University of Nandamuk - To those who want to write

Nowadays, as the number of readers increases, so do the number of people who want to write. From monthly magazines to daily newspapers, and from magazines worth twenty-five kyats, one kyat, seventy-five kyats, and fifty kyats, the number of articles, essays, poems, and manuscripts that arrive every day is so overwhelming that the editors of the relevant newspapers cannot finish reading them.

 

This kind of... growing desire to read and write is a good thing for the country. However... while those who want to read can buy or rent the newspapers they want to read, those who want to write have difficulty finding their writing in any newspaper. (Or) whatever they send in, they end up in the trash of the relevant editor. Out of the 160 manuscripts sent in from all over the country (excluding those from famous writers), it is quite difficult for the editorial team to find a single manuscript that they like.

 

This does not mean that those who have the desire to write and submit their writings from all over the world are uneducated or illiterate. Just as not every manuscript that the editorial board of the relevant newspaper likes is a good manuscript, not every manuscript that it does not like is a bad manuscript. However, the manuscripts that have the desire to write and submit their writings from all over the world are usually poor. This “poor” writing is not because they are uneducated or illiterate, but because they are “wrongly formulating” the content they have seen and heard.

 

Just because you say “composition”, you should not think that there is a “method” for writing. Literature is a very delicate art, so it is not easy to be a good writer. In order to be a good writer, you cannot memorize any “method”. If you memorize the “method” that “quinoa cures fever”, and if you give quinine to a person with typhoid fever, the patient will not get better, but will suffer more. Similarly, the medical writer says that “sweet and sour taste overcomes bile. It is the most powerful. It makes you happy. It prolongs life. It improves the figure. It clears the senses.” If you eat a lot of sweet and sour things, you will suffer from phlegm loss and frequent urination.

 

Similarly, it is said that “sour food digests food, sweetens the mouth, and clears the wind.” If you eat too much sour food, you will experience problems such as mental confusion, thirst, and loss of bile. Therefore, those who want to write should not follow the “method of composition” but should pay attention to the “formation”. Paying attention to the “formation” does not mean that you should follow the example of a writer who has written a good piece of writing in short sentences. If you try to write a good piece of writing like that writer, it will not be as good as that writer.

Even so, since the author's style of composition and his own style were almost identical, he had to follow others.

" Literature" means the words that one has "composed" of what one has seen, heard, and known with one's own brain. What things must a writer have in order to compose such words? A writer must be able to see and touch the world. Seeing and experiencing only the shadow of the world will not help a writer to write. The shadow of the world and the world are different. The shadow should not be considered real.

 

Literature is... a combination of raw materials from the world (or) life and the writer's brain, even small words and letters. Therefore, those who want to write must be able to express the contents of the world with the creativity of their brain. They must try to express it. Here is a rule that should always be followed in "composition". That rule is "Combine the raw materials seen and heard from the world (or) life with your brain and write it creatively." "Write creatively" does not mean writing in a way that turns an elephant into a goat, or a goat into an elephant, nor does it mean writing by copying. No writer writes an elephant into a goat, or a goat into an elephant, nor does he copy. If he writes an elephant into a goat, or a goat into an elephant, will that writer's writing still be correct? Or if it were copied and written, wouldn't the author's writing be a lifeless robot, not a living art?

Therefore, those who want to write need to combine the raw materials they see and hear from the world (or) life with their own brain and write with a sense of humor (or) creativity (or) innovation. Regarding the importance of writing good literature like this, Master Pe Moe Ning wrote a sermon saying... "Good literature is not related to history or knowledge of the Abhidhamma. Only those works that show new and different ideas that are easy to read and enjoyable are called good literature, and those who write such works are called good writers."

 

It is not true that a person who knows history is a good writer. A good writer is afraid that his writing will be worse or even worse because he knows history. A good writer is afraid that his writing will be worse because he knows Abhidhamma. A good writer is so good at Abhidhamma that his writing will be like a fish in the sea. In short, when he writes, he is arrogant and wants to show off his skills, and at the same time, it affects his writing.

 

In addition, the desire to incorporate the knowledge he has learned into his writing is so strong that his natural intelligence is not allowed to emerge, and instead of his natural voice, there are many echoes. "Only a writer who writes something with the intention of making the reader happy, the reader sad, the reader shocked, the reader sad, the reader smiling, the reader remembering, and the reader sharing his thoughts is a good writer, and his writing can be called good writing." He also pointed out the basic points for those who want to write. Let's say that a person who wants to write has seen, heard, and experienced something from the world (or) life, which is the raw material, and has a sense of humor. In what "style" should he write it?

 

In writing, there are roughly two types of content: content and form. Some writers consider content to be more important than style (writing style). However, for me, just as content is important in writing, form is equally important as content. Therefore, in this article, I would like to briefly discuss “style”. No matter how interesting, nostalgic, funny, or shocking the raw material that we see, hear, and perceive is, a poor writing style is like a grain of gold in a bowl of pure water. It is difficult to eat, and it is a pity to throw away, and it eventually ends up in the trash of the relevant editor.

 

In my opinion, the manuscripts sent by people from all over the world are usually not bad in content, but there are very few manuscripts that can be said to be good in style. Regarding the pursuit of wealth and prosperity, the monk of Kantaw Min Kyaw Monastery wrote, “If you want wealth, seek good things, be free from physical pain, do not be lazy, work hard, do not be arrogant

 

This is the same subject that is often complained about by Teacher P. Moe Ning, who says that nothing can be done, that if you do it, you will fail, lose your money, and become bankrupt. This is a saying that you often hear. People who say this are those who do not remember how to do it, but only think about what to do. "The word 'how' means the system. Without a system, nothing can be done.

 

Therefore, the how is more important than the what. "If you do not develop a how system, you will not be able to do anything. There is no need to search for what to do with great difficulty. If you do something that is useful and beneficial to people and is liked by many, then the how system will definitely be widespread. " Then, Saya Myo Maung wrote in the "Sel Than" journal... " You do not need to pass a BA to become a royal official. If you pass a BA but do not know how to use it, it is useless..." and so on, they wrote in their own style and from their own perspective. In these three writings, whether Saya Myo Maung followed Saya Pi Moe Ning's style or Saya Pi Moe Ning's style of the Kantaw Min Kyaung Sayadaw, it would not have been a good piece of writing. This is because the subject matter is the same, but their perspectives are different.

Therefore, “I advise those who want to write to write from their own perspective, their own knowledge, their own style, and their own perspective, to intelligently combine good material for the audience, and to write a good piece of writing that will become a finished product.”