Reading and Writing

Someone once said, “Writing is 1% inspiration and 100% perspiration”. This makes it very clear that, to be a good writer you really have to
put in great effort. 

The greatest effort being reading widely, this has become a challenge for our current generation. A few weeks ago, I shared with you the challenges that writers face in terms of content, relevance and audience. Today my focus will be on the relation between reading and writing.

It is through writing that we document our culture and history. Therefore, writing should be a profession that should be guarded jealously. I have read several newspaper articles professing doom on our generation due to the dying reading culture. Instead of worrying about the future of writing we should try salvage this generation. The best way to do this is to use the tool that they trust most and rely heavily on, the Internet.

We live in a digital society. Everything is now available on-line which also includes books and other publications. It is about time veteran writers capitalise on the influence of the Internet. This does not necessarily mean electronic publishing but rather packaging books in a way that will attract the attention of the youth.

A book publisher may try to release a book bit by bit on the various social sites. The youth like reading small pieces and this will surely attract their attention. As a result they will keep up with the publication until the whole book is released. The same can also be done in the Newspapers so as to capture a greater audience.

Another tactic would be to produce audio versions of various books, which is not a new concept. This may be costly and time consuming but the results may be tremendous. A good number will go for the audio version instead of the hard copy. The curriculum should emphasise on reading. Apart from the usual set books, the curriculum developers should include other books as reference materials for the different subjects.

We have to embrace change as it occurs. It is about time we make reading easier and fun for the benefit of the whole society. We need more influential writers who need to read widely even if they do not like it. On the other hand, it is every writers dream to be read widely so let us try to make this dream a reality.

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