I never think of a reader when I am writing. It’s not that I am not trying to connect with anyone. My writing is an exploration of my own life, the workings of my own consciousness and my place in the wider world. But I do always begin with the conviction that there is nothing extraordinary or special about me. I am one of billions of people on this planet. So if something is true of me, then there is every likelihood that it is true of billions of others. I must find what I have in common with others. Not what sets me apart. Some concerns are universal: What is love? What is this loneliness? What can I do with my grief? I made a mistake I don’t know how to correct. If, I as a writer, have thought about a subject honestly enough – from that position of humbleness, and with all of my intelligence and knowledge at hand – then the book will have a better chance of connecting with others. Keeping all this in mind, I wonder if I am wrong in saying that all good writing is writing on a mirror. When you are writing you see your own very ordinary ‘face’ behind the words. But when you finish and hand it to the reader, the reader sees his or her own ‘face’ behind the writing. I put the word face in speech marks because by it I mean those basic human concerns that I mentioned earlier. That is where the connection occurs. So how to write about Pakistan (or Iran, Spain, USA, Argentina or the UK )? Always begin with the conviction that there is nothing special or extraordinary about you. granta/New-Writing/Where-to-Begin
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 09:50:40 +0000
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