Writing is a process that makes its own momentum- sometimes gaining peculiar intensity and sometimes drawing down into a sprawling laze. The pace of the words coincides with the state of mind of the wordsmith. The writer is always chasing the elusive trigger that sets his story apart. But the search for that triumphant moment is fraught- and this is an understatement.
The writing experts have developed and shared their own constructs but when it comes to actual writing they only make it more tedious and formulaic for the novices. Writing, one must remember, thrives on sharing natural experiences and any attempt to drive it away from its impulsive orientation deprives it of its essential element of existence. It turns into a lifeless form that fails to ignite the curiosity of the reader.
In my quest for achieving writing distinction, I have flirted with different forms but on most occasions I ended up with a pretty drab story line that was made more unreadable by an almost religious adherence to the conventional features of writing a story. I often wondered at the missing link. What separated my piece from potential stardom?
I looked up popular authors for my potential Eureka Moment. I watched documentaries on writing a brilliant story and surfed the net till the battery deserted my labour. But I did not make much of a progress.
I entered a smorgasbord of competitions under the illusion of inherited greatness only to be whimsically dismissed like an embryonic employee of a private company. The pieces of the puzzle seemed to be completely disunited and out of tune. I scratched my head multiple times only managing to extract a tuft of loose hair from the backside. Sometimes I worked on improving the quality of my language by adding some grandiose words and shuffling the sentence structure. However, nothing straightened the creases that were all too obvious to be ignored.
After some painstaking labour my eyes settled on a few lines. They stood out and provided me the answer that had frenetically escaped my observations. It was a poignant excerpt from ‘Hard Times’ by ‘Charles Dickens.’
‘Bitzer,’ said Mr. Gradgrind, broken down, and miserably submissive to him, ‘have you a heart?’
‘The circulation, sir,’ returned Bitzer, smiling at the oddity of the question, ‘couldn’t be carried on without one. No man, sir, acquainted with the facts established by Harvey relating to the circulation of the blood, can doubt that I have a heart.’
I immediately turned to my half-baked manuscript and looked at the paucity of the dialogues. The story was bursting with description but did not have much to show in terms of emotive element. I set upon paring down the description of the story and replaced it with relevant dialogues that ramped up the stature of the characters.
The change was palpable enough for everyone to see. It dripped with energy that was absent by quite some distance in my earlier attempts. Now the story had come alive and seemed to be talking to the readers much closer to the experiences of their own lives rather than living the reality of some alien creatures. It acquired an aura that developed into a real art form and went from strength to strength. The sprightly speakfests lifted the story into the realm of everyday life experiences that made it endearingly close to the hearts of the audience that stood loyal to me anticipating something to celebrate at the end of their long comradeship with the book.
A worth reading piece.
The question of whether or not one has a heart has always been a repetitive theme in Charles Dicken’s novels. For instance, Charles Dickens once wrote the following advice for living: ‘Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.” However, the heart perceived in Hard Times points to absolute pragmatism. In this, one not only speaks with measured or devoid feelings that make up the very essence of being human also asserts pessimism. Looking forward to reading more from you.