On the Origin of Writers

Unlike, 'On the Origin of species' a book by Charles Darwin, 'On the Origin of writers' is not a book. It is a general theme, if evolution occurred then writers too must have evolved. What do you say? There is an article titled, 'On the Origin of Science writers' on Discover magazine blog.

 

 

 In 'Way of Cheetah' , author Lynn Viehl corelates the evolution of writers with the evolution of Cheetah. He says that writers evolved 10,000-20,000 years ago according to the petroglyphs found in Australia and India. The author says that nature has not equipped writers with accesories like cheetah. 

Cheetah's speed, owing to its claws and vision make it a better adapted species unlike the writers. Writers are numerous, but they lack speed in writing; i.e., are less productive with reference to time. This is closely related to the intellectual claws that writers possess and varied vision- like the variety of stories they tell. But Cheetah and writers, according to the author are both on the same boat; i.e., they are fighting extinction.

Why writers are facing extinction? Because people do not read books, they like surfing internet more than buying books, these days. 

People in general and students in particular, prefer downloading a book from a link available on the internet than buying its cheap paperback editions. Results is low sale of book despite the demand that is huge. Ultimately everything falls on the pocket of the writer, he/she is paid low. It is no longer a nice paying job. 

Like the art films whose demand is less intellectual write-ups are not much in demand. Cheap Literature is found to top the best selling list, not every time but most often, in country like India where youth population is so large. So you have to assure that you have a nice paying job, if you have to nurture this expensive hobby: writing. Expensive because you have to buy books to study.

Notwithstanding, the fierce competion among the writing groups and the challenges the publishing Industry is facing today, there are ample opportunities. Many interactive sites are available on internet that make writing a group activity. You can assess your progress by seeing what your counterparts from across the world are doing. 

There is  website NaNoWriMo, you can register there. Get a push from them and begin writing with a speed of Cheetah. I got to know about this from Paperback Writer. He refers the work; i.e,Way of Cheetah as OOP (out of place) writing how to. But spare time and go through his work. It is really Nice. It is a lame excuse that one does not gets time to write. If you motivate yourself, you can write like a Cheetah. It's true like if you start any athletic activity, in intial stages you fall- make mistakes, but once you have perfect grip on your toes you are gone. I can see the horizon. Best Wishes. Writopia is a nice resource, thanks  Lynn.

But certainly there is more to writing science than writing.

P.S. This motivating speech was written to inspire my self. If it can inspire any other soul in the meanwhile, it would be a job well done!. :)