mary Higgins. A Clive Cussler from an Alistair MacLean or even an Arundhati Roy from an Arvind Adigai!
So since indubitably what you read is how you will write the need to read ‘good’ books with the ‘right’ language becomes an indispensable part of any writers’ learning process. And as you grow and mature in your reading- American, British or a mix and match, the usage or turn of phrase that you inevitably absorb, rearrange or invent is what will set you apart as a good writer. How ideas and thoughts impact when given an airing is what makes for a successful author.
But sadly once you start making it as a writer the tendency is to read less and less. And language like everything else keeps evolving. So it is imperative to get out of the rut of dealing with the known and take a leap into the unknown and perhaps savor the experiences of those new writers who are able to share them with you whether it be through actual happenings or imaginary sightings. One book or many is a tad better than no new book at all. So making time for ‘reading’ needs to once again become a habit.
You need to once again
- Make ‘new’ reading a part of your life just like writing
- Set aside a few hours everyday to ‘read’ a new/old author
- Inhabit libraries like you did before
- Borrow books that you would otherwise ignore
- Go browsing in book shops/second hand ones too
- Become a member of ‘book a friend.com’in your locality
- Make checking on new titles a priority
- Set aside a % of your income/pocket money for them
- Buy a few on a monthly basis/join a lending library
- Keep a list of the books/authors you’ve read-its fun
Read, absorb, skim, skip, revert whatever so long as it becomes a habit everyday!
It could well be the making of a new ‘writer-you’.
Here is the Hindustan Times list of must reads to ‘set you on a reading course’. But whether they are worth a read only HT can tell!
Fiction-‘The Perplexity of Hariya Hercules’ by Manohar Shyam Joshi .Translated from Hindi by Robert A Hueckstedt (Penguin).
Current Affairs-‘The Ayatollah Begs to Differ’ by Hooman Majd (Penguin)
Science-‘Quantum’ by Manjit Kumar (Hachette)
Chick lit-‘The Great Indian Love Story’ by Ira Trivedi (Penguin)
Travel-‘Spiritual India Handbook’ by Stephen Knapp (Jaico)
(HT September 09 list)
And while you are at it do check out ‘Freelance writing for the newbie writer’ by Sreelata Menon (Pustak Mahal) along with Chillifreeze’s E book on the same subject. These are definitely worth a dekko!
Please Note: Chillibreeze does not endorse techniques or views mentioned in the articles here. The articles listed here are provided as reference material for writers as a support service.
Check out the complete list of our featured articles for Indian Freelance writers and editors
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