This entry is written as a part of AW Chain #6 (Absolute Write Blogchain No. 6). Laurie wrote an excellent entry in her blog and the title of her writing is ‘When did you know you wanted to be a writer?’ I am just continuing this theme here.
When I was born, both my parents were journalists but unsuccessful in terms of making enough money. In many third world countries, journalism does not bring enough money for most journalists and Bangladesh is not an exception either. Then both of them had to quit the field but from childhood, I liked newspapers, radio and television. Often, my teachers were annoyed that I did not study my text books that much. Well, I was not a bad student either. In fact, I was most of the time the top student in my class but I was addicted to information from childhood. I wanted to be a journalist from the age of 6-7 while my classmates wanted to be doctors or engineers.
In university, I wanted to study journalism but my parents convinced me to study English. Now I feel that I have done the right thing. While studying English literature, I got deeply influenced by two writers- George Orwell and Charles Dickens. I started to dream to write like them someday. I started writing in the newspapers from the age of 20 and I wrote about almost everything- international affairs, global business, computer, literature, movie, music etc.
After finishing university, I wanted to be a researcher and freelance writer but I am the only son and eldest child in my family and so I had to earn money to support the family (this is common in most Asian societies). So, reluctantly, I joined university teaching and started to teach English language. However, I did not leave my dream of becoming a writer. After changing 4 universities in 3 years, I finally left teaching and tried to become a freelance writer. I had to teach students in home for some money but I could spend more time for writing. It was 2002. Fortunately, I understood the importance of Internet and spent 2 years trying to be skilled in it by spending many hours in a cyber cafe.
In 2004, I discovered that I could do well in IT (Information Technology) journalism and I became very successful within just 1 year in my city. I wrote 6 cover stories for a magazine in 6 months and many people in the computer field in my city came to know me as a good writer in this field. It came in a short time but after a lot of hard work.
In 2004, I got an opportunity to write some articles for an American website on Beatles. My articles received a lot of praise and even an American editor contacted me by email to write a chapter of a book. Unfortunately, I did not have the confidence and time for this that time. I also had the opportunity to work with an American professor as her research assistant. This helped me to have practical experience about doing research.
At the beginning of 2006, I decided to become a real freelance writer and started to apply everywhere in Internet. However, since I do not have a Paypal account, most people were not interested to give me any work. I joined Absolute Write Forum and I learnt many things. I kept on trying and started my own blog and applied in many places. Within 2 months, I got a job at Know More Media and became their blogger about South Asian Business. After nearly 6 months of blogging, I have become skilled about and now I write for 4 blogs in two blog networks. I have also received an award, my interview was published and even Times Online said some nice words about this blog- IndianRaj. My blogs have also been linked by BoingBoing and Wikipedia.
I am gradually becoming a successful blogger with each passing day. If I can continue the success in blogging, within a year or two I will become one of the top bloggers. I could not become a writer like Orwell or Dickens. May be I will never be a great writer but I am happy that I did not give up my dream. Instead, now, I dream to become a top blogger.
Next, let us see what Bk30 writes in her blog ‘Just a Small Town Girl’.
Here is a list of all the blogs participating in Absolute Write Blogchain No. 6:
TaliaMana.com
Peregrinas
IndianRaj
Just a Small Town Girl
A View From the Waterfront
Southern Expressions
Mad Scientist Matt
Organized Chaos
At Home, Writing
Writing From Within
Pass the Torch
BCOM
Fireflies in the Cloud
Sounds of Serenity
Kappa no He
Infinite Vanity
Gillian Polack
Of Chapters and Reels
Curiouser and curiouser
The Road Less Traveled
Livien
Peregrinas
IndianRaj
Just a Small Town Girl
A View From the Waterfront
Southern Expressions
Mad Scientist Matt
Organized Chaos
At Home, Writing
Writing From Within
Pass the Torch
BCOM
Fireflies in the Cloud
Sounds of Serenity
Kappa no He
Infinite Vanity
Gillian Polack
Of Chapters and Reels
Curiouser and curiouser
The Road Less Traveled
Livien
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Excellent post, Razib. Your story is one of determination, hard work, and resilience. Truly inspiring.
I wish you every success in the blogging/writing field.
Posted by: Bhaswati | September 9, 2006 6:09 AM | Permalink to Comment