My friend finds it amusing that reporters call their “reports,” stories. “Do you concoct them,” he asks, and I find it hard to explain that a “story” means a report but a “story” is not a story. He can be excused. Don’t we stuff our “stories” with frills and freckles?
Well, I have decided to write a story. That, I am learning, is no easy task. It needs a lot of unlearning, and a lot more of learning, particularly reading. I have often felt that journalism is a superficial job – an observation stemming up possibly from my limited experience. Ten years on the job are hardly enough to pass expert judgment.
But I, for sure, can write – as can any journalist – about superconductivity, nuclear fission, rocket technology, whatever, in the same vein as a report on the utterly mundane aspects of living. That is a habit you acquire. As it is, don’t you have the Internet to fall back on? However, it does not make me a superconductivity expert just as writing about a film actor makes me no expert on films.
While on films, I have always wondered why every other upstart journalist starts his career writing film reviews. After five years of doing so, I definitely feel I am wrong – on many counts.
I know hardly anything about films. My exposure to the classics is limited. All that I have as a supposed quality to judge films is a history of bunking classes and scooting to the theatre halls during college days and sustaining the interest in films.
Does that qualify me to be a film critic? At best, I can write a film appreciation but then, appreciation based on what standards? Isn’t there an inherent film appreciation sensitivity involved that is a byproduct of your roots, your culture, and your exposure?
After all these years, despite all the hits that Bollywood churns out, I still watch Hindi films with absolute cynicism. I simply feel they are inferior to the Indian regional films, and I am not always wrong. That prejudiced view makes me a bad critic of Bollywood because I do not understand its sensibilities. They are alien to me.
Films are like books. The more you go into it, the faster you outgrow them. For all who grew up on the Sydney Sheldons and Frederick Forysths, and then graduated to more poignant reading, do you believe there is a return to utterly pulp fiction?
I have been turning to the veterans in creative writing for advice. A power-packed intro, as in reporting, is not a must. Tales must be simple. A reporting style is allowed; that is in style. Try to chip in philosophy – it gives the story depth.
So, here I am struggling with a story-line and thinking what philosophy to inject into it. I also need another name to go with the “By” tag. I dread an old friend who is bound to laugh derisively…he is my biggest worry.
