Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Writing About Not Writing



When you have nothing to write, write about not writing. So said a writer, tongue partly in cheek. Others too have dispensed valuable gems. Write even when you don’t want to. It’s about discipline. Today I’m going to do just that. Write about not writing.

After almost eight straight years, lately, I haven’t published anything. Truth be told, my draft folder holds a dozen odd unpublished articles. Some cooked, some half-baked. But for some reason the soufflé didn’t quite rise to perfection. The idea that one must write no-matter-what seemed repugnant – too dictatorial for a Freebird. What article, after all, is worth sharing if it doesn’t flow from free will?

Writing, for me has been about self-expression much before it was a literary endeavor. If you’ve read my blog you know that I write about news and media. Despite the stench emanating from the media cesspool, this is what I enjoy the most. And yet, Padmavati pandemonium, Trudeau’s fancy dress, Media’s madness, R.Chaudhary’s cackle, Yogi’s debacle, Sridevi’s speculation, and N.Aggarwal’s indiscretion – nothing nudged me from my idyllic stupor.

Even if I ignore the public disenchantment with news, the biggest challenge was to write straight away. Quick. Tez. Sabse Tez. Because if you don’t write within twenty-four hours, others will. Today everyone and his neighbour is a writer. As a result, the topic becomes as stale as old beer within a day. News is ephemeral. What makes waves today is gone tomorrow. Remember the shocking news of a dead couple, lying naked in the bathroom early this month? What did the autopsy report say? We forgot all about the couple as soon as the NE election results were out. Then there was the news about the sudden demise of Sridevi. By the time I had penned a piece, the web was flooded with tributes. If I publish that tribute today, readers will sneer, “Leave her alone. Aren’t we over her demise? ”

Above all, writing a blog sets to establish that you want readers. Validation. The moment you press the publish/post button, you are looking for an audience. Blogging, over the years, has lost novelty in direct proportion to its readers. The online blogs on news portals attract more traffic than personal blogs. With shortening attention spans, online readers look for brevity of Twitter and the charm of video blogs. Pixels over print. Bullet points over loopy sentences.

Today when I look at my blog traffic, the post that drew maximum page views was the one that read, How to write like a twenty year old when you are sixty.’ At a time when Google answers all our queries, the sure shot way to grab eyeballs is to write ‘How To’ articles. You can cram your posts with funny anecdotes, literary gems, poetic pearls or biting satires, but in terms of cold arithmetic, only three words get you hits – Why, Where and How. Which is why food, parenting and travel blogs are more popular than non-fiction musings. 

People want answers. Information. Not opinions. Well, mostly. Accept that, ‘How to reduce a double chin’, will find more readers than your musing about news.

Then there is twitter. Even though brevity is not exactly conducive for an in-depth discussion, short attention spans have ensured that readers read a summary and move on. Not long back, we loved reading articles on Readers Digest, newspaper editorials or satirical centre page spreads. Not as much anymore. 
Another reason for what appears to be my disenchantment is the fact that twitter is infatuated with lies. A study reveals that false news on social media travels six times faster than the truth. Worse, it reaches far more people. So if I pick news from Twitter, chances are I will be expressing views about something that did not happen at all. On the other hand, if I wait for confirmed news, the topic is done and dusted faster than Usain Bolt.

With shortening attention spans, the only thing shorter than public memory is public enthusiasm. Strictly in terms of public interest, Trudeau’s faux-ethnic ensembles provided more fodder for writers than Emmanuel Macron’s substantial visit. 
Finally, its a rough phase for political satires. People have taken sides along the fence. Any joke on their side is taken as a personal assault. Today, jokes are not about harmless fun but kicking the 'other side' and tarnishing reputations. There is little space and understanding for 'on the other hand' kind of arguments. Issue based analysis is being smothered to death by binary positions based on your likes and dislikes.

So is it time to enjoy the luxury of keeping ones thought’s to oneself? Perhaps rationing is a better idea. As Santosh Desai writes, ‘Time has come to revisit the pleasures of not sharing, of not reacting, and of not enacting our feelings as they occur.’ But then what will writers do? Bury their pen? Ah, herein lies the dilemma. 

Coming back to the moot question: should you force yourself to write? If you want to pursue writing, you should. The initial push is hard. Perhaps the key is to keep writing and wait for the day when you are aroused enough to publish. Once you have penned a hundred odd words, you will know if the juices are flowing. It may not be the best you baked. Yet, it will be fulfilling. Write for the sake of your own clarity of thought. Like I did today.

23 comments:

  1. Wonder what does one do next. If too many are writing and no many are reading and attention spans are shrinking, then should I start taking photos instead? Move the blog to Instagram?
    I am bummed that the malaise is threating to consume you. Hope that doesn’t happen for the sake of your, though small but, fiercely loyal readers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is the harsh reality. What does one do? Maybe swallow the fact and, yet, write on. Else write something controversial once in a while. Maybe an open letter to a celebrity. Or write ten ways to reduce belly fat. That will get readers for sure.

      Delete
  2. Excellent read,thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Please keep writing. You are such an exceptional writer. And in this deluge of too many articles and tweets and too much insta info ... Your writing is like a beacon of hope . That good writing still exists.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want to hug you for this. Thank you. This will nudge me on days I dither.

      Delete
  4. I agree with almost everything, Alka. Can you believe I have nothing less than 44 drafts any day? some of them are outdated...some of them cannot be published due to privacy reasons, some so that I don't hurt people's feelings...Though I haven't been actively blogging for the past couple of years..I see a huge change in the trend. Like you said, I think people's attention spans are decreasing and people don't have time for a blog post anymore and rather prefer a tweet...I also learned that we need to push ourselves if we want to keep the writing going :) Hope you don't discontinue again :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hain na? Most of us who started ten years ago are facing the same. Regardless, so good to see you here.

      Delete
  5. As someone who has been pretty prolific in her writing, I still get what you are saying. Every year for one month, I just take a sabbatical from writing, just to recharge. If I was writing on politics, I would have burnt out and given up a long time back. It is okay to write fewer times, Alka. It just depends upon what you want from blogging. I still continue to write because I enjoy what I write. Some of that content may not be read as much as I want but that's okay. It must always boil down to your passion. And you know what, people are still reading voraciously. But their attention spans are lower. Just keep writing whenever you feel like it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's very encouraging Rachna. You are an inspiration.Thank you.

      Delete
  6. Clarity helps one to fight the writing demons and this post does that in pepping into action people like me who has an abandoned 'novel' draft. I love how you out the fulfilling or half-baked aspect, Alka. So true. I believe that content matters the most rather than the over the top Instagram.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is very encouraging Vishal. You've been a part of my blogging journey. Thank you for being there.

      Delete
  7. Replies
    1. That is so sweet Indu. I will remember this on days I need a push. Thank you. Truly.

      Delete
  8. That's an awfully good and honest post about 'not writing'. As i keep hearing these days, nobody has the interest to read long articles these days.Blogging is out, youtubers and instagrammers are in.They want brevity and as you said, everybody's running like the Alice in wonderland.I haven't been writing too much and suddenly it seems all fizzled out.perhaps the mood will strike me soon and i will write, but till then just not able to push myself to write.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I hear you. Most of us who started around same time are going through this phase. Perhaps time to accept that blogging will never have as many readers as it did, say 2 or 3 years ago.

      Delete
  9. I loved the humor in the post. Along with that you said what is so true of our social media, attention span and blogs. As much as I enjoy writing travel stories, my heart is at those non-fiction pieces that I have penned. :)
    Like you Alka, I want to keep writing and keep those creative juices flowing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Parul. Keep writing for the sake of your own focus and clarity of thought.
      More power to your pen.

      Delete
  10. Your post resonated deeply with me. This day and age doesn't foster good writing- thoughtful writing - writing for the sake of writing and creative expression. You've pretty much covered it all- and very well at that. Thanks! Please do keep writing....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kamalini for the encouragement. Oh dear, I love your name.
      Welcome here.

      Delete
  11. Spot on. The nature of content and the way it is consumed has changed drastically in the last decade. Most of us, myself included, have had "lost weekends" when we pursued keywords and measured our success by traffic. Good thing is that writing seems to be winning. Most of us are able to find a balance between social expectations and our personal commitments. I have felt the same way as you, and have had long spells of not writing, and cleaning up my blogs of all that I considered "not writing." One cannot argue the case for forced writing, even masters need practice, nor can anyone deny the fear of missing out that compels us to write while people still remember what you are talking about. But at the end, it is about being true to what you believe about why you write. If you write to be at the head of the class, of course you need to be sabse tez. If blogging for revenue, you need to only worry about traffic and what people look for. If you write for the beauty of writing, you will be perfectly content in the last bench, repeatedly sketching your muse in the margins of your geography textbook.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Such a pleasure to see you here Subho. You've hit the nail on the head. And how beautifully. It is about being true to what you believe about why you write. As of now, I'm content doodling. And enjoying it too.

      Delete
  12. I don't know what a writer's block is. You are good enough to write whenever you want to, even about not writing, as is evident by your post. Disillusionment is more like my poison. The most memorable piece about that state of limbo on writing I have read is 'क्या लिखूं ?', and that was back in the 1980s. Never read anything better than that. Then there are the times when you are putting in more than 14 hours a day to keep your bowels greased and whatever is left of the fried up mesh of synapses is just not up to it.

    ReplyDelete