Questions I have been asked as a writer.
I thought I should pen this down. These questions have been asked to me and here are my answers.
a) There is a writer’s look. Try it on you. Feel proud.
I have a writer’s glass, a collarless shirt, jeans combination, and my beard. I am so proud. You could try yours. Somebody should make writer’s fashion.
b) You are a writer. But what do you actually do? I get these questions all the time.
I write. I write. I write. Read my books.
c) Don’t you write in English or how can you?
English is my second language. I know five Indian languages, and two tongues — mother/ father. But still, I love writing in English.
d)Writing is a woman’s subject and career choice.
I am surprised that I am told this. We know that there are/ were great male writers, but today it is seen as woman’s career choice. Why can’t men choose writing?
e) How can a male writer write female / feminist subjects?
Most of my protagonists are female. I tell people that I live and breath the character. ‘Oh, if that is the case, how will you write the emotional and behavioral aspects of a child bearing, mensturating woman’ — I say this. ‘I get into the character’s skin, and feeling those hormonal aspects and reactions are very much part of it.
f)Writing is a useless activity. Go learn, earn or do something.
I walk, brood, stare and reflect. People think I am off. But that is what writers do.
g)Why are you alone and not participate in this or that?
I write in the night, so I get my alone time. But not every one of us is a night owl.
h) As a writer, you should not write like that or this — God, religion, authority, state, or about that leader. Particularly, THAT leader.
Oh, sorry. Literature is freedom and liberty at its best. So I do — I write what I like, what I discover. I dive deep into my mind and come out with my discoveries. Writing is a tool to understand society and humanity better. So, that’s that.
i) You write so long. Sooo… long. SO LONG. Who will read these? Nobody has attention span these days. Why don’t you make those videos — like a few seconds. or write something short and sweet.
Nope. I write long. My stories play out. My characters live. There are no norms to my writing. But I am inspired by Marcel Proust, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Edith Wharton, Frank Kafka, Rabindranath Tagore, Jane Austen, Jhumpa Lahiri … my list is long and growing too.
j) Why don’t you write something functional? Like a thriller. Or just write content, for others. Or Ghost write. Something instant and functional, today’s generation — Millenials, Gen-X, Gen-Y can understand.
I am an absolute misfit, I admit. I don’t write functional. I discover. I may not have instant answers. But my writing is a way of seeking them. I am a broody, intense, researching, wandering soul who happens to write.
k) Why is your ending not like this? Happily ever after. or this character should have behaved that way.
My characters have their quirks. There may not be logic. That is what makes fiction literature unpredictable.
l) Why don’t you write non-fiction? You could sell more books. See these ‘How to… ten things… ‘ or ‘Ikigai’ and similar stuff.
My writing is confounding and searching. I am not a therapist or an expert in self-help. I write what comes naturally to me. Poetry and Fiction. May be someday, non-fiction. I don’t have solutions or nomenclatures that sound like self-help solutions.
m) You should write something positive. Don’t explore death. ( This on my first novel ‘My Rainbow Bridge.’)
I write about subjects that I am afraid of. I peep into that dark corner or this abyss of my mind. I see things in the dark. I hear sounds in the silence of my human mind. I break boundaries between science, literature and philosophy. Or simply put, life and humanity.
n) Be careful and don’t write about that leader. He is an avatar.
For that matter, I have even questioned avatars. Humans are erring and so is divine. But that is ok. Simply put, it is through the crack that sunlight shall enter. ( or it does not matter, if it is darkness everywhere. There you go.)
o) So are you only dystopian?
No, I am not. But I don’t restrict dystopia in my writing. I don’t categorize. I just write.
p) How about your poetry?
Poetry is embedded in what I write. I write poems on everything. I don’t have any specific models to write.
q) Why don’t you write like say ‘Amish Tripathi’ or ‘Christopher Doyle’ or ‘Ashwin Sanghi’?
Amish or Christopher are great and popular writers. They have their following and readership. I will have mine. My book will find you — my readers. I consider myself as a work in progress, but my writing is my writing.
There are more questions, but I will conclude here. I may add a few more. I penned this, inspired by Geethanjali Shree’s speech in a college. If you have reached here, thank you for reading.
~Ashok Subramanian © 2023
