H: How, just how...

How does one know what is worth writing and what is not? How do I know what my words will turn out to be when I finish spewing them? How will I know if all is this is nothing? I won't. Until I write it. When I start writing something I don't know how it will turn out to be.

"Writers spend years rearranging 26 letters of the alphabet," novelist Richard Price had once said. I think that's a fascinating concept. What is writing but the rearranging of alphabets and words; playing around with them; till they start to sound as if they fit together.

 Author Jerry Pinto came to our college today to talk about his new book. This is his first novel and the first story he wanted to tell. And he had written 26 drafts for it. I just manage to write one draft and I feel drained. I feel as if I have no other way of telling the story.


There is so much I need to learn about the craft of telling a story. They say everyone should know their customer. I don't think I know who my reader will be. I always thought I write best when I write for myself. But I need readers too. Is it a mix of writing for myself and also knowing what kind of readers will read me? Food for thought for me, now.

How does one know what works and what does not? Do I just keep writing and leave the figuring out for later?

I have so many questions now. And I am not afraid to say that don't have the answer. Yet.