THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 23An author asks fellow writers to inscribe their books with a pithy piece of guidance.
AMITAVA KUMARis the author of “Every Day I Write the Book” and the novel “Immigrant, Montana.”
It has been nearly 20 years since the
night in a newspaper office in Delhi
when I came across a copy of a fax
V. S. Naipaul had sent in response to
a reporter asking for his rules of
writing. (“Avoid the abstract; always
go for the concrete.”) I found those
rules useful. In recent years, I have
had a mantra of my own: “Write
every day, and walk every day.” A
modest goal of 150 words daily and
mindful walking for 10 minutes.
I suspect writers are more likely
than, say, firefighters or doctors or
second basemen to seek professional
advice from those they admire. This
is because writing is regarded as a
magical act, its mysteries parted, if
only temporarily, by the adoption of
some practical rules about point of
view or the use of revealing details.
The truth, of course, is that writing is
a wholly individual, idiosyncratic
practice. When I started asking writ-
ers I knew or met at literary festivals
to sign their books with a piece of
valuable advice, I began to see it not
as self-help but, instead, as a glimpse
into that particular writer’s mind.
Having asked dozens of writers
this question, I have now arrived at
what I myself want to inscribe in the
books I’m asked to sign: “Language
is your closest ally and if you align it
with your desire for freedom, you will
be able to live forever.”Off the Shelf/Literary Advice/By Amitava Kumar