A Writer's Obligations !
Since a writer creates material that is read by tens of thousand of people, he has some very demanding obligations to himself, to his readers, and to his motherland.
The pen of a prolific and insightful writer is mightier than a sword, and this might can find expression both for construction as well as for destruction -- if he does not use it with care. A sword misused can kill only one at a time, but the pen misused can kill even an entire community at a time.
Whenever one purchases a powerful or sharp tool, he is careful to place it away from the children, the ignorant, and the people who might be hurt by careless operation. In the same way, every writer should use the powerful tool in his hands in such a way that none is hurt knowingly or unknowingly. Just as a person follows common sense in safe keeping the powerful tools, every writer should use both his common sense as well as the suggestions of others to protect the tool in his hands.
I will lay down six principles to guide you in this subject.
1--The pen is mightier than sword -- never misuse it.
2--Your obligation to your readers.
3--Your obligation to your nation.
4--Your obligation to your family.
5--Your obligation to God.
6--Be a watchdog.
Never Misuse Your Pen: The pen is mightier than the sword, and therefore do not misuse it. The sword can only wound or kill, but the pen has the power both to kill as well as to give life. Great is the power of an accomplished pen.
Never use your pen to kill, destroy, or distract people by boring, profane, destructive or distracting type of writing. By producing boring stuff you kill both their desire to read, as well as the creativity that they could have leashed out through the reading of books. Profane writing destroys their bodies as well as minds, and works against their family, social, and spiritual life. Destructive writing destroys people, families, nations, mutual trust, communal harmony, national stability, and anything that is desirable in a community.
Further, you should never produce anything that misguides people. For example, if you know that a powerful catch-word or catch-phrase coined by you can misguide people, then never let it go out into public.
Never forget that every writer is part of that society that he builds or destroys. If you destroy the society, you will never be able to escape the consequences yourself.
Your Obligation To Readers: Since you would never be a writer without people to read, you have a great responsibility to them who make you what you are.
Your writings should always encourage, entertain, and educate people. If at least one of the above three element is not there in your writings, then you should seriously question whether you have any commitment to people who made you what you are. Not only should your writings have one or more of the three elements mentioned above, but the writings should also be used in a way to build them up. Therefore, entertainment, encouragement, or education that destroys them should never come from your pen.
Your writings should never cheat, misguide, or sidetrack your readers. They trust you almost blindly, and you should never betray this trust.
You should write in such a way that it arouses a passion for all things that are good. People should be attracted to the good things of life like honesty, justice, equality, courtesy, and contentment, etc. The list is endless, and every writer should know what they are. At the same time your writings should arouse a revulsion against all that is evil in the society. By evil I mean all kinds of evil whether they are personal, moral, ethical, or even national wrong.
You might immediately wonder if these kinds of feelings can be produced in both kind of writings, creative as well as factual. The answer is, YES !! Even when you are writing a scientific article, if you get the readers interested in the good applications of it, you are doing what I suggested. At the same time, when you create an anger or revulsion in one of your stories or poems against a particular evil, you have again done the same thing. Arouse passion for the good things and revulsion against the evil things of life.
Never elevate the profane things to the level of the sacred, nor degrade the sacred to the level of the profane. For example, you should never compare a mother's love for her children with anything that is less than that. At the same time, you should never elevate the erotic passion between two young people to anything more than simple lust. Do not define good as bad or bad as good.
You should NEVER spread superstition, gossip or hatred through your writings. Superstitions create mental and spiritual bondage, gossip divides the society, and hatred destroys peace. Allow the base people of the world to do these things because they cannot do anything better. But you as a writer and an intellectual, you should rise above that level.
If you report a fact or data in any of your writing, verify first that it is true. Not everything that comes to you orally, or even in print, is necessarily true. Not even the oral reports of your most trusted friends !! This is the reason why the courts of law throughout the world require an incident to be corroborated by multiple witnesses.
If the data that you quote can have harmful effect for other individuals or communities, then you should double check it with reliable sources to make sure that you are not raising storm on the basis of false information.
Everyone makes mistakes, and therefore there is a place for forgiveness. However, mistakes made because of carelessness or neglect are not forgivable -- definitely not for a writer.
Your Obligation To Your Motherland: The very fact that you are studying this course to sharpen your skills of writing implies that you are the citizen of a country that guarantees you the freedom of expression. This freedoms does not exist in a large number of countries. You should therefore respect, love, and appreciate this freedom of expression guaranteed by your country, and should never do anything that destroys this privilege for you or for others.
You should never use your pen in favour of destructive forces that spread crime, cheating, exploitation, immorality, pornography, or consumerism. Not only should you avoid direct support, but should also avoid giving indirect support to these evils and the people who spread this kind of evil.
Let us consider consumerism, for an example. "Consumerism" is the philosophy that man lives for acquiring things. The more he acquires, and the more he consumes, the happier he is. Any mature writer should know that it is not things that make one happy. A lot of things are needed, but they are not the primary source of happiness.
People who spread consumerism would like to convince people, however, that happiness resides in the best shoes, clothing, perfumes, deodorants, instant food, and the other factory-manufactured goods and gadgets that are available for a price. They spread this materialistic philosophy because their eyes are not on the welfare of people, but on filling their pockets. Do not join forces with these kinds of movements. They are out there to destroy people.
You have a great obligation to expose evil in the society. Every human society has numerous practices -- new and old -- that are evil. Many know the evil character of these things, but many others do not. You should use your pen to expose such things. At the same time, you should not leave in despair people who read your exposures, but must present the possible solutions of the problems. Always show them the ray of hope so that they are not left without a way out of the evil that you have exposed to them.
It is an irony that people living even in the most prosperous and stable countries find only evils in their nation. (There are some exceptions, but the general trend is to degrade one's country). You as the citizen of a free nation should never speak evil of your motherland. Speaking about the evils IN a country is different from speaking evil OF the country. The former is your duty, but the latter is an unpardonable crime for a writer.
Keep reviewing the best things in your motherland, while at the same time you fight against the evils and evil forces that are active around. Look on all sides and you will find thousands of things in your country that do not exist anywhere else in the world. Do write about them, praise them, and bring them to the notice of the ignorant people.
Never close your eyes to problems that need a solution, and speak out openly about them. Use this opportunity for bringing a reformation in the society, not for producing bitterness against the country. Further, always strive to develop patriotism and national pride. No country in the world has ever progressed without sufficient patriotism and national pride. You should reinforce it in people of your motherland.
Remember, you are a writer partially because of the greatness of your motherland. There are many nations where the reward for free expression is a bullet, the gallows, or the mental hospital. You do not have to worry about any of these things in your country. Do you need any other reason for being patriotic to your motherland !
Your Obligation To Your Family And Also To Yourself: There is a mistaken notion among many that all writers indulge in a little vine, women, and song -- the moral evils. This is far from truth. Just as every profession in the world contains some people who indulge in excesses, the field of writing also has some without self control. However, they are only an exception not the rule among good writers. By "good writers" I mean writers who write for the welfare of others.
As a writer you should display great personal character and self control. Three things essential to make you a man of great impact are: HONESTY, TRANSPARENCY, INTEGRITY. You must always be honest to yourself, and also to others. Integrity means that all your principles, whether related to morality, ethics, business, or any other subject, should fit well with each other. If you follow one set of principles for your public life but another set for your private life, then you are not a person with integrity. Transparency means that a writer should be of such character that he has nothing to hide. It does not mean that he has no secrets, but it does mean that he does not indulge in anything that has to be kept a secret because of its shameful, unethical, questionable, or criminal nature.
Only a writer with honesty, integrity, and transparency will be able to influence people towards moral, ethical, social, and spiritual good. I am confident that you being a student of Philip Communication, an institution is committed to these values, will never deviate from these high standards. Do not stoop down into a character or conduct that any base person can manifest.
Further, every writer has the great obligation to be a model person in his home. If you are a father, you should strive to be the best possible in that profession. The same applies to mothers, sons, daughters, or a person having any role in the family.
Many writers never involve their families in their professional activities. Of course, you might want non involvement if they do not follow the same convictions that you follow, or if your writing is so technical in nature that they cannot grasp it. However, there is no excuse for most writers for not involving their families in their writings. You should realize that your family can be your best friend in the field of writing.
The family can play an important role by both encouraging as well as by criticizing you. They can encourage you by their appreciation as well as by helping to prepare the manuscripts. At the same time, they can make your writings better by criticizing the hypocrisy, self-praise, ambiguities, or anything else that hinders you from total effectiveness. Do involve them if they have the commitment for it.
Your Obligation To God: As an intellectual, you must show a great commitment to your Creator. This commitment should find expression in a constant desire to be the best possible person that you can be.
Further, you must always be committed to time-tested spiritual values. You be committed not only to follow them personally, but also to encourage others to follow these values. Never make the sacred profane, nor elevate the profane to the level of the sacred, even by indirect implication. You must motivate people to love and embrace the good while at the same time they hate and leave the evil.
The world is full of people who are hurt, are depressed, who are suffering continuous physical, mental or spiritual anguish. They are looking for any kind of help that they can receive. It is your duty to show them that God cares for them, and how walking on God's ways can help bring hope in a world known for despair.
Be A Watchdog: The role of a writer can be compared to that of a watchdog. His duty is to raise the alarm, not to catch the thief. In the same way, it is your responsibility to raise the alarm and awaken the sleeping. Once you do this faithfully, you can be content in fulfilling your duty. You should mourn if people do not give heed to. your warning, and this should motivate you to shout all the more. However, you should not be disappointed or depressed if they decide not to act on your message.
Original article contributed by Dr. Johnson C. Philip. Revised by:
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