Becoming a Successful Writer: What Steps to Follow?

I am writing this entry in response to a comment written by a reader of this Blog. Yesterday, Momen wrote to me “I am a fresh graduate. I want to express many feelings within me. I love writers so much especially novelists when I read their literary achievements I feel greatness. I wish to be a famous writer one day .I live for this aim, yet unfortunately, I have no real steps.”

I hope all of you can understand what the question is that he or she wants to be a famous writer with great achievements but the steps are unclear to him or her. Well, I am not exactly a successful writer so, it is perhaps impossible for me to tell you the exact steps that you should follow to become a successful and famous writer. However, in this entry, I am going to discuss about some other writers who have seen amazing success. I am also going to discuss some points about becoming a successful writer.

What is success in writing?

Before anything, we should try to have a definition of a success in writing field. In our time, perhaps success is more or less related to money. For example, the writer of Harry Potter J. K. Rowling has become a billionaire. In the past, success was perhaps more related with feeling and emotion of readers. William Shakespeare is the best example. He was surely not one of the richest men in his time but people used to love his dramas.

William Shakespeare

Before going into the discussion, I like to talk about some famous and successful writers. At first, when we think of writing then the name of William Shakespeare automatically comes. If you take a look at his life then you will find that he came from a small place and he had his misfortune at early in life. He got married at the age of 18 with a woman who was eight years old and then suffering from further misfortune, was perhaps forced to run away to London.

In London, at first, he had to struggle a lot and he started working in the theatres. He worked very hard and then in the end became very successful in even owning a company. Shakespeare in his own life suffered a lot and had to fight for his own livelihood. Writing drama was bringing him money and the more money he could earn the better his life became. Of course, money did not come to him instantly or automatically. He had to spend days and nights to write dramas that have become unforgettable.

Charles Dickens

The next writer I am going to talk about is Charles Dickens. I am going to particularly talk about him because he is one of the very first writers who became successful in writing in newspapers and magazines. In his own life time, he saw immense success and popularity and wealth. However, his childhood was a very miserable one. Charles Dickens hardly had any opportunity to go to school but he made the best of every opportunity he got in his life.

Dickens started working in a warehouse at a very early age and one of the things that he always did was that he always tried to observe people. This quality helped him to become successful in writing. Wherever he went, he always observed ordinary people and he tried to put their stories in his writings. Thus, people felt very comfortable with his short stories and novels and they are still popular in England and everywhere.

Alex Haley

The third writer that I like to mention is Alex Haley. Whenever I feel frustrated about being a writer then I always read this easy of Alex Haley titled The Shadowland of Dreams. If you read it then you will surely notice that Haley struggled for several years before he could become a successful writer.

It was a very difficult life for him as he left everything and tried to become a fulltime author. He kept on trying and success came in the end. When success came it was big for him but it was surely a risky business.  

J.K. Rowling

The fourth and last author I like to talk about is J. K. Rowling who is popularly known as the writer of Harry Potter. Her own life was full of suffering. At a very young age, she suffered hardship. In fact, she got separated from her husband and while writing the first novel of Harry Potter, she had a child to look after and she often had to struggle for money. At first Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was sent to several publishing companies and they rejected. It took almost one year before the book got accepted and the rest is history. Of course, the rest is not history because even after the first book of Harry Potter was published she had to wait almost another one year to get good success.

No hard and Fast Rule

If you want to become a successful writer then the first thing you should remember is that there is no hard and fast rule about this matter. You have to try a lot of things and still in the end you may not get in the success that you are looking for. However, I can assure that if you really try then at least you will get mental satisfaction and happiness in life.

Mix and Observe

The one thing that I have learnt from both William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens is that if you want to be a writer then you should try not to just mix with ordinary people but to observe them carefully. Try to look at very small details of their lives. Try to know about them more about what they think, how they think, what they feel, how they feel- these kind of things. A writer must have good observation skill. If you can observe ordinary people and their lives deeply then only you can hope to put these things in your novel or stories.

Many people think that writing book is a very easy matter. You just need to sit and think some and write something and if you are lucky then you will become very successful. However, I can assure you that I have read at least biographies of 50 to 100 poets, writers, and dramatists. My background is English literature and I always love to read biographies of poets and writers and dramatists because my dream is to become a writer.

Work Daily

I have noticed that all most all of them were very hard working and serious. They were also very regular and often they had to write against deadlines. Take the examples of Dickens who always had to produce something outstanding for the newspapers and magazines and for the publishers. If he could not do it then you would not be able to earn money. It was as simple as that.

So, if you want to be a writer then practice writing daily. It is not that your first novel or short story is going to be a super hit and people are going to buy it everyday. The best thing that I would suggest to any aspiring writer is to open a blog. For example, this blog is a very good place to keep my writing. Well, sadly, this blog is not my main blog so I cannot give my time. Still it is a place to store my writings.

Dreaming vs Day Dreaming

One of the things that I always give value to life is to have a dream. Many people have laughed at me for this quality of mine as they think that it is day dreaming. However, I strongly disagree with them because having a dream doesn’t mean that you just dream and you do not do anything.

In fact, if you have a dream and if you believe in it and if you wanted desperately then you will surely try for it. I always wanted to be a writer and although I failed in freelance writing because living in a poor and third world country but I have become extremely successful in Blogging and I manage my livelihood with this. In fact, for the last four years, I have managed my life with the income from Blogging and I cannot think of any job that would bring this amount of money. So, there is no problem if you have a dream but believe in it and want it a lot. Dreaming does not mean that you just imagine about it and do not do it anything. Try to know the difference between a dream and a day dream.

Attitude

One of the things that is required for success in any field is your attitude. Never think of a short cut in life in anything. If you look at Dickens or Shakespeare or Alex Haley then you will notice that it took them years of writing before they became successful.

The same goes for J. K. Rowling of the author of Harry Potter. She started writing from childhood and it took many years for her to become a billionaire. Thus, you must have a positive attitude and you must have a hard working mentality. If you are one of the persons that you think that working hard is slavery or you are getting cheated because you are have to work a lot, then you will never become successful in writing.

Read on Writing

It is always important to read a lot about book on writing. Visit your local library and I am sure that you will find books about writing craft. It is not that you have to follow all the rules told in these writing books. What you need to do is to read as many books on writing as possible and try to get some skills in yourself. Take this matter seriously because it will be very helpful for your whole life.

I hope that the things have discusses will give some of you some good for thought. If you have any idea please write in the comment section. 

A Comfortable Chair is must for a Writer

A few days ago, I wrote that how LCD monitor for my PC has helped me to work with more comfort. Today, I could buy a new chair and it has brought me even more comfort. For many years, I could not afford to buy a good chair. However, when I could afford then I did not understand that what chair was good and thus, I suffered for the last 3 years for nothing. Now, I have really a comfortable chair and I feel very good to sit infront of the PC and write.

Somehow, I can work in laptop like most people. I am still addicted to my desktop PC and that is why, a good chair is a must. If you are a writer then try to make some investment on your chair and table. When it comes to table, I am taller than 99% people of my country. My height is exactly 6 feet or around 1.83 meter. So, the normal tables that I have in my city are not comfortable for me because of the height factor.  

Back to My best in Blogging Again

It brings a lot of good feeling in me as I have been able to write nearly 2500 words in the last 6 hours. It has been possible to do after many many months. Most probably, after one year, I could write this way. It brings a very sweet and good feeling in me. I really missed writing a lot.

It has been a year of continuous suffering for me. My health has at last become some better that I can start working again. So, today is the day that I really could work normally like past.

Well, I have tried to read a lot about blogging and this is now helping me a lot. My main blog is http://www.southasiablog.com/ and it has received traffic of half million page views this month. Thus, the blog has broken all of my past records. It could happen because of the knowledge and experience I have gathered in the last 4 years as a blogger. 

The Dream of Writing an E-book

One of the best things that I have in life is perhaps a very good team. I used to teach in the past. It is not that I was very successful in teaching career. Yes, I worked in several universities both in the capacity of a teaching Assistant and as a lecturer. However, I was in a condition that I had to earn more money than a university job could pay, I wanted to be a writer, I found Internet to be something that I needed to master.

So, I left university teaching. Almost everyone who knows me felt that I was a sore loser and stupid man. I don’t regret at all because I have now much more satisfaction as a writer. Well, I am happy that I was a teacher because this profession helped me to find some young students who helped me a lot. I guided them to some exciting projects: publishing a real magazine or two, Online Magazine, CD magazine and several websites and failed in all of them.

Still, I have 3 former students working with me in my blogs. The deal is pretty simple: I teach them all the skills I know and they work with me. It is indeed a win-win situation. The only painful part is that it takes a long time for a student to become skilled and experienced and then work with me. For example, one of the students has been working with me for 3 years and it will take another one year for him to work with me in a level that I can be satisfied. The two other students were hard working and they are upto the mark.

The best part is that I have dreams and they have dreams. It is more or less like apprentice-master relationship. They have to work hard for some years and then they can join me in my projects. In USA, this is a very natural thing to do but not in the country I live. Anyway, I am very happy for this matter. When a student passes the apprentice stage, it makes a life (career) for the student and it brings a skilled worker for me. Well, in the past, I did not understand this matter. Now, I can see it and that is why, I give all my efforts to improve these 3 students who have the same dream like me.

Our dream is to write a good e-book. We do not want to earn money with it but we want any people to read it- as many as possible. We want them to read the e-book and admire our work. This is not an easy work because there are many e-books in Internet and it is very difficult or perhaps impossible to make sure that people would find it and read it.

Fortunately, I have good knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and I know how to bring visitors for a website or a blog. So, the easy part is to bring people and some of them will surely bother to read our e-book. The toughest part is to ensure that they would love the e-book. Well, this is an area I have no expertise or experience because I am not a successful or famous writer. I am not a celebrity. I do not have even idea whether we should create an e-book on fiction or non-fiction. All I know is that I have a dream and I have 3 assistants who have the same kind of dream just like me.

What if it is a failure? Most probably, it will be a failure as now we do not have enough time. We are working very hard for South Asia Blog to shine and it is slowly shining. Most probably, for the next one year, we will be only busy with this blog to become successful. Still, it is a good thing to dream of writing an e-book that will be read by at least one million people. From my experience of one decade, I know that failures are not bad. They indicate that if we continue trying then success is waiting for us. No, I am not philosophical- I assure you that this is the reality.  

I feel very happy with this dream. I know that it is not a dream only. It really can someday become a reality. This month, already, 286,000 visitors visited our blog. They read our content. Of course, the entries are sort of one time reading content. The visitors are searching for something and they read it and then don’t come back. We mainly cover news and news is perhaps like that. Anyway, we have now 98 followers which is cool.

The good part is that my health has finally improved and I feel good after writing this particular entry.

Did you enjoy it? Most probably not. 

The Tough Days and the Happy Days

June 2010 is turning out to be a smashing month for me as far as blogging is concerned. My main blog South Asia Blog, is poised to have more than half million page views this month. After many months of sickness, suffering, failures, I am enjoying some decent success at last and most probably, this kind of success will continue and who knows, within a few months, my blog can emerge as one of the most visited blogs on Internet.

With this success, suddenly, all my sad feelings and tension are gone. I do not suffer from stress anymore and I have started to feel fresh and I am getting back my energy to work. No, my problem was not emotional. I was really sick. I had to do a very painful and difficult teeth treatment. It really made my body very weak and the stress of blogging also attacked me in the worst way.

The funny thing is that when I felt that I could not go anymore and almost gave up on blogging, success came and now I feel a lot of motivation.

Today, while I was writing, I found out that even my typing speed has come back. Now, I can think at a normal pace like past.

Anyway, I am finishing this entry by encouraging you to read this entry of Darren Rowse: How to have a ‘Middle Road’ Mentality and Grow Your Online Business

I like to thank all of you for supporting me in the tough days. 

At Long Last Back to Full Time Work with some Facilities

When I am writing this entry now, an air conditioner is working behind my back on the wall. I suffered a lot this summer. It has been a very hot summer and there was too much of electricity problem in my area. On March, April and May, often, there was no electricity for 6-8 hours a day.

There was no air conditioner either. So, the days were terrible and the nights were worse. Working in PC was a torture, eating was a torture, even sleeping was a torture as often I could not sleep whole night and after every 30 minutes my sleep got broke and I discovered myself sweating in heat. My health was already sick since last summer and this time, it reached to a very bad point.

At young age, we all can perhaps work in very tough situations. I worked under challenging conditions and I could overcome them. Now, it is not that easy. Thanks God that the air conditioner has come at long last. I know in rich countries, it is a necessity and almost everyone has it. In my city, it is indeed a luxury. I feel myself very lucky.

Anyway, I feel much better and fresh now and I am happy to be back to full time work again. 

Just Another Month is Going to Finish

The month of May is finishing. It has been a very tough but successful month for me. I had to do a lot of works but not writing. I had to guide a team to get good traffic in our main blog, South Asia Blog. Now, when I look at the blog, I can find 58 followers and this month, we have been able to get nearly 370,000 page views. I am expecting 390,000 page views at the end of the month. Also, our all blogs have already got more than half million (500,000) page views. Thus, it has been a record breaking month.

It was a very hot month and the weather was very hot in my city. I have to work many extra hours to look after the team. I am sort of the editor of South Asia Blog. I do all the research and then write some too. My health almost became ok but then, it has become very weak again because of trying day and night for the blog.

Still, I am very happy because my efforts are finally paying off. I read a lot in the last 4 years about blogging.

I wish that some day, I can try the same way for this Literature blog. Today, I found that this blog has 25 followers and I felt happy that some people found something interesting in this blog.  

Life and Death

Yesterday, someone close to me died. I went to his home and paid my last tribute to the dead body. Naturally, I had a very heavy heart. Now, I am thinking about the poem, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard written by Thomas Gray. Of all the poems that I have read in my life, it is the best when it comes to talking about death. The message is perhaps very simple and clear but Gray could touch the heart of millions of readers with the simple but very powerful message.

Death closes all- this is perhaps true. If I die tomorrow then everything is closed for me forever. On the other hand, it is important to make good use of life and lead an honest life. 

Absolute Write Blog Chain May 2010: Two Songs

I am writing this entry as a part of Absolute Write Blog Chain 2010. The topic for this blog chain is: What does your story/character(s) sound like?

I normally do not miss any blog chain as I enjoy taking part in it and I have been taking part in blog chains for nearly 4 years (Since 2006). However, when the chain started then I realized that I did a grave mistake for two reasons. First of all, I am not exactly a musical person. I do a lot of humming all the time but when I am writing then I try to disassociate myself from all the sound around me and listening to a favorite song is perhaps the last thing I would like to do while writing. It simply destroys my focus.

The second problem that I faced while taking part in the blog chain is that I am from another part of the world and my first language is not English. So, English songs are not a part of daily life. Yes, I like Beatles, John Denver, Cliff Richards and Neil Diamond but they are not inseparable part of my life in the way the songs of Rabindranath Tagore are.

A few days ago, I uploaded a short in this blog: Humiliating Triumph.

The Hero and Villain both are teenage boys. They are 15 years old. The hero is Ripon and he is a gentle boy and I think that he would like the following song:

Here is the meaning of the song in English Language

Stream of Life

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day

runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth

in numberless blades of grass

and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth

and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.

And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

On the other hand, John is the bad boy and he would most likely to be fond of this song:

By the way, both the songs are from my language (Bengali).


The participating Blogs are:

Aheïla: http://thewriteaholicblog.wordpress.com

Stefanie Gaither: http://stefanie-gaither.blogspot.com

AuburnAssassin: http://clairegillian.wordpress.com

xcomplex: http://arielemerald.blogspot.com

Proach: http://everythinghistorical.wordpress.com

8thSamurai: http://digitalisdreaming.blogspot.com

vfury: http://helencorcoran.wordpress.com

CScottMorris: http://cscottmorrisbooks.com

Hayley E. Lavik: http://hayleyelavik.blogspot.com

FreshHell: http://freshhell.wordpress.com

LadyMage: http://www.katherinegilraine.com

DavidZahir: http://zahirblue.blogspot.com

Aimée Laine: http://www.aimeelaine.com/writing/blog

egoodlett: http://wordlarceny.blogspot.com

Semmie: http://semmie.wordpress.com

Sbclark: http://sonyaclark.blogspot.com

Razibahmed: http://write-translate.blogspot.com

ArcticFox: http://picaresqueblog.blogspot.com

Lilain: http://abigailschmidt.blogspot.com

Truelyana: http://expressiveworld.com

CowgirlPoet: http://frontnotes.blogspot.com

defyalllogic: http://tavialewis.com/hyperbolicallyspeaking   

circlexranch: http://www.whyifearclowns.blogspot.com

IrishAnnie: http://superpenpower.blogspot.com

Anarchicq: http://anarchicq.com

Harri3tspy: http://spynotes.wordpress.com

Alpha Echo: http://writersramblings81.blogspot.com

Back to Full Time Writing Again

It is great to be back in full time writing after so many months. To me, blogging has become synonymous to writing because this is what I have been doing for the last 4 years. Many people would like to put a difference between them but it is fine with me. Blogging has brought financial stability and that is something that has been absent for most part of my life.

Living in a third world country with financial instability is a very bad curse. There is no credit card to buy some things when things are desperate. Hunger is real even for a person of middle class background. Sometimes, I feel that a lot of blame goes to me too. I always had a larger than life feeling and sometimes, dedicated for the wrong people. Then on the other hand, these real life sufferings, failures and mistakes are great materials for writing.

I know that when I will write about sufferings in a short story or novel, I know what I am talking about it. Yes, I have experienced some of the sufferings and worries first hand. Few days ago, I read Tragedy and the Whole Truth of Aldous Huxley. If you have time then read it.

If you read this blog regularly then perhaps you have become tired of the matter that I repeatedly said for many months that I was sick and I had no energy to work. In the last 3 months, I was some away from Blogging and I did some other projects. Fortunately, the health has recovered to a great extent. Yesterday, my health took a very bad kind of beating but fortunately, 12 hours of rest has helped it to get much better.

Today, when I woke up, I had still some headache and weakness but there is a lot of hunger for work at the same time. So, here I am back to a new beginning.

The Month of May is very Tough

If you live in Europe or America then May should be a great month for you. It is Spring Time and you enjoy the weather. However, the country I live in, May is the toughest month to deal with. It is the hottest month with hardly any rain. Going out becomes a nightmare and nothing short of a disaster. If I go out one day then I have to rest for the next day or sometimes two days. At the same time, I have to look after the blogs. It seems that at last, good time is coming for me in blogging as there has been a huge improvement in traffic for one of my blogs in the last one week.

Thus, there is good and bad news. Things look bright for me as far as blogging is concerned but at the same time, my health is taking a very bad beating from the weather and works. The good thing is that mental stress has dropped significantly. I see some kind of hope that I can start doing research and writing some short stories. It has been always a challenge for me to find time to do these things my life for many years consisted of just earning money and paying the bills.

Now, the best thing for me is that I can blog again if I am not sick. Last July and August, I had to undergo teeth treatment and it was very difficult for me. After the treatment finished, my health became very weak and I could not write at all. Now, I am almost back to my full capacity again and all I need is to finish some outside works and then I can again start writing.

Of the Victorian poets, I am a very big fan of Robert Browning and I am not that fan of Tennyson. However, it is Tennyson’s Poem Ulysses that gives a lot of mental strength and encouragement. I am giving you the last few lines here:

Though much is taken, much abides; and though

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

 

I am not old yet and perhaps not middle aged. I lost my physical energy in the last one year but I feel that I have my mental strength back.

 

On the way to Make a Strong Comeback

It surely feels very nice to get back my health as I feel very fresh now a days. I can blog again and right now, I am reading a lot about different things. The sickness has become a blessing in disguise. I feel fresh and I had some break from work. More than everything, I found a lot of time to think and I feel that I have become matured as a person as well as a writer. So, I feel hungry for some blogging.

I also feel hungry for writing some short stories and doing some research. I have seen some ups and downs in my life. Most probably, it is the time to go up. Well, I must set some priorities and try to follow some rules. I should make a good plan. I am weak in this matter: making a plan and following it.

 

When Life Becomes so Artificial: Mother’s Day 2010

I am not one of those mother’s boys as from childhood I had my own individualism growing all the time. So, Mother’s Day does not mean anything to me. Well, even Valentine’s Day does not mean much to me either. I cannot remember giving my wife any gift in any Valentine’s Day. It did not decrease the love in our couple life. In fact, I think we are among the happiest couples among all the people I can see around us. We never thought of any SMS and Quotes to make us happier.

That is why, I see that Mother’s Day is becoming an artificial thing and it is mainly meant to celebrate the selling of cards with famous quotes about mothers and mobile phone companies making some more money with sending more text messages.

Of course, it is the day of the gift shops too as they can sell many products. There is nothing wrong in selling products, text messages or cards. They help to keep the economy running in any country and it is very important. However, the main problem happens when people start to think that they can buy happiness by SMS, cards and quotes about mothers. 

A Book Hero and a Real Life Hero

We, the writers, create characters and try to make them alive. We try to make the characters exceptional and memorable in the mind of the writers, we make our heroes do impossible things or at least try to do. Sometimes, they get defeated but most of the time they win in life. They win not because they are heroes or heroines. They win because they are determined to win and they try with all their heart. Yes, this heart factor makes a difference in life in the end. They don’t make excuses, they don’t care for obstacles. They know that life is not rosy. They just try against all the odds.

Today, I was thinking of this matter because in my life, I need a heroic effort at this point of time. 4 years ago, I did something extra-ordinary when I started blogging. I got a blogging job and I had had little idea about this field. I was good in writing, I knew my field but I did not have any idea about how to make people read my content. In blogging, at the end of the day, this is all what matters and what it counts. No matter how good you write if it is not read by several thousand people a day, you cannot earn enough money to pay your bills. This was the reality 4 years ago, this is the reality today.

Four years ago, when I started professional blogging, I just tired with all my energy. I spent night after night working and for 10 months, what happened was that I woke up from sleep and then I sat on my PC. Then worked as long as I was awake and then I left my computer and then went to bed to sleep. My wife was very supportive and she used to cook and bring food and helped me with typing when my hands gave pain. We just got together after waiting almost 4 years in Internet. I know that it was painful for her as she never dreamt of a husband who would from first day sit on PC and just work. It was very painful for me too as it was not my dream either. However, we both knew that this was the only way to make our couple life comfortable.

As far as producing content or writing blog entries is concerned, I think that my skill has improved. I have become a better writer, better researcher. My health was bad but now, I am fine again. I feel that I have become a matured writer and with each passing month, my knowledge is improving.

Again, the problem is that it does not matter if I can write well or if I am improving a lot. What matters is that I have to get thousands of people to read my content. Without Paypal or any kind of credit card or online transaction facility, I am really against all the odds in blogging. In fact, this is the challenge in my life. If it was just writing everyday, I had no problem. I love writing and it is in my blood. Both my father and mother were journalists.

Well, as I said, a hero tries from his heart and with all his heart. I am happy that my health has improved a lot and I feel much natural. So, it is second beginning for me in blogging. It is again the time for a heroic effort. The economic recession and bad health have taken away a lot from me. I have to make my company successful not for the future of my wife and me but for the other 3 members of the company. I am just happy for one thing that this time, I have the skill and knowledge. I know what I should do. 4 years ago, I did not know what I need to do. I had to find my ways and I had to discover many things.

Of course, I am writing this entry to motivate myself but I guess that you can get some encouragement too if you read it twice. 

Female Writers are not Popular in Internet

This is impression I got looking after a list of 50 most popular women on the web. Not one of them is a writer. You can perhaps call Oprah some sort of a book enthusiast but she is not anyway a writer. So, I could not find a single female writer in this list. You don’t get any point to rightly guess that most of the women who made the list were actresses and singers who like to show their body parts much more than the average women even in USA.

Most of these 50 most popular women on the web are always seen with their make ups and they have no interest about education or studies. Still, you can find huge number websites and blogs writing about them because they are very popular and hot and sexy.

Seeing this list reminded me of the movie Alex and Emma. Emma is a very ordinary girl but she is a good girl. She is not a hot or sexy type of woman. Rather, she is a hard working and honest girl who can be a great girl friend of a wife. On the other hand, Polina is a very pretty and attractive woman. In the end, the hero, Alex realizes that happiness is with Emma not with Polina. I wish that most men could realize this simple truth. Then the world would have been a much better place.   

Reading now The Study of Poetry of Matthew Arnold

I read The Study of Poetry of Matthew Arnold in 1996 in the third year of my Bachelor in English Literature. If you want to read the text then here is the link: http://www.bartleby.com/28/5.html

In 1996, it was some difficult for me to understand the text but this time, when I again read it, I liked it a lot. The Study of Poetry is a text that falls under the category of literary criticism. Here, Mathew Arnold has given some advice both to the poets and the readers. I don’t know why there is not any material or discussion about it. I think that it is an important text in the history of literary Criticism. Most probably, most of us do not like to read about literary criticism. I read it because I had to do it as a part of my BA in English Literature. Still, I liked the text for a particular reason.

I am interested about history of England and Mathew Arnold wrote this particular essay at a time when England was the most powerful country on earth. The Study of Poetry was published in T. H. Ward’s anthology, The English Poets in 1880. In fact, this essay appeared as to the introduction of this book. I intend to write another 2-3 entries in this blog about this essay. So, I am not going to discuss about the essay today. I just like to mention that I do not agree with Arnold about most of the things he said in this essay.  

Have you read The Study of Poetry? If so let me know what you think about it? 

I had a Dream to Become a Writer

One of the biggest problems in life is that when we suffer then we think that we alone are suffering. My whole life has been full of struggles for many years and sometimes I forget that I’m not the only person who is suffering in this world. Just think of the girl who comes every day and do all the housework in my home.

She does the cleaning, washing and cooking. Of course, she never dreamt that she would cook very tasty foods for another person but she would not have three decent meals a day. It is not that I am a cruel person but this is life. In fact, compared to most other people, I am much kinder with the servant. Still, I’m sure that she never dreamt that someday she will work in the house of other people and she would have to do it forever.

Compared to her, I’m very lucky because at a very young age I could stop doing jobs for others and enjoyed all the freedoms of a freelance person. Being a freelance or self employed worker has its own problems but the freedom is really amazing. Right now, I feel somewhat frustrated because I have to take care of so many things and sometimes, all the pressures put a lot of stress on my nerves. Still, when I think of the servant who works for me, I’m really a very lucky person in life.

I guess that this is one of the main benefits of studying literature in university. Literature opens our eyes and helps us to think better. Literature has taught me to think of other people and take a look of their condition. When I see most people around me then I feel that I’m very lucky because I have the job that I always dreamt. I have a very happy couple life with a very good wife. I have three students who are very dedicated and listen to me. Because of their efforts, I am slowly becoming a successful blogger.  

In the end of the day, I have frustrations, failures, stress but I have freedom, satisfaction, happiness and hope.

As soon as I can increase my income some more and get some stability in life, I can start writing books. I have many ideas about writing books and I am confident that I will become very successful as an author. The struggles of so many years have taught me many valuable lessons.

I can work very hard and I have acquired some very important skills like Doing research and taking interviews. I can find and collect information very rapidly. I have developed habit of browsing Internet and sitting with computer for long hours.

 So, I have developed many of the skills that are needed to become a successful writer. The only thing that I need to do is to earn some more money and focus more. If I can just forget everything for one hour every day and dedicate that one hour for quality writing then every month I can produce something that can bring satisfaction for me. In fact, from today I’m going to do just that and start to try to fulfill my dream of becoming a real writer. 

Humiliating Triumph: A Short Story from Bangladesh

‘Bustard! Bustard!’

Ripon heard it and understood who said it. In fact, two boys were shouting. One was John and the other was his friend Shumon. They saw him and then started shouting. This is their favorite hobby. Whenever they see him they just shout this way. So, today was not an exception either. Ripon was scared inside himself and he was scared if they hit him. They had not done it until now but who knows. He was coming to the home of Mitul. Mitul, John and Shumon live in the same alley while Ripon lives 2 miles away.

John, Mitul and Ripon are 15 years old and they study in the same school. On the other hand, Shumuon is 19 years old and he does not go to school. He is no better than a local thug. Because of him, John feels very powerful in the street and whenever he can find Ripoin, he can shout ‘Bustard!’ to him. It makes Ripon very angry but he is helpless. Sometimes, he wishes that he would hit John very hard and run away but he has to go to school through this alley. So, this is not a good idea.

Fortunately, Mitol was in the street and came in support of Ripon. It has become a regular ritual. He went to the two bullies and requested them politely to stop. In other days, it worked but today, they were determined to torture and insult Ripon as much as possible. So, they kept on shouting ‘Bustard! Bustard!’ and it just went on as long as Ripon was in the alley. He understood that it was not a good way and he started to walk towards his home. Then, the two bullies even shouted with more energy, “Hey Bustard, where are you going?” Needless to say that they shouted some indecent slang too. After all, it was their specialty.

In the next day, John showed off to some other students of the class. Some boys laughed a lot but some others got annoyed that John offended someone from the class this way.

One boy asked, “You have done a bad thing. If Ripon complains to Nafisa teacher then you can fall into big danger.” Nafisa teacher teaches them history and she likes Ripon a lot because not only he is the top student of the class but also he likes to read and she really enjoys conversation with him in the class. She does not like John at all because John is exactly the opposite of Ripon. He never does his home work or class work properly. So, he gests punished on a regular basis. In fact, just two days, she got so angry with him that she scolded him for 20 minutes and in the end she said him to bring his parents next week. She also said in a very angry tone that why he cannot be a good boy and good student like Ripon. He should be ashamed of himself and try to learn from Ripon. This acted like the last nail in the coffin.

John has tolerated 6 months of torture from this teacher and now in the end, she tried to prove that Ripon was much better than him. John felt jealous but he felt annoyed with his teacher. He felt that she was a stupid woman with no IQ.

Today, John went to Ripon and threatened that if he complained to Nafisa teacher then it would have dire consequences. John was very unlucky because when he was threatening, the teacher was entering the class and she could hear every word loud and clear. She happily pulled the ear of John and took him in front of the class and asked him to stand up with his hands in his ears. She immediately went out to the headmaster and informed him of the whole matter. The headmaster sent his assistant to the class and he came and beat John with a stick. After the beating being over, both Nafisa Teacher and the Assistant Headmaster threatened John that if he offended Ripon again then he would be thrown out of school.

The problem is that if he is thrown out of school then it will make his parents very unhappy and they may even throw him out of the house. So, the only thing he could do was to tolerate all the insults.

After five moths of this incident, the final exams took place. Then the day of the announcement of result came and Nafisa teacher came to the classroom and started calling the names of the students. Ripon stood first in the class and Mitul could manage to be 5^th. She continued calling all the names and in the name of John came at last. He failed in all the subjects and Nafisa teacher said that he would have to stay in the same class next year. Hearing this, Ripon felt relieved that he would not have to see this bully anymore in the class. He also hoped in his heart that since he would not be in the same class, he would lose his appetite to offend him from now.

Mitul’s home was near to the school. He and Ripon came to their home and found that Mitul’s mother had cooked all the delicious foods for lunch. The two boys sat to eat and they ate with all their abilities. It was a very heavy lunch and then they sat in Mitul’s room and started to play chess. Afternoon came and Ripon decided to go home as his parents might get worried about him.

So, he started walking for his home. He saw John and Shumon on the street and they were laughing loudly. He could not understand how John could laugh in a day he failed in school. When John saw him, his laughter stopped and he got very angry and shouted to Shumon, “Beat the Bustard”.

The rest is as they say is history. They beat him for 10 minutes and he was crying loudly in pain. Some people saw in the street but no one came to rescue him. Fortunately, after 10 minutes, a middle aged man came in his rescue and John and Shumon were forced to stop. Seeing the middle aged man, some other by standers came in support and John and Shumon ran away in fear. Ripon lost a large amount of blood and he was losing consciousness. The only thing he could say was the name of Mitul and the address of his house. The middle aged man and another man put him in a rickshaw and took him to the home of Mitul. Seeing Ripon this way, both Mitul and his mother started crying. They immediately took him a local clinic and called his parents. His parents came and mother of Ripon started crying loudly in the clinic. The father talked to the doctor and learnt that there was no danger on his life. He has just lost some blood and it will take one or two weeks for him to recover. There was nothing to worry.

Ripon had to stay in the clinic for one week and then he could come home. After coming home, he just thought about the whole matter day and night. He became very silent and just thought and thought. What happened was that John could convince his parents to change the school and this way, he would not lose one year. So, in that afternoon, when he saw Ripon, he did not have any fear about Nafisa teacher or anyone. Instead, he felt that it was his time to take revenge for all the humiliations. He did not plan for beating him but the idea just came to him on the spur of a moment.

Ripon’s father wanted to file a case but John’s father came and requested him not to do so. Even Ripon’s mother asked for the same thing because she was afraid that if a case was filed then John and Shumon could become more desperate and they might again attack him.

Ripon gradually came out of the shock and again he started to feel normal. He felt sad and depressed that there was no way to fight against these two bullies. However, this beating caused so much pain in his heart that he did not leave the idea of taking revenge. He started to read about revenge and felt that the best thing he could do was to keep his hatred and bitterness intact and just wish for a disaster to happen to the two bullies. He prayed to God daily for any kind of bad accident that would happen to the two bullies. He prayed to God deeply. He donated money to poor persons with this goal but nothing happened.

After few months of that bad incident, John’s father was transferred to another city and the family had to leave the area. So, it came as a relief for Ripon and his family. However, after one year, Ripon’s family had to move another part of the city as his father could at last make a small home for themselves.

15 years passed after the incident. Ripon had finished his university studies 5 years ago and was working in an advertising company. He gets a decent salary and he would get married the next month. Mitul got married 6 months ago. The two friends hardly see each other as both of them were very busy with their jobs. One day, the calling bell was ringing. Mitul’s wife opened the door and saw a man of 30-35 with very dirty clothes and bare footed standing in the door. The man looked so ugly and dirty that she started to scream in fear. Mitul rushed to the door and saw the man. He could not recognize him.

The man smiled and said, “Don’t you recognize me? I am John, your old buddy.’

Mitul became dumb in shock. He could not understand what he should say. John entered the home and sat in drawing room. His feet were bare and full of mud and his hair was curly. It was clear that he had not taken bath for several days. Even, there was bad smell from his body.

Mitul’s wife called Mitul and asked him to come to the kitchen. She was very annoyed with her husband for letting the dirty man enter to their home. She ordered him strongly to throw the man out as soon as possible.

So, Mitul took John out of the house and they sat in a restaurant. John told the story of his life. After leaving the alley 15 years ago, they went to another city. He just became more and more spoilt and he left school soon. He then became drug addicted from the age of 20. At first, it was really cool as he had no problem to get the money from his father. However, after five years, the father understood the matter and the money was stopped.

John’s father has retired 6 month’s ago and asked John to do some job. Of course, John had no desire for any job as he was totally addicted to drug. The poor father took him to a rehabilitation center even. John became normal for a short time but he understood that since he did not continue his education beyond high school, he would not get any decent job. So, he felt that again going back to drug was the best option for him. The father got very angry and threw him out of the house. For the last one month, John was leaving in the street. He walks throughout the city and collect papers and other things with a sack and then in the evening sells whatever he finds and buy some drug. Getting food is not that difficult as he begs to people and get some money too.

That day, when he saw the house of Mitul, he remembered that Mitul lived there. So, he rang the bell. Mitul felt very sad for John and gave him some money. He knew that John would spend it on buying drug but he felt moved by his distress.

He felt so much moved with the distress of John that he went to the house of Ripon on the same evening. Ripon was happy to see him after so many days. Mitul narrated the story of John with a sad voice. Ripon shouted in happiness and Mitul felt very annoyed with him.

He said, “I always know you as a kind and good man. How can you celebrate after hearing such a bad news?”

“What is bad news for you is the happiest news for me. Now, I understood that there is a God after all. God arranges justice. Do you know for many days I prayed and then lost hope?”

“This is too much. Poor John. He has suffered enough. We should be sad for him and hope that he becomes normal again,” said Mitul in an annoyed voice.

“Yes, you are right. He becomes normal and then harms others. If you really feel bad then you and your wife try to cure him and dedicate your lives for him. Leave me alone with my happiness.”

Mitul came out of Ripon’s home with a very bitter feeling. However, when he remembered the reaction of his wife about John, he realized that he would not be able to do anything about him. His wife was even more annoyed than Ripon. So, He came back to his home with a heavy heart.

As for Ripon, he in fact forgot John and today, Mitul brought back his memory. In the last few years, he was so busy with his life that he really forgot the painful incident. May be it was a humiliating memory for him and he tried to suppress it and at one stage, the pain and the memory both faded away. He felt very happy with the news of today. He felt that God did not forget his prayer and God arranged revenge for him. Seeing the triumphs of people like John and Shumon for many years, he forgot that there was a right way and if you do not follow the right way then you yourself get harmed. He tries to be an honest man in his job but many of his colleagues thought that he was a foolish and weak man. He cannot argue with them but in his heart he felt that he was right. 

A short Story from Bangladesh is Complete

It is amazing that I could write a short story in a single night. Of course, I had the idea and the plot in my mind. Well, I have to make some changes and then I can post the story in this blog. I am not sure if it a good one. Most probably, it is not. However, I am not sad for that because from my own experience I know that when you do something continuously then you become skilled in it. I cannot expect that after four years, the first story that I write will be marvelous. Instead, it will take time and effort.

I wish that I could write a short story a month. Most probably, it is possible but it requires some good deal of discipline and regularity. I am not good at any of them. Well, I am trying to convince myself for that because I know that writing a short story each month is possible for me. I have so many ideas in my head. These ideas have remained inside in my head for nearly two decades. Now, I have perhaps the maturity to start writing them.

Right now, writing these stories will not bring any money but I still want to write them because there are not too many short stories in English language from my country. So, when anyone is looking for short stories from Bangladesh, they will surely find about my stories and read some of them. I guess that most of them would laugh at my stories as they are going to be somewhat silly and childish. Well, I don’t care for it because I write stories first for myself and then for others.

Yes, these ideas, these stories are in my head perhaps all the time. When I go to sleep then they come to me and push me to write them down. Tonight, I could write one and I feel somewhat relived. It is not that I have done something outstanding but I have done something that gave a lot of happiness tonight.  

Hopefully, I can edit, revise and publish the story in the next 48 hours. Then I am going to put the hyperlink in this entry too so that if you are visiting this entry someday then you can read it. 

Working on the Idea of a Short Story

Today, I gave a lot of thought about a writing a short story. I found an idea and most probably, it will take 2 weeks to write the story. I hope to post it after finishing it. The story is about two teenage boys and both of them are 15 years old. They are not classmates but not friends. In fact, they don’t like each other at all. It is sort of taking revenge.

Here is a story written by Mehdi Hassan:

http://write-translate.blogspot.com/2006/02/living-in-love-short-story-by-s-m.html

When I was thinking about the events that would take place in the story, I felt some excited. After 4 years, I am back to writing stories. 

The Dilemma of Writing vs Paying Bills

If you are a writer then you have to struggle with money. Of course, if you come from a rich background like Tagore then it is not a problem. Otherwise, it is a big problem. After doing Masters from English Department of Dhaka University, my goal was to write for newspapers and magazines only. There were basically three problems. First of all, the amount of money the newspapers and magazines would give me was no way enough to pay my bills. For example, for Translating Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Room of One’s Own’, I got just $50 in 3 months. You can easily do the math that it would not pay any bill for me even if I lived in a village.

The second problem was that I could not sell enough articles in the magazines. For example, once, I wrote nearly 20,000 words in a single issue of a magazine. The cover story was written by me. 4 Interviews (in English Language) were done by me. There were some 3-4 short articles and reports. In the end, I guess, I wrote 22 pages of that issue of that monthly magazine. In most of the articles, my name was omitted (as the wrier) as they thought (and I agree) that it was not decent to show that more than half of the issue of the magazine was written by just one person.

The third problem is that in my country, most newspapers and magazines do not have any standard policy on paying the writers. For example, sometimes, I get the money within one month while sometimes, I get money after 4-5 months of publication. Naturally, my landlady won’t understand that and you can easily conclude yourself the trouble I would suffer. Anyway, this is life and I cannot change it. 

Trying to Find My own Voice as a Writer

When I started blogging, I felt very happy as finally, my days of a struggling writer were over. I could earn enough money to pay all the bills without any worry. This is the best part of blogging but it came with a price. I became addicted to blogging and then I got addicted to learning about Search engine optimization to get more traffic for my blogs. In fact, in the last 4 years, I have read so much content about this matter that I know that I have really become expert on it. However, I have lost the abnormal passion for writing.

Now, I have become more mechanical in blogging. Yes, I am getting good amount of traffic. For example, this month, my major blog, South Asia Blog has almost touched 180,000 pageviews and most probably, it will pass 210,000 pageviews. It is considered to be a huge success for most blogs. Yes, I am successful but I am not happy because I don’t have my voice. When I started blogging, I wrote a short story and it was not bad. In fact, it was good to read and sometimes, I like to read it. Here is the short story:

http://write-translate.blogspot.com/2006/02/helpless-short-story.html

I uploaded it on 22 February 2006. It was more than 4 years and two months ago. After that I did not write any short story because I was busy with blogging. I always wanted to write short stories. I had so many ideas to write short stories on. Especially, I had the dream of writing short stories on historical events.

Today, I was thinking that when I suffered a lot from poverty, I could write the things I liked. I wrote a novel, I translated a famous book, I wrote at least 5 short stories. May be I wrote a drama too but it was not good. I guess that I will be never be good at writing dramas but I think that my short stories and the novel were good. Should it really matter if others liked them or not? I don’t think so because I wrote them from my personal convictions, passion, belief, dream and most of all, I really enjoyed.

Of course, I am not that foolish to say that I must quit blogging and go back to the uncertainty of money that was my daily companion. However, I surely wish to go back to writing short stories and novels. Perhaps, now, I can afford it and I also dreamt to write some research based books.

In a way, this blogging and Internet have brought the best blessing. I don’t need to think of money, I don’t need to think of finding a way to sell my writing. I can simply publish them in this very blog and I know that some people would read them. Some of them would like them and some of them would not like. I will have all the happiness in my life. I had so many ideas in my head in the past that I wanted to write short stories. I have to get back to these ideas. I have to go back having my own voice.

I really enjoy writing more than any other thing in the world. May be I enjoy teaching too but not that much like writing. The last one year has been very tough for me. The economic recession cut my income to just half. My wife became very sick and then I became very sick and then another member of my team. For nearly one year, I could not work full time.

This one year has done one good thing. It has helped me to become matured and today, I feel very happy. I have learnt the importance of having my own voice and expressing it.

So, I guess that I don’t need any coffee or Coke anymore. I don’t need TV or movies. I don’t need to watch sports or listen to music a lot. I just need to write from my heart just like the past. After all, this is the real me. I just missed my real self for a long time. 

Seeking Happiness in Bangla Literature

In our life, we all seek happiness. We do many things with the goal that it will give us more happiness. Happiness, enjoyment, comfort, these are the things that all the people dream to have. Well, there is a difference in attitude about the definition of happiness in South Asian culture compare to the Western Culture. I think that in South Asia, we give more importance on sacrificing and dedication. We are perhaps more emotional. This is good but at the same time when these feelings get mixed with western values then sometimes problems happen. Secondly, it is not very easy to dedicate and sacrifice when you are not getting the same thing from others.

This problem happens too much in marriage. In marriage, the complain of most people is that they are only dedicating more and they are not receiving love and sacrifice from other partner.

When I look at the Bangla literature then I think I can see that people like Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chatterjee tried to create some amazing female characters in their novels. Specially, when it comes to Sarat Chandra, his heroines are very noble and they sacrifice and dedicate everything for their loved ones. I wish that they wrote some more about the importance of dedication from the side of the husband or men.

When the husband and the wife both try for happiness then it comes very easily. 

Blogging in your Mother Tongue is still a Dream

My mother tongue is Bangla or Bengali. Bengali is one of the top ten most spoken languages in the world and I think that now, it ranks as the seventh most spoken language. Still, you can find that all my blogs are in English but not in Bengali. The only reason for this is that still, it is not possible to earn money from a blog in this language. On the other hand, it is very easy to earn money through a blog in English language because there are many advertisement programs like Chitika and AdSense.

On the other hand, people still mainly search in English language because most of the contents in internet are in this language. There is a huge shortage of content in my own language Bangla and that is why very few people search for anything. So, it is a very bad and vicious circle. Because there is not enough content, people do not search in Bangla. Because people do not search in Bangla, advertisement programs like Google are not interested about Bangla websites and blogs. As a result, it is impossible to earn money by blogging in your native language.

I think that people in Japan have better condition because Japanese people are not that much strong in English. On the other hand, they like to read content in their own language and that is why there are many Japanese blogs. Of course, I have to admit that I do not know if that many blogs in Japan that earn decent amount of money. May be most bloggers are hobby bloggers and the scope is limited. If you know about it then try to give more information in the comment section. 

Rabindranath Tagore: Still Important

Next year, it will be the 150^th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the most important and famous poet of Bangla literature. Tagore is perhaps the only person in our literature who could get international fame. His works have been translated in many languages. When he was alive, his works were translated in different countries. The other day, I was reading about Tagore’s popularity in South America while he was alive.

What happened is that after his death, in Indian history it was was troubled time with fighting between Hindus and Muslims and then India became independent. That time, there was no serious effort to carry out his message of peace and brotherhood.

On the other hand, the majority of Bengali people now live in modern Bangladesh and during the time of Pakistan, Pakistani government sometimes tried to eradicate Tagore from the mind of Bengali people in East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh. There was a lot of protest and when Bangladesh became independent then it was decided that Tagore’s song will be the national anthem of the country.

In internet, I cannot find a lot of translation of Tagore’s works and this gives me a lot of pain. I wish that there were some scholars who would dedicate their lives in translating Tagore. Here, I like to say one thing that in both Dhaka and Kolkata there are many singers who have dedicated their lives for singing just Tagore’s song. May be, some professors should do the same thing for translating Tagore. Of course, the problem of money is always there because in Dhaka and Kolkata, translating Tagore is not a very profitable thing. 

Don’t Lose Your Confidence as a Writer

Now, I am back to almost normal blogging and things are again brightening up. Traffic of my main blog, South Asia Blog is now up significantly and revenue has increased too. So, I am more or less in a relaxed mood. I did a research work in the last two weeks and it was good. Well, it was sort of a ghost work and I did not get the credit. I got some decent amount of money and I am happy for it. Now, I can give some time to do some research. I am also thinking of writing a short story.

I have written a novel and I posted about the two characters here: http://www.southasiablog.com/2010/04/absolute-write-blog-chain-for-april.html

If you can find some time then read it. The novel is mainly a love story and the hero and the heroine faces some obstacles. Some people liked these two characters and if you read the description then I guess that some of you will like it too.  

How to Make Sure that Your Wife will not Dance on Your Head?

A few days ago, I talked to one of my school friends. In fact, he called me after many months to know how I was and he gave his latest updates of his life.  He married 5 years ago and just before the marriage day, I went to his home and had a long chat with him about marriage and couple life.

We had exactly the opposite ideas. I told him that day that it was my dream to respect my wife and support her as much as possible. Well, I admit that I could respect my wife a lot but could not support her as I am a very lazy person and I always run away when it comes to household matters like cooking or washing or cleaning. I also have some of the bad sides of an Eastern husband. Still, my dream was to love, support and respect my wife. My wife is lucky in the sense that I am a much better husband than most of the men she has seen. I am not an ideal or dreamy husband but still, my wife is very happy and I am happy for it.

My friend laughed at my idea of marriage and couple life. He said that he was not a stupid man like me. If he acted according to my ideas then his would be wife would climb on his head and dance. I did not argue with him much as I know that he thinks that I am nothing short of a lunatic person. So, my words would not have any value to him.

After 5 years, he has not changed his ideas a bit but things have changed for him. His marriage life is full of unhappiness and fighting. Now, his wife fights with her happily for many small things which I cannot imagine would happen in my marriage life. So, his wife has really now climbed on his head and is not dancing but shouting and I guess that this tragic way will continue forever.

So, if you really want to make sure that your wife will not dance on your head after your marriage then from first try to respect her. 

How Happiness can help your Writing Career?

I am very happy to write that compared to many people around me, I am very happy in life. Although, I have suffered a lot from poverty, tension, family feud for many years, still, I am very happy in life. This happiness has helped me to move through my writings career. When I look back to my past, then I can see some good achievements in my profile. For example, I translated Virginia Woolf’s famous book ‘A Room of One’s Own’ in my language first. I published more than 500 reports, interviews, translations in different newspapers and magazines. Yes, writing these things did not bring much money for me because I live in one of the poorest countries on earth but so what! I have published them week after week. Even this month, I wrote the cover story for the highest circulated computer magazine in the country. I also published one report and one interview in another magazine.

Happiness is very important if you want to be a writer. In fact, my full time work is writing and this brings all the happiness for me. I dreamt for it a lot in life. Sometimes, I do journalism, sometimes feature writing, sometimes ghost writing, sometimes blogging and sometimes translating books. Still, all of them are some form of writing. Blogging brings money and pay my bills, magazine writing brings some fame and helps to advance my career while translating gives a lot of satisfaction. 

JK Rowling: Vote against The Conservatives

It is election time in England and many of the celebrities are asked who they support. One celebrity in the field of literature had openly expressed her support or I should say her resentment against one party. She is the writer of Harry Potter and JK Rowling feels that people should not vote for the conservative party in the upcoming election. She has given her reason.

We know that JK Rowling suffered a lot and the story of the Harry Potter worked like a fairy tale for her in real life. She was divorced and she had to look after her baby and at the same time she was trying to find a job. It was a nightmare experience for her and at that time the conservative party was in power in England. I think it is the time of 1996. The conservative party is more or less supporter of capitalism and they are not in favor of giving too much social benefits. The author of Harry Potter feels that this is a wrong strategy and it seriously puts thousands of people in danger. So, she is asking everyone possible not to vote for the conservative. 

Back to Blogging in a Good way

Yesterday was a beautiful day for me because I could write fourteen entries. Of course, most of the entries were not good but I was happy that I could come back to blogging. Today, I have already finished four entries and this is the fifth one. I am hopping to write another ten entries today and it is excellent. Of course, blogging is not the thing that I dreamt for myself but at least it is some kind of writing. It is bringing some money can I am happy for it. My dream is to become a freelance writer but I have understood that in this age, it is becoming increasingly difficult because of all kinds of problem. One of the basic problems is that newspapers and magazines are losing to websites and that is why they can not pay enough money to freelance writers. Anyway, I am not unhappy because I know that if I can one blog very successful then I can write my short stories and put them there and many people will read.

Internet is changing the rules of the game in the printing and media industry. One good part is that now anyone can open a blog or website and if they try hard and if they have the skill they can get a lot of readers. In fact, yesterday, one of my blogs had nearly nine thousands page views. 

When not to become Writer?

There are many amazing tales of writers who suffered a lot from poverty and then with writing earned fame and fortune. In the recent past, the best example perhaps is J. K. Rowling. She was suffering a lot from money problem and loneliness when she was writing Harry Potter. Of course, she is skilled and talented or else so many people would not buy her books. However, she is some lucky too.

Anyway, what I want to say is that when you decide to become a writer then first of all, look at your purse. If you do not have enough money to pay your bills then don’t become a full time freelance writer.

Inspiration is not Easy to Come

It has been many months that I could work normally. Fortunately, my health is coming back to some normal condition and I got a nice break from blogging in the last one month as I was busy with two projects that brought some decent amount of money. Now, I feel very happy to be back to blogging. I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes. I love the way he can deduce and find out a lot of things from mere observation. I feel that writers should have this kind of skill because writers have to have good observation skill. Most successful writers have it. Otherwise, they would not be able to create unforgettable novels and dramas. The characters are great and we feel close to them.

I wish that modern life was not so much related to money. When I sit to write anything then the first thing I have to consider is whether it will bring any money or will help anyway to bring money in future. For example, I know that this particular blog entry that I am writing at this moment will not bring any money now or in future. However, I am doing it as a part of updating my blogs so that they become stronger in Google and other search engines. This will help to bring more traffic in my some other successful blogs and bring some more money.

Where is the inspiration? Is it in money? I don’t think so because I guess that most writers are not passionate about money.  

Pride and Prejudice: Easy Life Complicated Issues

Life in Pride and Prejudice seems to be very relaxed and normal all the characters had just one problem and that is how to find a suitable husband or a suitable wife and get married. However, it is not as simple as that. There are many complicated factors involved with it. The first thing that you have to think of is the income of the man. If a man has good income then he is very attractive. For example, Mr. Bingley had attractive because he earns a decent amount of money and he is from a good family. So, he is desirable to all the girls in the neighborhood.

Another matter is that at that time girls could not inherit their fathers’ property. So, they had to think of their future and find a good man. For men, it seems to be easier but I don’t think it was very easy either. When Mr. Darcy understood that Elizabeth was a very smart and good girl then he fell in love with her. However, since he was from an aristocratic family, his some of his relatives like Lady Catherine de Bourgh did not like this matter. So, Mr. Darcy was a free man and he was a rich and influential man but still he had to fight with at least some of his relatives to get married with a girl like Elizabeth who came from ordinary family. 

Dream, Reality and Birthday

Like many writers, I dream to write some short stories and novels. For many years, I am totally occupied with writing for money. What happen is that in the last ten days I was very busy with covering an important event in my country and I had to write a lot of things about this event. In fact, I think that I have written more than ten thousand words in the last ten days about the program and Next week, two magazines will publish my articles. It was mainly a computer event and had nothing to do with any short story or a novel. It was mainly writing press release, taking interviews, writing report etc.

Today I was thinking that my age was only increasing. For example, my birthday was on 22^nd March which was only fourteen days ago. I became one year older but I could not write any short story in the last one year. So, I have decided that at least in the next one year I will try to write some short stories and if possible a novel. It does not matter if they are good or not because I just want to write them.

So, if you are a in the same position like me then just try to remember that your time is passing and you should not think of any grand skim. In stead just try to write something that you really enjoy. Even if you can write one short story in a year still it is something that you have produced. 

Writing for fun and writing for money

In the last 10 days, I was very busy with a project. There was a business program in my city in which delegates from some Asian countries came. My work was looking after the delegates and taking their interviews. I also did some write-ups about this program. Today, it finished and I am totally exhausted. In the next few days, I will have to do a lot of writings about this event. Yes, I enjoy this kind of writing but I wish that I could write short stories. I guess that hardly anyone enjoy writing a press release on a business event.

At least, when you started your dream of becoming a writer, you never dreamt that you would someday become a press release writer. However, there is some money in it and there is hardly any sure money in writing short stories and dramas unless you are a famous writer. In life, we have to do many kind of adjustments. Still, I am very happy because at least my job is related to writing and information.

To be honest with you, I enjoyed working for the event because I met some very good people from other countries. I could share my ideas and learnt some new things from their ideas.