The darker side of the creative mind

Of course constructive criticism of any art work is acceptable and healthy and for that there are literature critics and reviewers. The professional or regular critic of literature and aesthetics are there to judge

As Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Comparison is the thief of joy." If we are constantly stacking up our life against someone else's, chances are we will find something to nitpick. Instead, just plainly fixate on the positives in one’s own life and in the lives of others. The similar cliché is also applicable for the writing community. I so wanted to pen down my thought about this particular vileness of the ‘writers and poets’ (some though) ever since I discovered it, that is, criticizing and picking holes of the other contemporaries. I have been reading so much disrespectful words of writers and poets on Face book status (mostly) against each other for long; that I feel it's worth sharing my personal feelings about this specific negativity of the creative mind. It's a season of book fair in Bangladesh and I have witnessed some writers and poets have accelerated their spiteful practise of criticizing their peers even more. 
On many occasions, I have heard people saying that similar to the other professionals, most writers, poets and novelists are ego-driven navel-gazers. They too are selfish and competitive, and would like nothing better than to see them acknowledged and nominated for the honour while their fellow mates fall short. What I personally feel is instead of lashing out at other poets and writers and criticising their methods of achieving the success; ‘they’ could learn from it and invest ‘their’ valuable time on their originality.
The wordsmiths are the conscious of the society and culture. They are someone who should shed light into darkness, someone who would act as inspiration, someone who would foster moral and ethical values into the society. Sadly now a day I find a group of writers and poets devoid of all those attributes, which demean their value as a cultivator of mind and soul. Instead of cultivating mind, sharing thoughts and wisdom, creating magic with words, weaving knowledge and sentiments of words, I came across a quite a number of writers, poets and novelists spending more time in self praising and criticising their fellow wordsmith. Such particular cluster of writers and poets are always making unenthusiastic comments about their co writers, which I have failed to comprehend. It's very depressing to see that the weavers of thoughts and words are busy in spreading hatred through their words. I have come across many notable, promising and even less recognised writers and poets, who think only their work, is a true fiction, novel or poem. Only 'they' understand what a good literature is and they feel only their piece of work is a good and fair part of the literature and the others are simply a gibberish manuscript writers. Throughout the year I keep seeing people attacking each other's creativity and taking pride in their own creation, regrettably that intensify during Ekushe Book fair, Dhaka literature festival and other book fairs inside and outside Bangladesh’s geographical periphery.
I can recall once Stephen King said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.’’ It’s true that being a writer, one has to read authors they admire and works that they feel are better than their own. This is how one grows. Interestingly I have noticed that when someone read others’ work and follow them online, however, it’s easy to slide into jealousy where reading and connecting stops being joyous and becomes an impediment to progress. Most of us have probably read a few. They're common on face book status, and on other consumer book review sites. You'll sometimes read them in respected print publications, too. ‘They’ pick at elements of plot, character, setting, and pacing with razor-sharp talons. They shred themes and pummel prose. They may even be right in their assessment of some novels, yet it's their scathing elucidation that gives them away. I've often wondered if these reviews aren't written by struggling novelists so poisoned by envy that they lash out against those who receive the coveted book deals and critical acclaim. That's when I see the reviews dripping with green ink. And that's when I feel compassion for the author. No matter how much one doesn't like a book, it doesn't deserve the vicious lashing of a less-privileged or struggling novelist. It’s worth mulling over that behind every book is a person who put his or her time and talent onto each page, therefore, each of them deserves minimum level of consideration.
Of course constructive criticism of any art work is acceptable and healthy and for that there are literature critics and reviewers. The professional or regular critic of literature and aesthetics are there to judge. As a poet I simply cannot afford to spend my time judging other’s work as hors eshit and baloney and claiming my work reflects sensibilities of good literature in all form. I personally find this behaviour of a wordsmith very spiteful and disrespectful. To me writers and poets are someone who would invest their time of life weaving words of life and wisdom, not spend time in self boasting and saying malice words against others. After all they are the beautiful weavers of thoughts and life; let their words kindle hope and faith, not spread spite and disharmony. Let the readers and literature critic decide who is a good writer/poet, whose work should be celebrated and who could improvise rather than the writer and poet themselves. If you are a writer and you review as well, that's not a good recipe for excellent relations with fellow writers. Moreover, if poets and wordsmith continually judge others, then they will have no time to weave words. The poet, novelist and writers should spend their valuable time and precious mind in creating magic through words, which God has bestowed upon them rather than spreading malice. Not everyone is gifted with the divine skill of writing, it is an innate one. One can learn and take lesson in singing, dancing, painting, playing any instruments, do any sports, but none can teach someone to become a poet or a writer, it's a natural attribute. Let cultivate mind through words and wisdom. 

The writer is a London-based cultural activist

 

The darker side of the creative mind

Of course constructive criticism of any art work is acceptable and healthy and for that there are literature critics and reviewers. The professional or regular critic of literature and aesthetics are there to judge

As Theodore Roosevelt once said, Comparison is the thief of joy. If we are constantly stacking up our life against someone elses, chances are we will find something to nitpick. Instead, just plainly fixate on the positives in ones own life and in the lives of others. The similar clich is also applicable for the writing community. I so wanted to pen down my thought about this particular vileness of the writers and poets (some though) ever since I discovered it, that is, criticizing and picking holes of the other contemporaries. I have been reading so much disrespectful words of writers and poets on Face book status (mostly) against each other for long; that I feel its worth sharing my personal feelings about this specific negativity of the creative mind. Its a season of book fair in Bangladesh and I have witnessed some writers and poets have accelerated their spiteful practise of criticizing their peers even more. On many occasions, I have heard people saying that similar to the other professionals, most writers, poets and novelists are ego-driven navel-gazers. They too are selfish and competitive, and would like nothing better than to see them acknowledged and nominated for the honour while their fellow mates fall short. What I personally feel is instead of lashing out at other poets and writers and criticising their methods of achieving the success; they could learn from it and invest their valuable time on their originality. The wordsmiths are the conscious of the society and culture. They are someone who should shed light into darkness, someone who would act as inspiration, someone who would foster moral and ethical values into the society. Sadly now a day I find a group of writers and poets devoid of all those attributes, which demean their value as a cultivator of mind and soul. Instead of cultivating mind, sharing thoughts and wisdom, creating magic with words, weaving knowledge and sentiments of words, I came across a quite a number of writers, poets and novelists spending more time in self praising and criticising their fellow wordsmith. Such particular cluster of writers and poets are always making unenthusiastic comments about their co writers, which I have failed to comprehend. Its very depressing to see that the weavers of thoughts and words are busy in spreading hatred through their words. I have come across many notable, promising and even less recognised writers and poets, who think only their work, is a true fiction, novel or poem. Only they understand what a good literature is and they feel only their piece of work is a good and fair part of the literature and the others are simply a gibberish manuscript writers. Throughout the year I keep seeing people attacking each others creativity and taking pride in their own creation, regrettably that intensify during Ekushe Book fair, Dhaka literature festival and other book fairs inside and outside Bangladeshs geographical periphery. I can recall once Stephen King said, If you dont have time to read, you dont have the time (or the tools) to write. Its true that being a writer, one has to read authors they admire and works that they feel are better than their own. This is how one grows. Interestingly I have noticed that when someone read others work and follow them online, however, its easy to slide into jealousy where reading and connecting stops being joyous and becomes an impediment to progress. Most of us have probably read a few. Theyre common on face book status, and on other consumer book review sites. Youll sometimes read them in respected print publications, too. They pick at elements of plot, character, setting, and pacing with razor-sharp talons. They shred themes and pummel prose. They may even be right in their assessment of some novels, yet its their scathing elucidation that gives them away. Ive often wondered if these reviews arent written by struggling novelists so poisoned by envy that they lash out against those who receive the coveted book deals and critical acclaim. Thats when I see the reviews dripping with green ink. And thats when I feel compassion for the author. No matter how much one doesnt like a book, it doesnt deserve the vicious lashing of a less-privileged or struggling novelist. Its worth mulling over that behind every book is a person who put his or her time and talent onto each page, therefore, each of them deserves minimum level of consideration. Of course constructive criticism of any art work is acceptable and healthy and for that there are literature critics and reviewers. The professional or regular critic of literature and aesthetics are there to judge. As a poet I simply cannot afford to spend my time judging others work as hors eshit and baloney and claiming my work reflects sensibilities of good literature in all form. I personally find this behaviour of a wordsmith very spiteful and disrespectful. To me writers and poets are someone who would invest their time of life weaving words of life and wisdom, not spend time in self boasting and saying malice words against others. After all they are the beautiful weavers of thoughts and life; let their words kindle hope and faith, not spread spite and disharmony. Let the readers and literature critic decide who is a good writer/poet, whose work should be celebrated and who could improvise rather than the writer and poet themselves. If you are a writer and you review as well, thats not a good recipe for excellent relations with fellow writers. Moreover, if poets and wordsmith continually judge others, then they will have no time to weave words. The poet, novelist and writers should spend their valuable time and precious mind in creating magic through words, which God has bestowed upon them rather than spreading malice. Not everyone is gifted with the divine skill of writing, it is an innate one. One can learn and take lesson in singing, dancing, painting, playing any instruments, do any sports, but none can teach someone to become a poet or a writer, its a natural attribute. Let cultivate mind through words and wisdom. The writer is a London-basedcultural activist