The Eleven – some thoughts.

Disclaimer: This is not a story. I have put together some of my thoughts about ‘The Eleven’ in this post, simply because it seemed appropriate to publish it on this page. You can read a review of the book by blogger Anil Sawan, here.

The internet has opened the floodgates to a whole host of creative people: artists, musicians, writers, photographers and web designers…no more is ‘lack of opportunity’ a thorn in the hide of those who want to share their creative instincts. I am one of the many got to ride the wave.  About a month back, one of my short stories that I had previously published on this blog, was selected for publication in a book called ‘The Eleven – Short Stories by Bloggers, Part I’, more details of which you could find here.  It was a compilation of eleven short stories, all written by bloggers on the web.

That said, I must admit I was not too comfortable getting my story published in the first place.  The reason is that I still think my stories, the ones you read on this page, are all first drafts at their best. I think that they need to be worked on a lot more before they can make it to publication grade. After reading The Eleven, after discussing the book and the stories with some people, and after getting to know a few opinions on the book, I am revising my views. This journey has taken me through what writing means to me, what story writing is, where I am and where I am going. I want to place these moments on record, and try to take you through my thoughts.

Reading the stories in The Eleven was a revealing experience in many ways. Firstly, there was a consciousness of how big the world really is. Out of the ten other authors, I have read Harish, Preethi and Nivi on their blogs, but I was new to all the others. The clear difference in writing styles, the topics handled and the formats were all striking. Secondly, if the difference struck me first, I became more and more conscious of a similarity in all the themes as I read on. I will elaborate more on that count in a bit. The third point was the sheer readability of most of the stories. These were the kind of stories you could read in Ananda Vikatan or Kalki (Tamil weeklies, known for pacey serials and fast-food short stories…I am not able to think of English language analogues)

I will start with the readability factor. Most of the stories in the book were short, narrative or conversational pieces and easily readable. One friend of mine tells me, ‘A short story should be something you should be able to finish over a cup of hot coffee.’ If that is the yardstick, these stories would make great popular reading. They are to the literary world what a sandwich is to the world of cuisine. And this is not something that is true to just the stories in the book; most microfiction you read on the web are short, one page stories with a sharp twist that would excite a bonesetter.

Which brings me to the second point, the similarity in the themes. As somebody who has been dabbling in fiction on the web for a considerable amount of time, I am sort of coming to the conclusion that there are only so many themes that you do explore when you start out to write.  (The following statements are obviously about my work as well…the whole point of this exercise is to examine my writing critically by the lessons learnt from observation and introspection!) A short story, with that ‘twist’, must always have an element of exaggeration in them. Hence, a lot of stories on the web are about people and situations which you normally don’t find yourself in. A neophyte writes about prostitution, gun-running, rape, kidnapping, terrorism, and illegitimate children. They set out to examine the ‘human angle’ in these situations. Stories typically come out as advocates of personal philosophies and stands on various issues…ranging from divorce to war to infidelity. The characters lend their souls to the writer. In some sense, it is the author who shines through in each of their stories; the characters become mere puppets. Each story becomes a grandiloquent soliloquy, a solid testimony to the author’s presence. Secondly, most stories have an emotional theme. The so called ‘slice of life’ stories, the kind that can ‘happen to anyone’, are designed to tug at our heart strings. Human relationships are examined at considerable depth; the wordplay being a tool to enhance this process.

Stories I have read on the web, seldom go beyond these broad strokes. After a certain amount of reading, all the stories seem highly similar…the difference, if any, is only in the individual style of writing, and not in any novelty of theme or enduring longevity of the character. The concept of ‘my blog’, ‘my space’, ‘my character’ and ‘my creation’ has never been so well exemplified in any other medium of communication.

The reasons I wanted to try my hand at short story writing were twofold. One was the impact certain short stories have made on me. I wanted to test my ability to make the same kind of impact with my work. Two was the more simple and direct reason of having a story to tell. Is it possible to reconcile these two aims into one, through a story? Stories have the knack of folding themselves into particular stances, like a yoga posture. However, I find it intriguing that all these postures, for most of us, resemble each other to a striking degree.

When I spoke about stories making an impact, I was talking about classics like RK Narayan, Khushwant Singh, Tagore, Guy de Maupessant or Jhumpa Lahiri. O.Henry’s one about the Christmas presents is a classic example. I don’t remember the name of the story, but I do remember the fuzzy, warm feeling on reading that Jim had sold his watch for Della’s ivory combs and Della had sold her hair to pay for Jim’s watch chain. The Talkative Man is a character which could have been RKN himself, but it carries no stamp of his personality; only an anonymous voice. Tagore’s Kabuliwallah or The Wife’s Letter could not have been written without the author’s forceful, empathetic personality; but he is only a detached narrator and not the lead player in his stories.

The same, I guess, cannot be said of our stories.

We don’t let the characters talk enough; our stories are more of an outlet to let our voices be heard.

Are they stories then?

Are things like plot and character and theme just enough to make a short story? Isn’t there something more universal to a story, the fact that it can be told and retold and rejoiced over, irrespective of place and time? And can that happen if there is so much exhibitionism in the story?

Or do we take the prerogative of ‘creator’s freedom’ and say that ‘as is the creator, so is the creation?’ Do we let the creator overshadow the creation, like a father burdening his children with his dreams and hopes and unfulfilled ambitions?

It is my opinion, and I speak only for myself here with the lessons learnt from the book, that I still have miles to go and lots to work on, before I can truly be an accomplished short story writer. Penning down your thoughts is one thing. Making them in the format of a story, with a structured plot and characters, is another. Telling a story; that is something else altogether. The genres might vary, but at their heart, a story belongs the people in it. It would imply tremendous insecurity if an author were to create characters, and mouth all their lines for them! Can a writer allow her characters to tell a story without making her presence being actively felt, and yet make the story hers? Yes, she can!!

~ by Suchitra on January 29, 2009.