Dear Reader,
Welcome to yet another post at A Hundred Quills. I have news to share with you all, but I’ll put it on hold for now. This blog post is dedicated to celebrating writing and me as a writer. I have written it as a part of The Write Path Blog Hop hosted by Swarnali Nath.
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I write only because
There is a voice within me
That will not be still
–Sylvia Plath
These lines quite sum up the reasons I write. Writing happened to me early in life. It may have been genetic. My father was a closet poet, and I took after him, choosing poetry as my preferred genre during creative-writing exercises and contests in school and later on in college. Even though I consider myself an ambivert and have never shied away from expressing my views, I do not have the space and energy for long debates and discussions. On the contrary, I’ve discovered that putting my thoughts on paper allows me to liberate my mind and express myself fully.
Whether writing leads to mindfulness or helps me focus or channelizes my energy are concepts I’ve hardly considered. But the combined synergy of the entire act of turning an inner turmoil into a poem or writing an episodic CNF has set me free more than once. It was a newspaper article written back in college that helped shed a burden I’d been carrying for over half-a-decade. Titled From the Days of Rajani, this piece was a precursor to several Me Too articles that followed years later.
If you’ve ever swallowed the words sitting on the tip of your tongue ready to roll over, writing is for you. If your brain refuses to be silent, then writing is for you. If an inner monologue takes up all the space inside your head and leads to utter chaos, then writing is for you. It is the perfect answer for neighbourhood patriarchs, edgy and trolling school teachers, for bullies, overbearing emotions, and for everything in your life that you have left unsaid.
It occurs to me, as I write this today, that I’ve probably come to know myself most intimately through my writing. I can still recall the sun filtering through the glass window in my tiny room in Shimla, a small addition made to our one-BHK home so that I could find my place to study. Instead, I used every bit of that space to fill up old diaries with amateur poetry. I could have chosen a career that would’ve kept me close to writing, but then I headed down a different path, only to return a decade and a half later.
Over the last seven years of writing actively, I’ve had an eventful journey. A compendium of writing advice, peer pressure, and trends in the writing world has often carried me away. Each phase has been invaluable and has finally ended with me discovering my own course—a slow, forward march of seeking joy in the process. I’ve created characters, emotions, worlds within this world and in their context, I’ve become aware of my existence, and probably evolved as an individual. Today, I can say that my writing is maturer than when I began. I cannot alone attribute it to my growth as a writer because it is a two-way path. Writing has added as much depth to my years as my years may have added to my writing. It’s taught me what courage sounds like and made me braver. In a world that is consumed by ephemeral attention spans, writing helps me to pause, to hold just one moment or a poem or any piece of creation for more than a few fleeting seconds. And I guess this is the pause we all need. The stability that we are looking for.
Besides this, writing has unquestionably given me some recognition by way of getting published, and a chance to connect with others like me, to read, to talk about things that interest me—and these are all, I think, the bonuses that come from being a writer, that I enjoy and feel proud of.
And since I can’t stop quoting Bukowski in every post, I am reading one of my favourites from his collection for you today that can be called my go-to poem on writing advice. I hope you will love it too. Presenting So You Want to be a Writer? by Charles Bukowski.
How has writing added to your life? Are you happy being a writer? Share your thoughts with me in the comments section below.
Until next time, happy writing!
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I love this Bukowski poem! I’m so glad you shared it, it was exactly what I needed to hear today. It affirmed to me what I needed reminding of. What software do you use to make your recordings by the way? I really ought to try that myself.
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I just put on my headphones for noise cancellation and record on the laptop, using its inbuilt software. Works out fine.
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Wow! What an incredible post, Sonia. Sometimes, when I’m reading posts, I’ll speed-read but this post I had to read every single word. You’re a woman after my own heart. I agreed with every word!
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I like your story of following your write path ultimately, as you’ve very aptly recited Charles Bukowski, writing is natural, it doesn’t need a lot of reasons to get started with it. It’s soul-soothing and a path to our salvation!
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Writing has helped me find my Ikigai. I value my emotions more and on bitter days work on my thoughts.
Writing will always be close to my heart as it has given me wings to express myself fearlessly.
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This blog definitely shows your proficiency over words. Your journey is inspiring and your words are impactful. Your blog rightfully reflects the power of writing and impact of the vision writers create. Love this blog!!
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Sonia, what an amazing post and what a fabulous quote to start it off! “If you’ve ever swallowed the words sitting on the tip of your tongue ready to roll over, writing is for you. If your brain refuses to be silent, then writing is for you.” Truer words were never spoken. If your writing has matured over the years and lent you even more courage, that is because you have grasped the nettle and embraced it. All the best with your writing and thank you for that wonderful poetry reading.
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Sonia it is always such a pleasure to read your work. I listened to Bukowski’s piece at the end, and I feel it encapsulated perfectly how I feel about writing too. I briefly mentioned this in my blog, though of course it was nowhere near as poetic as Bukowski’s!
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You are a fab writer sonia to have shared this write up with a beautiful writing advise. Writing honestly happens by itself. Cannot agree more. I was 21 when I started writing and I wrote to feel better and embrace confidence and since then I have always felt thankful about being a writer. 🤩
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How beautifully you have expressed what writing does and means to us. We get to know ourselves so much more through the written word. Loved reading your story, Sonia.
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If you’ve ever swallowed the words sitting on the tip of your tongue ready to roll over, writing is for you.
If your brain refuses to be silent, then writing is for you.
If an inner monologue takes up all the space inside your head and leads to utter chaos, then writing is for you.
Please turn these lines into a longer poem. Just uff!
Also, thanks for linking that Tribune post here. I read it and, I must say, though you say you’ve matured, I felt your maturity even in that piece. I hope you continue writing because it’s rare to come across someone who has been writing so well for so long, and yet somehow, they get better with the passage of time.
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Before I comment about your post, please let me praise your soothing voice, I didn’t want the poem recital to end. Your opening lines by Sylvia Plath got me hooked as I’m a big fan of her writing and her personal tragic story makes me empathise with her writngs even more. Your post resonates with me as writing to me is my therapy from the chaotic world and I love writing poetry as much as I like penning stories.
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I’ve always admired your writing, Sonia. Somehow, I’m never able to write poetry so I love how you shape your words through poetry to convey something so beautiful. Thanks for sharing Bukowski’s words. Such depth and so full of meaning!!
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Thanks for your kind words, Janaki.
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Your poetry is what introduced me to your blog and writing and I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed reading your poems. I still remember the poetic series you had done on history during an AtoZ. Your blog post today was like a healing balm to my senses, I enjoyed reading it thoroughly. And I love the first line of Bukowski’s poem: if it doesn’t come bursting out of you, don’t do it. It’s so true.
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Thanks, Suchita. I hope I can do something with those History poems someday.
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I have always been a great fan of your write-up Sonia and Today, it was great to know more about your writing journey with this post. I also have a similar experience with writing. this incredible art has helped me a lot to being recognized and give me a chance to get connected with amazing friends like you. keep writing and keep inspiring us.
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Thank you, Surbhi. You’re very kind. I appreciate it.
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Sonia, tthe way you described how writing gives you peace in chaos, inspires me to look back to my bonding with writing once again. As always, you left some precious words to ponder upon. One beautiful realization I loved in your post, writing gives us the much-needed pause. What a lovely thought! Thanks for joining us and making this blog hop successful. Gratitude😇
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I am glad you enjoyed reading it, Swarnali. Thank you.
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Sonia…writing is a healing method for me and I realized its power with the passage of time. Not just what we are writing but how we are writing creates an impact on our mind… to be precise subconcious minds… so writing is not just expressing your feelings or thoughts but a powerful way of healing the problems we have in life. You walked a long way with the power of writing and so energized your soul for a positive life ahead. God bless you
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Thanks Samanta!
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To me, writing is much more than just a medium to express myself. It is a healer when I am not able to gather my thoughts,therapy when I try to find peace and tough situations, mirror when I want to find the real me. With age,writing should also age and become more graceful.
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This is such a beautiful post, Sonia. Thank you for continuing to put out your inspiration into the writing community and for being such an uplifting force. It’s lovely to have a reminder of why I started writing in the first place, so thank you for sharing your experiences.
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How sweet of you to say this, Damyanti, because you are a huge inspiration for me.
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‘If you’ve ever swallowed the words sitting on the tip of your tongue ready to roll over, writing is for you. If your brain refuses to be silent, then writing is for you. If an inner monologue takes up all the space inside your head and leads to utter chaos, then writing is for you.’: so beautifully put.
Lovely write up. And it’s wonderful to listen to you reciting the poem.
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Thanks so much!
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I could relate to each of your point as reasons for writing. Thanks for sharing them so honestly. Special thanks for quoting Charles Bukowski , it’s absolutely true and summarizes the reasons why one should write.
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Beautifully written! Our words are the medium of expression ourselves well shared 💐
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Yes, writing does change with time and years. The inner monologue compels us to create our own outlet–writing. I liked the way you have narrated Charles Bukowski and given all the reasons for not going into writing for the banal act of writing, but for creating another world.
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I loved listening your narration and the entire post is a reflection of why it feels unsettling when you take a pause from writing which I am currently in. Thanks for writing this.
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Hi,
I believe most serious writers get to know themselves better because we dig or go deeper than we ever thought we could to explore who we really are and our potential and talents that have been planted within us.
I am glad that you decided that this is your way too. Keep writing. You’ve only just begun.
Shalom shalom
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Thank you, Pat!
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Beautiful post, Sonia. It’s great that you’re finding your right path with your writing. Mine has improved a lot over the years, and I love how I feel when I get into my writing. Hopefully, I will today.
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Thank you, Natalie.
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Loved it, Sonia! And what an amazing reading of the poem ❤️
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Thank you!
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Thank you for writing this Sonia! It brought back that smile on my face.
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I am so glad, Sudha!
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