Perfecting the art of writing

The passion in her is evident as she candidly talks about the zest she has found in the art of writing. This gift has been instilled in her long since as she recalls that since school days she was into writing. But it was in college, Susan Waten says that “I knew I would be a writer one day and so I pursued knowledge and experience like a crazy person”. Her first love, she adds is metaphysical writing and goes on to say “I’ve always admired the mystic masters because their thoughts go beyond man-made boundaries, are universal in spirit and speak of supernatural truth that I believe comes from one source” which she points out is the “Divine”. She also says she likes the “stream of consciousness” because it searches the dark corners of the human heart and mind, and throws light into human nature. Having discovered her dreams and also the fields of her interest therein, she still insists that she is in the process of educating and establishing herself as a writer on a world platform. However, she sees herself as a “voice” from obscurity coming into “light” in the very near future but right now, she expresses that she is simply sharing thoughts in newspapers and magazines every once in a while as a way of exploring reader response. Susan Waten is also the Founder of ‘Holiday Abode for Writers & Artists’ (HAWA). This, she says was conceived when she seriously began asking God for a very specific task that she should undertake as an assignment directly from Him. On being asked more about it, she picks it from where it begins and explains- “I noticed that there’s such a thing called the “artistic personality type-” the gifted, creative, artistically and aesthetically inclined; the kind who resists fixed patterns of doing thing and of conforming to a herd mentality.” She continues and is persistent that she ‘always admired originality and the freshness of perceiving life’. She also loves the passion and honesty she sees in such people and aligns herself closely with the kind of life they tend to carve out for themselves. Naturally, she tended to identify with the “artsy” people, so HAWA, she says was a natural outcome of this identification. While making it known that behind the activity base that HAWA promotes, she says there is a strong “spiritual” focus that it intends to reach. She believes that human beings are spiritual beings and that, she asserts is our true identity. “The search for, or rather, a discovery of that identity is a necessary journey we can’t escape”, she further says and as such, she expresses that as HAWA matures, it will definitely move toward the retreat or “ashram” system of life. The other side of her loves to indulge in reading all kinds of literature. She’s more into spirituality and mysticism, into poetry and ethnic jewellery making, watching movies, travelling and seeing new places, interacting with all kinds of people, of studying human nature and taking long walks all by herself and of course, she makes it a point to add “maintaining a journal that includes my daily conversations with God.” On the other hand, Nagas, she believes are “by nature intelligent, creative and talented people” but laments that what we lack is discipline, perseverance, long-sightedness, patience and focused hard work which she says are all necessary ingredients for sure success. But there’s no short cut, she professes. However, to her, writing is a life-long discipline in character formation, and she confesses that she writes only what flows from the heart. Besides the aesthetic element of literary art, she believes there’s the didactic element too and one of her wishes is to walk into the dark corners of the human heart and mind with her writings, and to explore human nature in relation to the Supernatural. Susan has also been involved in translation work for theatre, held workshops on creative art and presented papers in seminars, with topics ranging from heritage to spirituality. She also dares to speak out on behalf of people who are voiceless and afraid. She is in other words, an ardent believer in fighting for human rights. She had this idea to publish books only when she became old, had white hair and had reached a highly progressed stage in the spiritual journey her life. But it was with the insistence of Hekali Zhimomi, Director of NEZCC, that she decided to publish her 20 year collection of poetry in a book called “White Spirit.” It is interesting to note that she once wrote a book of fiction which she decided was not mature enough for publication. She divulges that “the works we publish now, we should also continue to be proud of them even after 20-30 years”. She confesses she is a perfectionist when it comes to her work, especially because of the kind of audience and readership she has in mind. “Writing is my passion and surely God has a future for me as a writer” she pronounces