We can be better

Do we (as South Asian writers) cut ourselves some slack because we're writing in a language "foreign" to us? On the flip side, are we treated differently because of that perception from others? I sometimes wonder if we allow ourselves too much rope because hey, this isn't our "national language", even if it's the only predominant form of communication we've been using from the age of seven onward. There is a similar attitude towards theater productions, aptly classified under the "amateur" label, although at a certain point (especially after you've been at it for a while), the term no longer applies. What're we so afraid of? It's like the moment anyone opens their mouth to criticize, say a theater production, the critics of critics pipe up and denounce critics as false prophets, asking 'why aren't you encouraging them instead of tearing them down?' My retort to this would be: why aren't you pushing them to be better than they are vs allowing them to rest on their laurels, because oh look, productions/novels like these aren't done. That's not good enough, sorry.

Being in a local writing community for a while and especially after coming here, I realized how much of a crutch that attitude really was, because it limits you. It lulls you into complacency. Criticism instead of being taken as a healthy form of abuse, is looked upon with contempt and anger, like it's pointless. It isn't. Because hey, guess what, everything hasn't already been discovered, there's a shitload to see out there, to experience.

Today's visiting speaker was Ali Shaw, a former LU grad student who's had one book published and another hitting shelves in January. He brought up some interesting points on the way things are now done in the publishing industry that weren't known at the time I wrote my tirade against self publishing (which I stand behind all the more after learning what I did). For starters, whereas before it was all about the publishers and the editors at said publishers liking your work, it's now about impressing the agents who take on more of an editorial role. Agents are doing more than they were before. So if you decide to bypass all that and think "well, I have a book in me and can self publish", you're inherently proving you're not good enough to go through that process and come through unscathed. Of course, no one really is. But you can't not try. An interesting part of the discussion was Shaw's reminder to remember why you're writing (not just the project, but writing in general) to steer yourself through the grueling process of converting your novel into a marketable product. I still think going through agents and going through those routes, if you're a novelist, should be the path chosen. Because it isn't merely about "getting/being published", it's for the book to mean something, to say something about you as an author, a person. 

In ways I didn't realize until the very end, this course has changed me and the way I approach my work and I'd like to continue that journey in an academic setting for another 2-3 years if possible. To be surrounded by words, books and literature...God, I can't imagine a better life!