INTRODUCTION
As you know well that Francis Bacon(1561-1626), the immortal essayist, wrote many essays viz., Of Love,
Of Friendship, Of Ambition, etc. The genius rightly pointed out that all the words of the dictionary can be the themes of essays one can write. But little has been done, in this regard, since his death to finish his unfinished monumental works. In fact Bacon''s way of representation i.e., his rare individual style kindled the imagination already in me and encouraged me as well to write. I am a Civil Servant in India, yet I write essays, in the light of creative writing, to get relief through Catharsis.
OF SCHOLARLY WRITING AND CREATIVE WRITING
Who is a scholar? A widely read person is a scholar. But a creative writer
(creator hereinafter) may not have such extensive study. Even without so-
called formal education, an individual may be a creator. But a scholar makes
brilliant result in the examination. In other words, score is the yardstick of a
scholar. The more marks, the more scholar an individual is. On the other
hand, a creator, generally, cannot make good result and even sometimes
fails to qualify in the examination. Perhaps, failure renders an individual to be
a creative writer. Thus, disqualification is his qualification.
A scholar has thirst for knowledge. But a creator feels to create something
new. Both of them try to increase knowledge. A scholar continues his study
to widen the horizon of knowledge. He can do anything to acquire
knowledge. For that reason he can undertake painstaking endeavor to realize
his ambition. A creator also starts his study like a scholar. But in the mid-way
creativity disturbs his attention towards studies and leads him to do
something new thus rendering him a diverted genius. And finally a creator
fails in the examination due to lack of preparation. But a scholar makes
brilliant result and paves his way towards temporal gain. However, both the
scholar and the creator start with studies but the former finishes it while the
latter leaves it. Thus a scholar works hard, but a creator hardly works hard.
Everybody cares and respects a scholar. But a creator is ignored. He has
innovative power. Imaginative faculty of mind agitates him much. So he is
compelled to forget his mundane existence. Thus wild flights of fancy chases
him from one galaxy to another. As a result, a creator fails everywhere in
this world and becomes a laughing stock. Because he has business having no
return.
Writing of a scholar lacks imagination but full of information. A scholar, in
fact, is always guided by reference. But no reference is the preference of a
creator. A scholar always pays attention for chronological and systematic
representation of writings. But the talent of a creator is scattered.
In every sphere of life we expect consistency. We hate inconsistency since it
has no exchange value. But consistency is the manifestation of artificiality
already in man. On the other hand, inconsistency is the outcome of natural
trait of an individual. The nature itself is inconsistent in its nature and
behavior. For example, the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. But
both sunrise and sunset do not happen at the same time. Everyday the time
of occurrence changes. A man who, everyday, comes in time has to face
much trouble Because every morning does not dawn to him at a particular
point of time. So to reach in time he has to deprive himself from enjoyment
and engagement from other events. As such to maintain continuity one has
to face much hurdles which remain unknown to us. Inconsistency faces no
such troubles. Spontaneity is the alias of inconsistency. Inconsistency needs
no practice. It is quite natural like a spring of the mountain. But one has to
practise much to be a consistent artist, i.e., an aificial individual.
A scholar, basically, is a consistent person. In the worst case, he may be
inconsistently consistent. Thus whatever the case may be in the activity of a
scholar, there must be a consistency at least. But a creator is very whimsical.
He is a vagabond. In fact a creator is an inconsistent individual by birth.
Either he will be consistently inconsistent and in most of the cases he is
inconsistently inconsistent. In real life, consistency has immense value. There
is no substitute for consistency. In fact consistency itself is its substitute.