On Writing Well

This is meta-writing: writing about writing.

Ankan wrote:

You write extremely well. You have very good ideas, but your posts are a joy to read even when I do not agree completely with the ideas.

They say good writing comes as a result of clarity of thought. Is it just that, or can one do something more to improve one’s written ability? Is there any advice you would like to give to someone who wishes to write well?

Thanks for the generous comment.

I am not qualified to give advice on how to write well. Attempting to do so would be presumptuous, as it would imply that I myself know how to write well. By definition, only a few of us can do something well. Much of the time it is a combination of innate talent and years of practice. Little can be done about talent except to accept what one is endowed with gracefully. What one can do is practice enough to become better at something – and perhaps do it well. So what follows is briefly what I believe it takes to become a better writer.
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Jago (revisited)

In response to the post on Jago Party, Mr Denson Joseph, one of the founder members of the party, took the trouble to post a comment. This is a response to that comment.

I maintain that it is a always a good sign that people are seriously making an attempt at forming political parties. The marketplace, so to speak, has to expand. With some luck, the good ones will take root and flourish. But the creation of a good party is not just a matter of luck. It has to be the result of some deep thinking. Impassioned calls to “WORK TOGETHER & TAKE ACTION BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE” by “the literate noble thinkers, bloggers & critics” is a bit premature if the hard thinking has not been done.
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The World is Flat

If you ever wondered where Tom Friedman got the idea, here is a wild conjecture. Friedman thought that invading Iraq was a good idea. So they went and bombed Iraq and flattened it. Little surprise then that some Iraqis think that the earth is flat and Tom wrote a book that the world is flat. QED.

The Earth is Flat: Debate on Iraqi TV.
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Rajesh Jain “On Turning 40”

Go read Rajesh’s mini-autobiography “On Turning 40,” which he did last year on August 15th (but posted it only today because he was on break from blogging.) Please to note that the “Atanu Dey” he mentions in there is indeed yours truly 🙂

I will take this opportunity to publicly recognize that it is an honor working with him. The other day when I was bitching and moaning about how I was dissatisfied with what I was accomplishing, a friend asked me why I don’t just get back to California where I was personally a lot happier. I would do that in a heartbeat. The only problem is that I will never get a chance to work with someone with the vision and integrity of Rajesh.

Alan Watts: The Vegetable Root Discourses

[Here is a transcript from one of the scores of Alan Watts’ talks I have in mp3 format.]

[Begin transcript of Alan’s talk.]

I’m not really a musician but it just so happens that I have in front of me a fabulous instrument which the Japanese call koto. I suppose it would be best described as a table harp. Long instrument stringed with bridges – horizontal harp.

It was customary among Chinese poets in the old days to read poetry and strum on the lute or table harp at the same time. And I have got here a curious old text called Ts’ai-ken T’an – which means the “Vegetable Root Discourses” – written by Koji Tse (sp?) somewhere around 1624.
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Advani’s Address to FICCI

Mr L K Advani, the leader of the opposition in the lower house of the parliament (Lok Sabha), addressed the 80th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi on 15 February 2008.

Here are some excerpts:

I can, in all humility, claim that ours is one party that has consistently followed a policy of supporting private enterprise and voicing our opposition to the license-quota-control regime even in those years when there was hardly any debate on economic reforms. Indeed, the Soviet model of government control was the dominant political fashion and intellectual obsession at the time.

He says that the BJP has had a consistent pro-enterprise economic philosophy.
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Lee Iacocca on Leadership

Lee Iacocca is 82 years old. The fire in his belly is undiminished, however. I have only read an excerpt from his book “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?” But that excerpt resonates with me. He talks about the failure of leadership in America. He lists what he calls the “Nine C’s of Leadership” and indicts George W Bush on each of those counts. The C’s are: Curiosity, Creative, Communicate, Character, Courage, Conviction, Charisma, Competent and Common Sense.

Iacocca says it like he sees it. His rant — and that first chapter is a rant in the finest tradition — is sincere and direct. As he puts it, he is outraged and that every American should be outraged by what is happening in the US. I respect that sort of honest outrage. It forces people out of their complacency.

The US is facing a crisis of leadership. But it is not alone. When I try to measure the Indian leadership on Iacocca’s Nine C scales, I find them failing almost as miserably as GWB. But where is India’s Iacocca to hold Indian leaders’ feet to the fire?

Here’s an excerpt from the book, for the record:
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Jago Party

So there’s a new political party in the making — the Jago Party. A very hopeful sign. We need more and more people to enter the political arena. The consequence of good people not engaging in politics, as the wise counsel, is that you get ruled by your inferiors. The more choices one has in terms of political parties, the more likely it will be that a reasonable outcome may obtain.
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