'Writing cannot be taught'

Author Jayshree Mishra talks about the do's and dont's of writing to students of St. Teresa's College in Cochin, India

Acclaimed author Jaishree Mishra came to her alma mater, St Teresa’s College, in Cochin, for the first time, after her graduation more than two decades ago. Accompanied by Prof. Tessy Antony, Dean of the English Department, she met teachers, nuns, and students. “I am overwhelmed by the warmth,” she says. “It was more than I expected.”   

 

When she left, years ago, she had painful memories. “I was fleeing from Cochin,” she says. “If you read my novel ‘Ancient Promises’, you will understand what I mean.”

 

But Jaishree had come for a specific purpose: to give a master class in writing to the students of the English department. And when she began speaking, she was articulate and professional and sincere in the tips that she imparted.

 

She made an unusual statement. “Writing cannot be taught. What I mean by that is that you cannot teach someone to love writing. What is absolutely true is that you have to love it enough to do it in the face of great obstacles. The path to getting published is littered with disappointments.”

 

She says that despite numerous rejections if a person persists in writing, “it means that you love it enough to keep on doing it. This is something that cannot be taught. It is something you either have or do not have. Once you have that, you would need a set of technical skills which is what I want to impart to you.”

 

Jaishree spoke about the different genres of fiction: literary and commercial fiction, as well as some of the sub-genres: crime, historical, science fiction or chick-lit. 

“Select what you feel is appropriate for you,” she says. To have a publishable manuscript, you need a good story, fluid and original prose, convincing characters and an ability to bring pen pictures to life. “Don’t over-describe,” she warns. “There has to be an emotional punch, so that the reader is drawn into the book.”

 

Jaishree spoke about the need for research if you are writing about an historical era. She spoke of how went to Jhansi because she was writing a novel on the Rani of Jhansi and spent hours doing research in the British Council Library and the National Archives in Delhi. “But once you begin writing you throw away the research and write with your imagination,” she says.

 

She told the students that it would be better if they used a simple and spare style. “This is the current trend in publishing, especially in Britain,” she says. “They want it short and simple. They prefer that you avoid adjectives and adverbs. You should also concentrate on place and atmosphere, by describing the landscape, the history, and the community.”

 

She suggests that to get an idea of this, the students should read the first few pages of ‘The Great Gatsby’ by Scott Fitzgerald’. “It is masterly writing,” she says. 

Then she read off other bits of advice: Don’t change the point of view by which the book is written. It will confuse the reader. Don’t mix up tenses. Avoid grammatical and punctuation errors. Beware of using clichés. Avoid repeat words. Don’t have characters disappearing from the narrative after barely introducing them.

 

Jaishree takes a deep breath and says, “You hear irresistible stories all the time. A convent has so many irresistible stories. A college has. Each of you has an irresistible story. So find it out and write it to the best of your ability.”