Sometimes I hesitate to call or describe myself as a writer. I haven’t written anything worth publishing and always suffer from the feeling that there is a long way to go if I have to publish in a good magazine. I always feel that there is a lot I have to learn if I am to write well. It gives me a feeling of inadequacy about my meager talent.
It is this feeling that makes me pick up books on writing in the hope that I will find something in it worth learning, something that would improve my writing. I am always reading something about writing all the time and last week I had started John Gardner’s ‘On Becoming a Novelist’ which has a nice introduction by Raymond Carver who was one of Gardner’s students at Chico State College, California. It was Raymond Carver’s ‘Fires’, a collection of his essays, poems and stories that I found this Sunday at Abids.
Of the four essays in ‘Fires’, one of them is the essay that forms the introduction to Gardner’s book. Three of the essays are on writing of which I can never have enough, and one is about his father. I already read the main essay – ‘Fires’ sitting in an Irani restaurant- Light of Asia- at Abids. ‘Fires’ is all about the influences on Carver’s writing- John Gardner, Gordon Lish and his own kids. I got the book for fifty rupees though it was not in such a good condition.
Another reason why I feel my writing is not up to the mark is because I am not very sure of my grammar. Not long back an editor (a snooty one) told me my grammar was practically non-existent and in fact, rewrote the whole article I had submitted so that it no longer looked like mine. Hence I am always reading up on books that teach grammar. The second book I found at Abids was ‘Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition’, which incidentally, is what Stephen King recommends in his book- ‘On Writing.’
Finally, the gift. On Saturday evening I met a wonderful new friend who presented me Elmore Leonard’s ‘Hombre’ that I was desperately looking for. Thank you, S.
It is this feeling that makes me pick up books on writing in the hope that I will find something in it worth learning, something that would improve my writing. I am always reading something about writing all the time and last week I had started John Gardner’s ‘On Becoming a Novelist’ which has a nice introduction by Raymond Carver who was one of Gardner’s students at Chico State College, California. It was Raymond Carver’s ‘Fires’, a collection of his essays, poems and stories that I found this Sunday at Abids.
Of the four essays in ‘Fires’, one of them is the essay that forms the introduction to Gardner’s book. Three of the essays are on writing of which I can never have enough, and one is about his father. I already read the main essay – ‘Fires’ sitting in an Irani restaurant- Light of Asia- at Abids. ‘Fires’ is all about the influences on Carver’s writing- John Gardner, Gordon Lish and his own kids. I got the book for fifty rupees though it was not in such a good condition.
Another reason why I feel my writing is not up to the mark is because I am not very sure of my grammar. Not long back an editor (a snooty one) told me my grammar was practically non-existent and in fact, rewrote the whole article I had submitted so that it no longer looked like mine. Hence I am always reading up on books that teach grammar. The second book I found at Abids was ‘Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition’, which incidentally, is what Stephen King recommends in his book- ‘On Writing.’
Finally, the gift. On Saturday evening I met a wonderful new friend who presented me Elmore Leonard’s ‘Hombre’ that I was desperately looking for. Thank you, S.
No comments:
Post a Comment