Writing, a perspective from an… “outsider”

In just a few weeks, June 21 will be the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day. On social networks, press lovers have begun to “frame” their profile pictures with respect for journalists. On the occasion of the social activities honoring and expressing gratitude to journalists, I would like to discuss a few things about this eternally difficult story.

In writing, I am just a “collaborator”, discussing words is like the sincere and open-minded confession of an amateur. A few rambling thoughts about writing are just the perspective and experience of an outsider, a writer simply driven by passion.

Life has never stopped for a single day, it is too rich in tones, too attractive and also full of events. The division of social labor is getting closer to the trend of specialization. Rice growers, silk spinners, the task of “copying” human life entrusts the trust of those who pursue the writing profession. Writing can be the work of writers, poets, journalists… of course, the writing space is still favorable enough for “amateur” writers like us to freely experience.

Writing is a very special form of creative labor, it is not only a job for those who are healthy and intelligent but also have full morality; not only morality but also courage; not only courage but also passion. Writing may not be difficult but it has never been easy, there is a lot of pressure and countless nameless challenges. Accepting the writing profession means accepting the hard work at any time, anywhere. A news bulletin can come on the way to work. The beginning of an article can come on the way home, a poetic idea can come to the author in his sleep... Rest is a state that does not exist in the writer's mind.

I remember two lines in the Tale of Kieu by Nguyen Du: “If you accidentally lose your footing, step out/ Take care of your body with the words from home.” Writing is a tool, life is the raw material, and the writer is the one who bears the responsibility. Writing is not a joke, writing carelessly is like playing around and inviting trouble, not only for yourself, but also for the whole community. Always in the writer are invisible but persistent questions. Bringing the article to the public has dyed your hair black, but following each step of that brainchild to the readers has truly made your hair turn gray.

Receiving and processing feedback from readers is also a form of work for writers, if not a state of hard work and sometimes toxic. The continuity of responsibility leads to the continuity of work. Writing is a job that requires people to be strict with themselves. Any indulgence in carelessness can be costly. You can write badly, but try not to write badly. You can write badly, but you are absolutely not allowed to write wrongly. The phrase "the pen falls, the chicken dies" is the writer's mantra, not the public's threat. When a work goes beyond the computer to reach the readers, it is no longer his own. It is the voice, even the viewpoint, of a newspaper, a magazine, a mouthpiece. Granted, that does not mean that the author must mold, squeeze, and paint his work to fit a predetermined shape. It is bad if an article has no ego, but it will be a failure if there is only ego in it. A work without personality is a bad work, but a work that is only a stage for personality is a bad work. Harmony between the general and the particular, between the self and the other, is perhaps one of the mandatory and challenging requirements for writers. Each newspaper or magazine has a style to identify the portrait. The motto of a magazine or newspaper is something that the writer has the duty to respect and adhere to. Who hasn't regretted having their favorite sentence of an article cut out? But then we are forced to realize that writing with emotion does not mean throwing the pen around arbitrarily. That sentence, that issue may be the author's favorite, but it is not necessarily the newspaper's favorite. Writers must accept "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". Writing is not for the timid, but it is also not for the careless. Writing is about care, precisely care, about every little detail. Sometimes considering every comma. There have been newspapers that have been suspended, and there have been writers who have been punished. Note that the road is wide, but we can only choose one path – the path forward, where there is justice and humanity.

Talking about the responsibilities of writers, President Ho Chi Minh once advised: “Who to write for”, “What to write for”, “What to write”, “How to write” and “How to write after writing”. In which, “Who to write for” is put first and is the most correct answer for artists and writers: write for our compatriots and soldiers”. He also said that the value of writers “is to live in the hearts of the people, to contribute and serve the glorious revolutionary struggle of the Party. That is an honor and pride; at the same time, it is the duty and noble responsibility of writers on the ideological and cultural front, fighting against all conservatism, stagnation, backwardness and counter-revolution”.

In fact, writers are soldiers on the front lines. When the country was still submerged in bombs and bullets, countless writers and journalists held memorial services before taking their black and white cameras to the battlefield. Today, they are fragile behind their masks, rushing to the front lines against the Covid-19 pandemic. They are steadfast in staying deep in the forest-cutting gangs, their footprints imprinted on the borders and islands, where the boundary between life and death is as soft as a leaf.

As a writer, don’t forget or confuse the function of the brain with the duty of the heart. The journey of an article to the reader is a synthesis of many factors: the hotness of the issue, the volume and reliability of the information, the author’s point of view, the message sent to the reader, and the way of presentation as well as the language material.

Writers sometimes have to face dangers and temptations, and the effort to overcome them is the command for a true writer. On the occasion of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, the author would like to take the liberty to share a few thoughts as a confession in lieu of words of gratitude from a guy who “suddenly” became attached to the writing profession. Writing is difficult but also very interesting. Believe me, if you write, you will be addicted!