AFTERWORD TO BEGINNING

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In his admirable attempt to bring submissions and participation one final time into Writers Get Together, author and Editor Scott Bury wrote an article the previous year. The article was published in November 17 and is titled “Not farewell, but au revoir”. This article beautifully narrates the grand message that Writers Get Together (WGT) stands for. He writes that WGT is “a blog that serves the function in the digital world of the old-fashioned coffee house, where writers can share new work, experiment with new ideas and get feedback from colleagues.” What better definition could serve the purpose!

Shortly after the appearance of this article, WGT was shut down. Although, WGT was “up for grabs” for anyone who could make use of its wide possibilities, as its owner Siggy Buckley reluctantly suggests in her post that followed Scott Bury’s, no one else discovered Scott Bury’s vision. Perhaps, this is one of the drawbacks of the internet era. There is too much noise out there that the possibility of listening to a conversation has become minimal.

 

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In my personal journey as an author, I have realized that writing a book is definitely not a subjective affair. It has to involve people. From cover designing to editing, from proof reading to printing and from penning the outline to selling or buying, a writer is never alone. Should never be alone.

In my research, I discovered that most successful writers are those who have successfully established their connections with the reading public. This they achieved, in the past era, through print magazines and articles or serialized version of stories in newspapers. Charles Dickens from nineteenth century is a good example of this style of writing. It is part of the profile building procedure for a writer. The more people who love your style of writing, the more will be the number of your books sold. In reality, this is true. I have experienced personal success in this same manner. The success with my second book was greater than that with my first book. My second book, You Should Know How I Feel was noticed by a greater number of readers and became a bestseller in Amazon India.

In our time, the role of print magazines and newspapers are effectively supplemented by blogs. Using blogs writers can let the world know about their presence in the literary scene. Write a guest post, or a regular column. You can make your presence felt.

Also please remember, it is not always about making more money or marketing your book. By writing about your writing life, books, or any other affair, you are essentially being connected with another individual, sharing your life with that person, and receiving their feedbacks and blessings. Scott Bury’s coffee house analogy is in perfect harmony with what a writer wants in the current era to perform at the best of one’s abilities. It will give an opportunity for working in teams as well as nourishing one’s craft with newer possibilities and suggestions by fellow writers working from different parts of the world, an idea Mr. Dickens would have died for, in his times.

 

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I am a writer from India. If you are reading this article from the US or Ireland, or Japan, we must realize one thing immediately, without fail—this could be our best chance of bringing out the best in us. It never was like this before.

The coffee houses in London during the 19^th century had writers from England or nearby European countries. If you sit in a room in New York, the US, right now and discuss your work with a writing group, you are essentially communicating with a few Americans or people who experience similar cultural, social, and political environments. In other words, if it’s snowing outside, all those writers in a small writers’ group in the US will have an unbiased say about the weather of the day. There is monotony, a complete lack of diversity. On the other hand, be a member of a writers’ blog group and you will have a person from Rajasthan, India or Texas, USA communicating with you about their individual experiences, separated spatially but united intellectually. That’s what diversity is all about. It gives great meaning to group work. Great writing is always a product of living a meaning-centered life. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anu Lal is a bestselling author, book reviewer, and blogger. His recent book, You Should Know How I Feel... has been a bestseller Contemporary Romance in Amazon e books, and paperback. He is the first Indian author to write a trilogy in short story collections in English: 'Hope, Vengeance and History' trilogy. His upcoming book is the second one in this trilogy.  

His works are: Wall of Colours and Other Stories; You Should Know How I Feel...; Unclassified Intelligence; Prabuddha: The Clear-sighted  

Visit his blog: The Indian Commentator

Visit his author page HERE