Validation

Dear M,

Being unpublished - in the traditional sense of being published - is a difficult situation to be in, in your efforts to convince yourself that you are a writer. If you are serious about writing, that is. You'd rather hide that side of yours than have to answer unwanted questions. You do not need that validation from anyone, you try to convince yourself. I know what I am, and what I am not.

But it doesn't always work that way. So you try to prove - to yourself and to others - that yes, you are a Writer, worthy of being called a Writer, you are the one to whom people turn to when they need Writing advice, you are the experienced one, you are the one who knows about Writing.

You try to prove it by actually Writing something that people can see. In places where they can bump into your writing. From where they can come to you with wide, surprised, bordering-on-impressed eyes and say, Oh yes, I read that article of yours. Yes, it was great.

Squeezing that out of some people is tough. But if you manage that, even if it was a passing sentence intended not to catch your ears, it's success in itself.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014)

Dear M,

I was planning to write about something else today. Then came the news about Gabo. And I could write nothing else. In fact, I could write nothing.

Why does Gabriel García Márquez's death depress me so much? I have no idea. But it does.

Perhaps because, due to some inexplicable coincidence, I was reading up his Wikipedia page last night. Just like that. For no reason. Just vaguely wondering if he was working on something new these days. And today, when I go back to that page, everything has changed. Overnight. Literally.

Perhaps because One Hundred Years of Solitude had been a discovery of a magical world. A magical world of writing. I had never experienced anything like that before. One Hundred Years of Solitude was an eye-opener. Many lessons learnt from a single book. It excited me and it frustrated me. It motivated me and it terrified me. I wanted to write like that, but I knew I never will.

Perhaps because I always considered myself to be lucky that I live in a time when Gabo was around. Most of the other authors I am fond of are not. Not that it changes anything in the least, in any way. But it somehow was reassuring to know that he, Gabo, was still out there.

Silly. I know.

RIP, Gabriel García Márquez.

Like this post on Facebook!

Of Luck and Meeting the Right People

Dear M,

Frankly, I wonder how authors like Hemingway or Virginia Woolf or even Rushdie got away with their writing. Their writings must have fallen to several hands and must have been rejected, over and over. I don't see how else it can be.

I wasn't impressed by any of these authors when I started reading them. (They're lucky I wasn't their agent.) The first page of Midnight's Children surprised me - is this how the world famous book begins? I had to struggle past a few pages (which I did only because the author was well-known and respected) to become truly hooked to it. Same with Hemingway. I became his fan only after reading The Old Man and The Sea. That was something I could put my money on. But that was one of the books he wrote after he became The Hemingway. That was the book that led him to the Nobel.

And Virginia Woolf? Just picture myself taking the first few pages of her book (Mrs Dalloway, for instance) and approaching a publisher, claiming to be the author. Assume also that the publisher has never read Woolf. I am sure she would throw the MS to the trash. This is not a story, she would tell me. This is like a blog where you can write disjointed stuff and make no sense whatsoever. I am looking for a story that has a plot and does not wander all over the place like this does. Give me something that people would read.

The way I see it, someone was impressed enough to give them a chance. They were lucky to get noticed. They had met the right person at the right time. Or maybe they started out writing stories with traditional style plots and sequence, and then once they were accepted, they were able to experiment with their styles.

Which once again proves that we cannot afford to give up. If we have to get somewhere, we've got to keep walking.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Are you a Writer?

Dear M,

You know you're a writer if you get up in the morning, decide that you have a story to tell, put your regular chores and jobs aside, and start writing. All of a sudden, the pending tasks, the deadlines, don't seem important - rather, you feel as though there is all the time in the world to get to those tasks, but your priority today, right now, is your story. It is beautiful, it is inspiring, it is exciting and it is what you want to do.

And, that is the true test of every writer: do you drop everything and jot down your story, at least as much as you can? Or does your "better sense" prevail, and do you sigh and move on to your job, telling yourself that you will get to it when you are free? Not everyone has the luxury to put their tasks aside and take up writing, even if it is for an hour. But if you think about it, there might be an hour in the whole, long day when you can do a bit of writing, at least to give you a sense of achievement, a feeling of satisfaction.

I think we all deserve that one hour of euphoria when we are doing what we are good at, what we love to do, what we want to do.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Because We Must

Dear M,

After one point, you stop caring about what anyone thinks, you know. The early days are dedicated to impressing everyone. You're eager to show your pieces of writing to all and sundry, and waiting for their praise. They indulge, too. 

After a while, they begin to expect more, and you begin to need less.

They begin to compare, you stop to care.

Yes, such a day does come. You are too engrossed in what you write, the tales you weave, the skill you polish, the art you perfect, that it does not matter any more what anyone thinks. You just want to jump ahead and get as much done as you can. You're in a hurry, you don't want to wait and see if anyone is dazzled by your creation. Let the dazzle happen at its own pace, you have better things to do.

You just have one aim - to complete all that you have set your heart on. I will, because I must.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Hang Out With Writer Friends

Dear M,

One of the limitations I have faced in my writerly life is the lack of close writer friends. Think of your school friends with whom you discuss pretty much anything and still not feel bad about saying or listening to things - that's the level of friendship I am talking about. One cannot expect that kind of candour or understanding from "new" friends, all the time. And with something as sensitive as your own piece of writing, you need someone who can handle it carefully for you.

Not everyone can appreciate feedback the way it should be. Not everyone can deliver feedback the way it should be.

Even a negative point delivered kindly could be misconstrued. It's like a mother taking offence at someone pointing out her child's bad behaviour. And many of us writerly folks unfortunately cannot boast of a placid temperament - hence the term, "artistic temperament".

And it's not only about feedback; it is about healthy discussions that could bring out interesting points to think about. Talks about famous authors' styles, their strengths, their limitations, the depth or shallowness of their writing: there is so much to learn. And discussions are the best way to expand upon thoughts, explore writing, bounce ideas, meet other writers. You can never tell where all this could lead to.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Tormented Souls

Dear M,

Artists are tormented souls - it is so decreed. And the torment is not romantic, the way it is portrayed in films. They don't gaze out at the sea or get drenched in the rain with a handsomely gloomy face until (soon) their dream comes true.

The real ones go crazy in the confines of their homes because they know they are trying their best, and for years they have been trying; if they are missing something, it is because there is no one to guide or direct them. They wander in the dark hoping that their hand would encounter something to show that they are on the right path - or at least to show where they are. Are they near the wall, or are they near a door? Are they at the edge of a bottomless well?

They look around themselves and wake up in the dark and ask themselves, What am I supposed to do? They try to keep themselves engaged so that the pain does not surface.

They read success stories and they throw the newspaper away. Now and then they are tempted to bang their heads against the wall. They look at others leading 'happy' lives - people next door who go to office, come home and attend to their children and go to bed - and wonder why they can't be just as normal.

They don't know if their story will have a happy ending. Or will it be a hard stop, the end? With nothing achieved except a few years of dreams?

Why would anyone want to have such a life, the life of an artist - The Mad Artist ? The only reason I can think of is that they don't know how unbelievable the struggle can get.

They? We. Me. I.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

The Writer's Philosophy Comes at its Own Time

Dear M,

We pile everything we have into our story. Can't help; that's how we are. We have a bulk of knowledge that we wish to share. We have formed our own life's philosophy. We have our own views. And we tell it to the world using our medium of communication - our story. Our characters are living the life we envision.

We throw rocks and stones at them, we force them out of their comfort zones; we bring them to the crossroads and wait to see what they will do. We know what they should, but we don't know if they would choose that path. Their choice would depend on what we have built up so far. Would he break down and lose courage and turn and run away? Or would he close his eyes and dart forward into the dark oblivion?

Whatever he chooses, the action means something - it tries to speak the message, it tries to convey a philosophy.

I found that when I write the story the first time, putting the sequence of scenes together, none of this comes to my mind. I just write what happened. The philosophy emerges a little later. Sometimes after the whole story is written. A few weeks later. The scenes come back. What was I trying to say there? She was behaving just as we do every day in life - lost and wandering, in a general direction, north by north-west, because that's where she figured she was destined to be, waving down whatever vehicle that came her way, getting down where she thought she was closest to it. The lesson had to be brought out there. But it would not come with the scene, though it is always in our mind and it is the philosophy we live by and it is the theme we are trying to convey with this story; it would surface much later.

I am finding my little snippets of philosophy in my writing now, in a novel I wrote three years ago. Yes, it took me three years to bring out the message. It is about time, I suppose.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Coaching the Champion

Dear M,

You don't have to be a champion to become a coach. Most of our famous sports personalities have coaches whose name we, the ordinary Indians, don't even know. Yet they are the people who have brought out the strengths in the sportsmen and sportswomen.

These coaches need not be national level or international level performers. They have experience; in some cases, very good experience. They know the tricks of the game even though they aren't brilliant at it themselves. They cannot practise what they preach; they help others practise. They show what the performers sometimes cannot see.

Every artist can be a coach. A person who talks about the art need not be the winner; he can be the guide.

They are the experts, from the coaching point of view. They are not the champions on the field, they are the champions who make the champions.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

There's no Failure in Writing

Dear M,

Everyone makes a big deal of "succeeding" as a writer. But the truth is, everyone who makes an attempt and is sincere about it, dedicated and determined as much as they can be, is a success.

I do not mean in a philosophical way. Think about it. Basically all we want (at the start) is to get published. We think that's the "success" we are talking about. But if we get published by a small-time publisher who doesn't have time or resource to sell our books, then it is not a success. And if we did get noticed by a big publisher and the readers reject us (or worse, ignore us) then we aren't a success. If we did get a tremendous response to our first book, and the second was a disaster (the comparison is unavoidable), then we aren't a success.

See? Like someone said, failure is inevitable. The only question is How and Where. And the more important question is, What do you do next?

In the beginning, we don't see beyond the first step. It is not a success, it is perhaps a milestone. It is only a landmark by the side of the road. The highway stretches far far beyond that.

The only failure that we can bestow on ourselves is giving up. The only award we can promise ourselves is the strength we attain after crossing the failures and still going on. The only happiness we can offer ourselves is the one we get when we look back and see the struggles we have endured. The only success we achieve (and the best one I can think of) is being proud of what we've written, not because someone said it is good, but because we feel that we have created something wonderful.

Have I said anything you haven't heard so far?

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Writer, Writeress

Dear M,

While writing about writing, I have often been grateful that there is no feminine form of 'writer' - imagine using "writer/writeress" whenever you want to be gender-perfect? ('Author' is going the same way; some people still try to bring up 'authoress', but the word is clearly dying.) But Wiktionary (and other Google-directed places) tells me that there used to be such a word as 'writeress'.

At times I think two separate words would convey that a writer and his methods are clearly different from that of a writeress. 

A guy writer I know, very dedicated in his passion, writes for an hour every morning before he leaves for work. After he gets back from work in the evening, on the days that he is not hanging out with friends, he writes for an hour or two before bed. Apart from buying provisions every week, he does not concern about the way the house functions or the kitchen requirements because his wife takes care of those.

A woman writer I know, gets up early so that she can prepare breakfast and pack her children's lunch, and has no time to write in the morning. Then she leaves for her work. In the evening, after she gets home, she attends to her children and the dinner arrangements in the house, and starts writing after her children go to bed.

Another woman writer I know does not go out for work. After her morning chores are done and her family has left, she writes for a couple of hours, then prepares her lunch, watches TV, takes a short nap and then returns to her writing. This continues for a few hours, before she prepares dinner. After dinner, she reads a book and goes to sleep.

Another writer dude of mine lives alone and cooks his food. He does not compromise with ready-to-eat food. He loves to cook. His meals are his muse, so to speak. He has no pattern to his writing. He writes when he can, where he can. (But when it is time to show us the final product it would be unbelievably impeccable, we would not be able to connect his unruly writing methods to the story in our hands.)

This isn't every man's story. This isn't every woman's story. This isn't every writer's story. This isn't every writeress' story. But I guess there is a pattern in the priorities and the management of life with writing.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Changes and the New Year

Dear M,

Every year I try to ignore this whole concept of New Year Day - I wonder what's so special about it, why should it matter, how is it going to be different from the previous days or years? And yet every year I find that something changes at the edge of December, and despite all my efforts to pretend that everything is normal and unchanging, a positive note comes up from somewhere and lures me into a world of unparalleled optimism.

Such a thing has happened this year too, a bunch of new things have come knocking on my door over the holidays, and I can't close my eyes to the fact that my life is going to change again this year.

This could mean a whole lot of tumbling-over of things in life, priorities getting reshuffled, routines getting tossed about, and a whirlwind of changes. Anxiety, apprehension, worries. But all in a good way.

Happy New Year!

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Oh, you're a Writer?

Dear M,

Admit it. We all like it when someone asks, Oh, you're a writer? or I heard you've published a book?
And very often the sole reason why we desperately want to be published is to hear the many forms of that question. (Until we reach a stage where, if someone asks Have you published any books? we're going to be very, very offended indeed. Oh, that's a nice dream, isn't it.)

We do not want to be the ones asking those questions. We want to be the ones nodding modestly or arrogantly, Yes. We want to be the ones shrugging and dismissing it with a wave of our hand because we're afraid if we open our mouth, our pride will start falling out.

My Book. My Name. The Author.
There's no denying the charm of those words. The motivation. The drive behind that dream. The well-justified pride that could spill out.

The critics, the unimpressed readers, the creatures who think you're too pretentious, they don't matter. Nothing matters, when you hold that damn book in your hands.

When nothing else works, dream this dream.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

Who said Writing wasn't Exciting?

Dear M,

Writers could be an unapologetic, manipulative lot. I feel guilty sometimes. I look at people as though they are the raw materials in an experiment I am doing - like some kind of monkeys in labs, with a scientist observing them through thick glasses. Though I do not take immediate notes as the scientist would do, I do observe patterns and then use them later. To be frank, I do note them down too, as soon as I can get to a paper and pen. Of course I cannot do it in front of my victim the way a scientist can do before a monkey.

Observing and jotting down is one thing. Forcing people to respond is quite another. I have done that too. I would say or do something I have planned beforehand, and try to deliver it spontaneously. Okay, my histrionic skills are in question here, but since no one knows I am playing drama, they probably do not notice. Or maybe it is time Bollywood gave me a call.

Most of the time, their reactions are unexpected. (Goes on to show that my initial judgement of the person was flawed.) The script I had prepared flies out the window, then instinct has to take over and clean up the mess that is on the verge of spilling over my life.

And then during some of my reflections, I dwell on the possibility of those people (the very victims of my wild imaginations) being undercover writers themselves, and manipulating and jotting down my movements.

Who said writing wasn't exciting?

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

He/She

Dear M,

This discussion came up recently. Someone who read my writing (not on this blog) commented that he/she had doubts about my idea of gender equality. I glared and shook my head - I had no idea what she/he meant. Apparently I did not write 'he/she' as much as I should have. Wherever the gender was not specified, I should have used 'she/he'. That's how the world works today, he/she said.

I shrugged. That seemed to me to be the least important thing in the whole exercise of writing. After all, I am a fiction writer. In my stories, the characters are either female or male, generally. (I haven't ventured anywhere else, yet.) In my stories, I don't have to say 'he/she' - it is either a he or a she.

But I knew what made him/her say it. It's true that in most of my non-fiction writing, I do not pay any attention to it. I do believe in equal rights, but saying 'he/she' and making my text look robotic (example, this blog) was certainly not my idea of proving it. When I write, I see the person I am writing about. When I write about a writer or a reader or anyone else, I see someone I know. So automatically what comes to my fingers is a 'he' or a 'she' - because I am writing about a certain person, just as I write in my stories.

Sometimes I do edit the text and make it 'he/she' just to please others. Not always.

I am not quite sure about how grammar rules have evolved, this one probably did stem from the patterns of a male dominated world, but usually the generic 'he' is considered to encompass 'she' as well. Yes, that does sound quite offensive. I understand why he/she flew off the handle. And I should know.

One had no idea what one was getting into.
One had no idea what he was getting into.
One had no idea what he/she was getting into.
One had no idea what they were getting into.

Everyone should remain in his seat.
Everyone should remain in his/her seat.
Everyone should remain in her seat.
Everyone should remain in their seats.


It doesn't seem so bad now that I have written about it and cleared my thoughts. But I think I am going to stick to my preferred style at least in this blog, my own world, because I know very well there is no disrespect intended. Elsewhere, I may have to give due consideration to the sensitivities of the reader.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

No class can make you a writer

Dear M,

There are people who think becoming writers is like becoming engineers or doctors. As far as I know, it isn't. As far as I know, there is no Writing College where you can enroll for a four-year course (and there are also folks who believe it is a one-month or a two-day course) and emerge as Writers, and then churn out book after book, just like that.

No school can make you a writer. No crash course can. No four-year diploma can. No YouTube can. These courses can motivate us, inspire us to write, help us meet other writers, teach us about the techniques of famous authors that we can plagiarise, and provide us with the tools to use. They can drive us only that far, maybe as far as a week later, or a month later. After that, we are on our own. After the enthusiasm has died out, if we aren't writing, then we aren't writers. Nothing can inject passion into us if we don't find it ourselves. If there is no passion or dedication, then that's all what we are going to be - a person who attended a course.

When does a writer realise he/she wants to be a writer? In films, passionate and eager teenagers make the announcement that they are going to be writers. As easy as you please. Mujhe writer banna hai... I lost track of the number of times I have heard that dialog. Their parents object to it, but the youngsters' wish will triumph in the end. Yes, they become writers and they churn out best-sellers after best-sellers, just like that. As though they have just finished a four-year course.

Everyone has a different writing curve. I have seen people begin writing when they are fifty, and then write like crazy, churning out book after - yeah you got it. I have seen little girls writing poems, not knowing that they are already poets. I have seen a writer barely finish one novel, when someone just passing by happened to read what she wrote, unedited and raw, and offered her a three-book deal. I have seen writers who have finished five or seven novels and are still wandering in the dark, hoping someone would notice them, hoping that there would be some platform where they can showcase their work and try to grab the attention of someone big and important.

Of all the things you say, Make me a Writer should be the last of them. Those four little words can totally ruin you.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

How Hemingway drives me nuts

Dear M,

I don't understand Hemingway. I hate to confess it (well, who wouldn't?), and I hate myself for not understanding him, but there it is.

I have read The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea and also a few of his short stories. Of course I understand the story, the writing. And I like it. But knowing Hemingway, I know there is more beyond the writing - and that is what I cannot completely decode. When I read other writers, I can perceive the underlying foundation of the story, and afterwards I am able to analyse it and try to study the writing style.

I have tried for long to understand Hemingway. Apart from the fact that he used a writing style that he called the Iceberg Theory, I do not know anything else. It's one thing to understand the theory (it's described quite well in the Wikipedia link I have shared), it is quite another to implement it, or even see how he has implemented it. I really should attend some literature classes just to learn Hemingway.

And yet I have this strange relationship with him that I cannot let him be. If I don't like an author, I usually skip his/her books, or quit thinking about them. But I cannot, in this case. I dislike his writing so much that I want to understand it and find peace once and for all. I like it so much that I want to read more of it. And I am so hungry for knowledge that I want to dissect it and pull it apart and if possible read some of the notes he made so that I know what exactly he is doing. And I am frustrated that I cannot make headway into deciphering him.

Pretty much like that old crush who refuses to leave my thoughts.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

The Author's Book or the Book's Author?

Dear M,

The author, these days, is projected larger than the book. With the advent of virtual promotions via the Internet, it is more or less justified; nevertheless, I cannot help but think of a time when the author's Book was more famous than the book's Author.

The man/woman behind the book used to be a mere name. We probably also knew they lived in this or that city. Or maybe they were authors of the past, of whom we knew next to nothing.

What, O. Henry was not his original name? 
Did Jane Austen live in this century or the last? 
Which country did Kafka belong to?

It is easier to admire and adore a person whom we know nothing about. It is easier to call a certain piece of writing as brilliant, when its author exists only as a name, and lives in a different world. It is perfect when the author does not explain his/her writing, when it remains fascinating and incomprehensible. Anything that is to be explained, should be explained by the writing. When the author tries to explain what inspired him/her to write, I saw these two people on the road the other day and I thought I really should write about them, the writing somehow loses its charm. We readers don't want to know. We would like to interpret it in our ways. We would like to read it in a way that our experience has taught us to.

When the author is someone we know, it becomes difficult for enigma to exist in their writing. When we read each story, we see the author behind it, and we unconsciously assume that this could be his/her own story. We try to squeeze the character into the writer's skin. Or we are tempted to ask, What can she know about poverty, she has never lived in such circumstances? How can he write about the Partition, when even his Dad was not born during that era? You know, she has led such a wild life that I am not surprised that her story is all about wild women; must be her own story. When we know the person, we are prejudiced, and are quick to jump to conclusions.

There is another reason why I think the author should not be as famous as the book - the writing might be wonderful for a first attempt, but when the author talks about it (as he/she inevitably will, as fame demands), it might sound arrogant, she/he might appear unlikeable, and the little attention that the book had received might be destroyed. (As we have seen in a few recent cases.) The author as a person might not be the epitome of grace. His personal lack of charm should not stand in the way of his excellent writing. We often say that the character that an actor has portrayed is brilliant, but in real life the actor is a jerk. Something like that - just because the writing is exceptional does not mean the author should receive a Nobel Peace Prize.

Hence I believe it is the writing that should be appreciated before the person behind it, even though it is the person who wrote it. The book should be more famous than the author, if it is any good.


Incidentally this is my 100-th post, and a major milestone in the life of this blog.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

The other point of view

Dear M,

As writers, our greatest gift is our ability to see the other's point of view. If we cannot, we would not make good story-tellers.

There is always another side to every story. When we are able to bring it out, it adds a touch of beauty to the tale. It also makes the reader contemplate - and make her think of the possible other sides to her own story. When we write about the life of an insignificant person, the reader could think of a similar person in her own life, who exists without anyone giving him even a moment's thought, and maybe the next time she looks at the man, she would see him differently.

That's why some writers say that they write to make a difference. There are so many lives around us that we barely notice, or spend any thought on. We take them for granted without even knowing it. We expect them to do things because it is their duty, and if they fail to, we go mad. They all have stories too, they have families and friends, they too like a drink in the evening, or they listen to songs, they might have a Facebook profile - they all deserve a moment's thought, if that's the least we can do. If our story makes our reader smile at someone or do an act of kindness, then isn't that wonderful?

We could always look for the other's perspective - and after a while, it becomes a habit. The beggar by the roadside, the security guard who opens the gate at our apartment, the delivery boy from the hotel, the woman who sweeps the office floors every morning, the man who cleans up the garbage, the cab driver, the sleeping dog you pass every day on your way out.

We all see (and forget) so many lives, we see (and forget) so many stories. We could make a difference (at least in our own lives) if we see the other point of view.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!

If you're an artist, your rudeness is excusable

Dear M,

Apart from the fact that we can take revenge on people through our writing, writers have one more advantage. (A writer's life is pretty much miserable most of the time, though outsiders assume otherwise, but these are the little joys we can count on.)

Again, this is applicable to all creative artists.

In general, non-writers (by that I mean people who are not mad about writing as the rest of us) consider writers a slightly-disoriented, absent-minded, genius-type lot, bordering dangerously on insanity, and can be excused for their unfathomable (or embarrassing) gestures and speech. (The kind of kurta-wearing, cloth-bag-carrying, hair-in-disarray, spectacled genius scientists that we get to see in movies.) I hardly think it's true these days when every second person is a writer. Writers and thinkers have become fab-looking and fashionable too. However I believe this old-school assumption gives us an advantage. We could be mysterious, forgetful and annoying when we please - we have a real valid excuse. In fact, we can be just rude and walk away talking to ourselves, and we could almost hear them murmuring to themselves, "oh, these writer types!"

The spouse forgives the writer's weird unbearable behaviour and action for the same reason. After all, writers have to be a little eccentric so that they can produce something worthwhile for us to read.

Yes, that is a safe bank that we can rest on, when we make mistakes. They live in their own world, our friends think, that they cannot be bothered with the mundane priorities of this world. If you look gloomy and do not interact with others during a party, they will attribute it to the failure to find an exciting climax for your story (that's how heroes in films behave when they cannot find a climax - and the best misery that writer-heroes face is a failed climax).

Your lapses are forgiven if you are a writer. People will shake their heads and tell themselves, Poor thing, he/she is a writer. It happens.

Love.

Like this post on Facebook!