Friday, November 18, 2005

Drought Relief Needed Urgently

Have been thinking a lot. Of late, I seem to have lost my imagination. I know it sounds strange, especially considering that I have now come back to what is purportedly a creative field. I just seem to have run dry. Compared to my last avatar in blogging (http://afishcalledgoonda.rediffblogs.com) where again I wasn't really the prolific, posting-everyday kind of blogger, this time round I don't seem to have much to say. The last blog was started to keep myself occupied during frequent spells of joblessness at work. From there, it grew to become a feel-good arena where backpatting from fellow bloggers spurred me on to write some more. Strangely enough, It's not like I don't have material which can be written about. I do, it's just the translation process from thought-in-the-head to post-in-the-blog which is the stumbling block.
I have been blog-hopping like crazy, reading random blogs, a whole bunch of them. And what amazes me is the authors' ability to churn out stuff. Of course, at some point or the other, most people talk of blogger's block, talk of throwing in the towel, talk of quitting blogging for good, but then they never do. I wonder what keeps them going. I wonder what that certain something is ...I wonder...now what could it be? Oh yes! An audience. For all that jazz about this is My blog, I write for myself, I believe a friendly 'hello in there' does, in fact, spur on the author. It is a very human trait after all, this desire to be admired, to be praised, or, on a more basic level simply to be heard.
Not just writing, I seem to have stopped dreaming as well. I used to be the kind who dreamt in technicolour, 70mm, with Dolby Digital Stereo effect. Of late, I just go to sleep and next thing I wake up: the interim is devoid of any kind of mental audio-visual show. Sigh! How boring have I gotten!
Anyway, just found out that one of my contemporaries from the field has got a contract for her first book. She is a good friend of a good friend and someone whose articles I used to really admire. She has that, for lack of a better word, flair for writing. She has a way with words, of getting them to say what exactly she wants them to say. For example, you won't ever find her saying 'for lack of a better word'. I admire and envy her for that ability.
Yesterday, one of the kids at work kind of made my day when he asked me for writing tips, on how to improve his copies. At least someone feels my coming here has made some difference. For the time being that's enough for me. The book contract can wait a couple of years.