Being a Bibliophile who has been accused- on more than one occasion- of being a hoarder of books, journals and magazines, I have harboured a great love for the written world and am glad to say that taking up creative writing as an alternative career choice is making a come-back.
Writing is cathartic in nature, one can vent out on paper whatever he is or alternatively isn’t ready to for the world to see. Writing holds the secret of people, as well as, the author escaping into a world which is far away or is parallel to the universe we are living in. The beauty of the secrets shared and the feelings given an outlet on paper has been felt and felt again by generations.
A clandestine affair with a pen and sheet of paper can only be felt by someone who understands the basic intricacies of the arresting transpiration between a person’s psyche and the written world. Human beings have so much to say, so many ideas to share and this is where the need for writing arises.
There are various examples of people who were forced by peer-pressure or parental pressure and took up a blasé job which did not provide them with contentment and hence, they turned to writing.
The first example is Chetan Bhagat and apart from him there are various other examples. People do not necessarily take up courses in order to start penning but there are various courses available which hone the talent harboured by some passionate youngsters.
Here’s a list of all the institute offering short- term Diploma courses in creative writing :
* Indira Gandhi Open University.
* Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University.
* The British Council, located in all metros.
* Xavier’s Mumbai.
* Central Institute of Indian Languages, Karnataka.
It’s not at all mandatory for a good writer to undergo any sort of training to be successful in this field, but it goes without saying that if one wants to publish something, it’s not a joyride but things are improving gradually because this industry is undergoing a sea of changes and there are publishers’ like Whitmore who publish budding Bards.
Get a voice, find a platform to showcase it- there are several from the traditional ones to blogging and mobile publishing- and engage yourself in a field which is, albeit slowly, doling out more cash and satisfaction-not in equal amounts, though- for people venturing in it.
The writer is a correspondent of Youth Ki Awaaz.