On stories — long and short of it

There are two types of writers—potter kind and spider kind. The spider kind of writers can spin a web out of their own saliva so to say, while the potter kinds are more dependent on their earthly experiences. One can’t say who are superior. A potter writer can very well transform her own experiences into a timeless saga while a spider kind may lose her way into an infertile land of imagination devoid of the life-juice of reality. On the other hand, a spider writer with a fair amount of research, may bring alive a forgotten era with her fertile imagination whereas the potter writer would stand helpless.

In any case, to write a successful piece of literature you don’t have any other way than to bring alive the characters forcefully. Interestingly, if a writer paints a bygone era in all its lively colours, in spite of being set in the long past, the creation may surpass the time barrier and continue enchanting readers through ages. I suppose the reason lies in the success of depicting the emotions, the joys and sufferings of the people. The human emotions in their most basic form are invariant over time and place.

It is really a wonder how a writer, a single person, can make alive people of all kinds of characters!

Often we see repetition. In themes, in characters, in philosophy. That is natural. Writers are but human. Only in exceptional cases we may find one man creating literary pieces wholly different in all their colors.

Another aspect of repetition is the style of writing. Most writers develop their own distinctive styles—their signatures so to say. An experienced reader may easily spot a writer from one or two paragraphs of text. But if you think a bit more you might agree that the language should be different for different types of themes. For a deep, introspective piece with sadness mixed in, the language might be one and for a bubbly, joyous, sunny story the language may be another. The pace, the constructs, use of phrases all may be different. That is ideal.

Lastly, as the writer mixes herself in her creation, the depth of the creation depends on the depth of the writer, her depth of understanding about life.

We eagerly wait for the creation that will move us, and will entertain us over repeated readings, through ages.