WRITERS ISSUES

Writers block : I had heard about a 'Writer's Block' several times, and often wondered what it was. Until of course I myself faced it. Its not a block when you stop writing altogether, rather its a block when you are stuck at writing about something particular. I had got enrolled for a particular 'Get Published' contest in Nov end, and, till the last date of submission my idea was voted, and remained at the Top No.3 position. However, I had not yet written the story. I thought that I'll write after the results are declared. However, I did not write it even when the shortlisted results were announced. The story that I had thought way back in Nov the previous year, was simply not coming back to me. I did have a vague idea about what it was, but when it came to writing it down, I'd go all blank. March had already approached and hardly a few days were left now, but my mind was still blank about the story. Meanwhile, I kept posting my regular blog posts. I even posted couple of short stories elsewhere, but strangely this particular story was still not coming to my mind properly. I was having a Writer's block, I realised.
Once day, I forced myself to sit and keep typing till I had some kinda story out rather than keep on postponing the whole thing as I was doing so far. Ultimately, I did manage to finish and submitted it on first week of March itself, but was it the story I had originally planned? Hard to say. Was I satisfied with it? Not really. Maybe, if I had written it back in Nov, it would have shaped up much better. But now, after the initial steam had vanished, I was not so sure about the end 'product' that I created. I could only hope the publishers approved of it :-)
Moral of the story - Write down the story when the idea is still fresh, if you keep postponing the end result may not usually be the one you had initially envisioned or hoped.

Bloggers Dilemma! ~ comments or no comments : My blog was started way back in 2010, but if you see the earlier posts, you'll hardly see any comments in it. I never really promoted it anywhere, but since it was attached to my Facebook Page, some people occasionally did drop in. They'd read and then vanished. But I didn't see anyone commenting. To be frank, I was 'okay' with it, as I knew that I did get a few visits. Only after I joined the blogging communities did I become aware of this issue. My purpose of joining was simple - 'curiosity'. I knew these communities existed from a long time, but I wasn't attracted enough to join them ( or maybe I was just too busy to give it a thought ). Anyways, I did join and started coming across posts/cartoons/poems about people commenting or not commenting on the posts. It was funny to read them at first, but I saw a pattern of negativity in them as well. Of course, I realised the biggest truth, that most blog readers are other fellow bloggers who are apparently trying to promote their blogs as well. 'Scratch my back, I'll scratch yours', kinda situation. It reminded me of the Amazon Authors Forum, where other authors spam the place with their books, not realising that it is an author's forum; hence, the other authors would be least interested in buying their books, as they are selling theirs too. Deja Vu' I felt

Yes, it does feel good if someone comments, but I think we should not be so ever expectant and obsessed about it, that we let it rule our minds. I almost felt sorry when I read a poem, pleading readers ( read - other bloggers ) not to give short comments. Why does a blogger of that caliber need to make such post?

Writers Insecurity ~ leads them to write negative about other bloggers : I came across another blogger who made a post rubbishing all bloggers altogether. He wants the whole breed to vanish. Why is he so insecure?

A blog as I know it, is an online diary of sorts where people can scribble anything they want ( thats their right ). However, to see other bloggers feeling insecure and making such blasting negative posts about other bloggers is saddening. If you want to be famous, go write a book and publish it. Its silly to want to be famous by ridiculing other bloggers and wanting them not to exist. It only speaks of narrow mindedness, insecurity, and, need I add mindless jealousy? Blogspot/Wordpress or even blogging communities thrives on these bloggers; else, they'd go bankrupt with a handful of 'I'm the best writer on this planet, hence, others donot deserve to exist' type narssicist writers. Quality matters no doubt, but what is quality? Who will decide that? What works for you, may not work for me. I may find these snobbish writers who uses all these unpronounciable words, thinking themselves as Shakespheare extremely boring. Rather, I might prefer someone who writes simple yet interesting.

Prudish writers scorn at Chetan Bhagat, ( though I'm not really his fan ) all the time, thrashing him, but whole India loves him. See, how many movies got made on his books that people enjoyed. So, think twice before you point fingers at others for mediocrity etc. Some people may not be a fan of your writings at all though you may be surrounded by some sycophants all the time. I also saw some bloggers making cartoons of other bloggers day in and day out. Why be so obsessed about what other bloggers are doing, I wonder. One may say, that this post of mine is also doing the same, i.e criticising others. Then let me clarify that, 'No', it is not. I saw too much negativity being spewed by so called popular bloggers towards others, hence I was prompted to write. Otherwise, I really couldn't care less.

English Vinglish fancy 'literary' words vs normal prose : I always prefer simple, lucid style of writing rather than using complicated unnecessary words/phrases that makes you carry a dictionary every time you read something like that. I came across some comments on a person's blog post that made me laugh out. The blogger apparently uses all the complicated language possible, even for replying a comment ( which we normal people do so in simple spoken language ), and is surrounded by sycophants that is giving him the illusion that he is the best writer around. So, some of those comments I read were, "I absolutely loved your post though I admit, I had to look up some of the words/terms" ( i.e googled ), "Your posts are like rocket science for me, but I loved it anyways, its awesome". So, that means, they didn't understand a word of the post, yet, were praising blindly away. What can be more hilarious than that?
People ( esp brown-Indians-wanna-be-british ) think that if someone is using words unheard of or not used regularly, they are great writers. Does simply using grand words make you a great writer, though the readers may not have understood a single word of it or is that one a writer who makes an instant connect with readers? I prefer the latter one anyday.

Cheating to Win Blogging Contest...voting : I saw some instances that shocked me quite a bit and it was an eye opener. In a recent get published contest, the contestants had to collect votes. So, while everyone else was begging, mailing others to vote for them, two entrants zoomed to the top with highest number of votes. It raised bit suspicion when the two started to compete for the top position. if one was on top the other would get hundreds of votes mysteriously within a short time and reach the top. Then again the other would do the same. I tried refreshing the page and was shocked to see them getting votes by the hundreds within seconds of each other. Was it really possible?? I don't think so. I checked their fb /twitter pages and all, they didn't have that many subscribers as much as they got votes, so my guess was ~ hanky panky can't be ruled out.
In some other contests like the cooking contest, I saw one food blogger who posted the maximum entries, post another one with another name via another blog. There was also one who already posted 2 entries, posted another one via new blog which funnily was created just to enter the contest. Also, some of the pictures where the image was to be put was artificially photoshopped. in same contest I also saw instances of recipes lifted from other sources. I mean, it was still 'olive' oil in the recipe entry when supposedly that person was writing for another oil brand. Was it really a human typo? Unlikely!

Earning with Writing : This is quite a grey area esp with regards to blogging. It can be extreme black or white too, but its not constant. Its never a steady job like a regular 9-5 or even a private business entrepreneurship that guarantees a sale at the end of the day. With emergence of platforms like instagram/snapchat/tiktok/youtube etc blogging has been hijacked to some extent. A top blog however with good amount of visitors can still easily earn decently via various means like advertising, affiliate marketing, adsense, freelancing, sponsored posts, collaborations etc. But same is not the case with all blogs. So, it can vary and can be very frustrating for a newcomer.

Blogging got hijacked! ~ by the shorts and reels culture - instagram, snapchat, youtube etc : The whole topography of content creation and consumption has changed. Sprouting of countless social media platforms with visual reels, expressions and creativity has altered the scenario. Blogging/Writing has been hijacked and pushed into abyss almost - the realm of "classic' expression, with people getting more accustomed to swiping than actually reading. Story telling has changed, and brands too give preference to visuals and numbers due to shorter attention span of consumers.