Writing – Pleasurable Creative Pursuit … Profession … Consultancy
India is a country where everyone knows how to write. Yes, in the Indian educational system, the emphasis on languages has always been undeniable. Most of us are also fortunate to be a part of the generation that was still taught grammar, the old-fashioned way. These practices are seeing a sea change now, but that’s a topic for another discussion. Here, I am just trying to stress, that due to the inherent emphasis on languages the ability to write is available widely.
So, with such high availability, what makes individual writing different? It is the thought propagated in writing that makes it different. Yes, thought, which too is incidentally available to all. The depth of thought and the ability to express it well, make writings differ.
Prose writing, mainly article writing and business related writing can be taught and is usually done too. But, writing poetry, songs, stories, ad copies and film scripts require a creative streak. This creativity comes as a higher blessing.
Writings can be both research- based as well as creativity-based. Both can be done for personal as well as professional reasons. Article writing and business related writing can be enriched and strengthened considerably with research. Some may argue that even research-based writing requires creativity. There is no denying this. Writing as a whole is a creative effort. I am simply trying to make some broad demarcations in order to bring better understanding to the pursuit of writing, as an activity.
There are several other niches that are frequently used these days. More important ones are technical writing and web content writing. Technical writing is mainly for user manuals, training guides, e-books, online courses and others. Web content refers to the written words seen on the websites. These kinds of writings are heavily based on research. With a flair for writing and good research, they can be accomplished very easily.
With Internet at one’s fingertips, research material is readily available. Writers for articles, business related writings, technical writings and web content writing are thus, very widely available. Reaching the writers of poetry, songs, stories, ad copies and film scripts may be a quite a pursuit.
Can one person specialize in more than one kind of writing? As an answer to this query, just see the wide spectrum works of some renowned authors of yesteryears. Most have left memorable works in more streams than one. This is because expression of thought may take varied routes. In a creative pursuit like writing, sometimes it is difficult to begin with a clear idea of the end. The resultant piece can be slotted into brackets only after it is fully ready.
Writing – a pleasurable creative pursuit … profession … consultancy … a mix of all of these – that is what writing really is to me. To best put, writing is a pleasurable creative pursuit, which is my best past time. It eventually turned out to be a profession, which has now flourished into a consultancy.
Neena Dayal is an experienced writer. She has worked as an editor, journalist, copywriter and scriptwriter. Her core competency is easy adaptability for various media. She has written for diverse media right from print to ads to films to the Internet. Along with the diversity in media, she has had the opportunity to work on varied subjects. She is also a member of the prestigious Film Writers Association of India.