The writing bug bit me after a very long time and I was seized with the urge to write something. After casting around for topics in vain, I thought “Why not write about writing?”. After all writing is not something insignificant. Writing is a wonderful thing. It is not about putting pen to paper and scribbling something down. It is about stringing together seemingly meaningless words and phrases and lending meaning to them. Writing is about voicing our thoughts and innermost desires. It brings to life the dreams that have not been realised or that, which cannot be realised, the emotions, the expressions that cannot otherwise be expressed as effectively as it would turn out on paper. Writing just lends a different kind of identity to thoughts, it makes them seem more solid, more stable and lends them permanency. Having written enough about the nature of writing, I think it’s time to move on to people and their highly individualistic styles of writing.
“Can everybody write?” I wondered. Of course, anyone can jot their thoughts down on paper provided they have the patience for it. However, like I said in the earlier paragraph, that alone cannot be called writing. What is it that sets each writer apart from the other? It is their style of writing or the way they choose to express themselves. Why is it that we feel some writers’ words carry weight and are powerful tools of expression whereas some others choose to express themselves in a mellowed down or toned-down fashion? The latter is often mistaken to be dull and uninteresting as it is impassioned and lacks the intensity that the former carries. It need not always be so. The intense or passionate writing style evokes powerful emotions within the reader and the toned-down form of writing makes the reader reflect about what they have just read. Each is good in its own way.
One more thing that brings the difference between various writers is when they write, the timing they choose to write. It is often that the most brilliantly churned out pieces of literature are written at odd hours, the plot and content conceived in odd places. I personally believe that writing needs to be done when the words are flowing inside the brain, when there is the inner urge to write which pushes you to take up the pen, and that is when the writing seems lively and retains a fluid-like quality. In other cases, there are writers who take a very systematic approach with unrelenting focus, their ideas spread out across several spread sheets, steadily building upon the plot and fleshing out the characters. However, either approach works just as well as the other to fulfill the purpose of the writer.
I mentioned earlier that each writer’s style is highly individualistic. Hence there are no such things as good writers or bad writers. There are only writers who carry universal appeal and those whose appeal to a certain section of society. No writer can be criticised for their faults except for maybe factual and grammatical errors committed during writing which cannot be helped as we try our best to steer clear of these errors, but often we do end up making them anyway. Erring is after all, the trait of humans. A writer’s style rises out of the kind of person they are, the kind of environment they are in and everything else that may influence their minds and colour their thoughts. Some of us may write for the love of writing, those who consider writing their passion and like a hobby fall under this category. Then there are those who write with a purpose, the purpose of making their voice reach out to the society and spreading their message far and wide. Then there is the third category whose voices are suppressed due to various reasons and since they have a lot of pent up emotions within them they often adopt the fiery style of lashing out against their oppressors in their writings and this feeling comes across as being very strong writing. Every piece of literature has a tone and feel to it, it is accompanied by the mood that the writer was in while writing, the things on their mind making it seem like the paper is speaking to the reader. Writing truly lends character to a blank white sheet. So, if the writing is what we are, then does the writing style change with changes in our personality? That change in our personality does come across in the writing and serves to unveil the new and modified style cultivated by the writer as their own personality undergoes many transformations.
It is up to us to choose what kind of writing style to adopt while writing and what style of writing to read. However, it’s my opinion that it is best to be well acquainted with both forms of writing. That way we get to truly experience the best of both worlds and its only then that we feel enriched. One must not stick to one style of writing alone. We need to keep experimenting. After all, isn’t variety supposed to be the spice of life?
A Voice Unfettered 