19th May 2021. Today is the 87th birthday of Ruskin Bond. I was reminded of this by the delivery of his latest book “All-time favorites for children” in my kindle inbox. I had pre-ordered the book a week ago.
Even after reading so many books by him, I am excited for new works, new characters, and a new universe. He teletransports me to a world as no other writer does. I keep searching for mountains in him and him in mountains. I have found a happy place in him, gradually.
I wish him a Happy Birthday and cheers to many more books he will write.
“How to be a writer” by Ruskin Bond
This post is about 3 lessons that I have learned from his book “How to be a writer”. I did not have any idea that Bond has written such a book. I stumbled across this book while navigating Kindle one day. It is a very short read but contains rich information on how you can become a good writer.
Also read: Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond
In the introduction, he says that he receives a lot of questions from young writers like How to write well? How to narrate the stories and novels? How to create immortal characters? How to get published?
The frequency of these questions must be particularly high for an esteemed author like Ruskin Bond. So he thought to write the book giving out little nuggets of information on writing that he has learned over the years.
I am going to talk about my favorite 3 lessons from the book.
#1 Be your own cheerleader like Ruskin Bond is
Ruskin Bond says that only a handful of readers might enjoy his writing but they are his soulmates. They are the reason why he keeps writing, even in discouraging times.
As new writers, we are all filled with insecurity about whether people will read our work, whether they will like it and spread the word about it. We write to change the world and over expect. Personally, I sometimes start focussing on stats more than required but then I remind myself, even if one person likes my blog and appreciates it, I am fine with that.
So, just dare to begin! Do not overburden yourself.
#2 To become a good writer, become a good reader first
Ruskin bond has prepared a checklist of things that you must possess to be a good writer:
- A love of books
- A love of languages
- A love of life
- An observant eye
- A good memory
- Enthusiasm
- Persistence
Of all the points above, he stresses the most on being a good reader. He has given a list of resources that you can use as a guide to select your next read. He asks you to learn from the best writers across the globe. Observe their writing and make them your guiding list.
Some authors which make it into this list are Emile Bronte, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Guy de Maupassant, Mark Twain, Rabindranath Tagore, R.K. Narayan, Munshi Premchand, etc.
Reading will also give a sense of why you want to write, for yourself and your pleasure, or in order to give pleasure to others.
# 3 Overcoming the writer’s block
As a writer, a lot of us complain about having a writer’s block. We are not able to anything more and we feel stuck.
Ruskin Bond gives some beautiful insights into it. He writes a little bit every day, enough for a short story. He sets a time, a quiet place to do that every day. For longer versions, like books, he says that you should live everything, every detail of the story in your head first.
With this practice, you will have everything in your mind and you just need to put it down on paper. This will not be a tough task to follow. One more beautiful piece of advice from him-
Put your masterpiece aside for sometime, do something else; write a travelogue or some poetry and then come back to your troublesome major work.
A fresh mind will do wonders for a stalled masterpiece.
How to be a writer: Minireads review
You have to give this book a try if you are a budding author, or even a seasoned writer as well because Ruskin Bond brings his 70+ years of writing experience to the table with this book.
The book is short and easy to follow with a lot of actionable insights. Now, the only thing you need to do is pick it up, read it, and implement it.
If you have also read “How to be a writer” by Ruskin Bond, I would love to know your reviews.