Dharma

Posted on by under Writing Tips

Dharma is the belief that the universe has an inherent order. Basically, you repeatedly do things which lead you to develop habits. These habits make you fit into one or more section of society. Your place in the order of things then dictates the obligations you have to the people around you.

For example – if you hit people then you become a thug, go to prison and then learn how to become a real criminal, which obliges you to rob banks and go on the run before getting killed in a hail of police bullets. Alternatively, you could be helpful, become a policeman, which eventually obliges you to mow down bank robbers by means of a storm of lead.

Writers have the following obligations at the various stages of their writing life:

  • Beginning. Learn how to write by both reading lots of books about writing, grammar, literature and the like. Maybe take a couple of courses on Creative Writing, join a couple of forums and writing clubs and read lots and lots of good writing. You then write lots of things and publish them so that you can get feedback on whether it is good enough or not. Ways of doing this without expense are: write a blog, publish on free platforms like Kindle Direct, Lulu and Smashwords or print it out and give a copy to all your friends and family. Write stuff, get it out there, make mistakes if you have to, and learn from them.
  • Middle. Be a writer and promote the good of society. That’s all. Just that.
  • End. Become so ticked off by your fame (or lack thereof) that you run away from everything and go to live in a cabin in the woods. You will then only wash and cut your hair (any hair) when you realise that you are frightening your dog by virtue of looking like a bear. In more advanced stages you may focus on cultivating enough spiritual power to be able to avoid choking the one fan/stalker that has maintained contact with you through all the years.

When all’s said and done, we all – no matter who we are, we have the obligation to open a can of whoop-ass on anyone who tries to hurt anyone else. By this I mean – be nice. That’s it.

56 thoughts on “Dharma”

  2. Your posts always conjure up such a vivid picture. 🙂 Somehow I can’t imagine myself ever living like a hermit in the woods washing my hair only occasionally and scaring off my dog. I’d prefer to live on a lovely warm tropical island writing about my underwater adventures and inspiring others to live a wonderful life. Hope you’ve had a good day Rob. 🙂

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  3. Your posts always make me laugh and giggle and share the humour with my friends when we are sitting with a coffee / beer after the day’s work 😀 humor is a rare thing to possess these days 😉
    On a different note, how are your posts usually borrowing from Indian stuff?? Caste, dharma… Where are you from and how are you influenced by these things??

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    • I love that you laugh, giggle and share (and by the way – you have a very beautiful laugh, Aishwarya – did I tell you that?). Please tell your friends that I say hi, and that I gave a goofy little wave. 😀
      The post subjects are loosely based on the titles in a book I got for Christmas called ‘1001 Ideas the Changed the World’. I’m taking each idea in turn and making them all about writing. At the moment I’m up to 1,500 BCE which is about when the Vedas were written – hence the Indian theme at the moment. India has had a major effect on the world today – you would be amazed! Or, perhaps you already know. 😉
      I’m in the UK in a little city called York – towards the north side. You? 🙂

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  4. Not quite sure I could see myself in the woods but many people do write as a form of acceptance acknowledgement, others because they have aspirations of one day being published. Even those that write for fun have aspirations, they’re just less vocal about them.

    Either way, if they get published and become famous, as we see all the time, it can be difficult to deal with the fame and not everybody finds a way.

    If they don’t, they can become far more introverted, probably leading to your cabin in the woods with a weird stalker person knocking… Isn’t that a film?

    But then, this is probably a life lesson with a lot of things, not just writing…

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    • Oh I could totally see myself in the woods – it would be my dream location to get away from it all and write. Don’t get me wrong – people are a fantastic invention, but at arms length generally. That said, if a special stalker were to knock on the door, then who knows what would happen. Life isn’t always as bad as the movies. 🙂
      What’s your dream writing spot?

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