Still, on the reasons many writers end up depressed, this is the second part of a series. Here’s a link to the first post, in case you missed it.

Art & Emotions

As we know, art, among other things, is a trade of emotions. To an extent, emotions validate art. A piece is meant to inspire something.

And creative writing is considered one of the most expressive forms of art. Speak of prose, poetry, scripts, and all; they have the potential to carry countless streams of emotions.

In practical terms, imagine the way you felt on watching Titanic, or when you read Adichie‘s Half of a Yellow Sun. A story can make you cry. A movie can scare you. A poem can make you happy or take you back to relive your childhood.

Now, what we don’t say often is that, in the making of these stories, most writers end up dealing with double the emotions. That is, for that story that left you broken for 3 days, the writer had to stay broken for a week or more in order to fully capture it.

One writer that I look up to said once that ghostwriting was difficult for her because she had to listen to her clients tell sad and depressing stories, and it always left her crying herself to sleep.

So even when the story is not yours originally, if you plan to tell it and tell it well, you must first make it yours. You must feel it; own it. Only then can you convince your readers that your story is real.

I’ve had the first-hand experience in this. As a writer, if you do not check yourself, you risk breaking down. You must know when to stop, to take a breather.

To Reflect or Interfere?

Let me end with this. Kevin Carter’s iconic photograph has a lot of controversy surrounding it. It won a couple of awards, but the photographer was criticized for going on to take a picture while his first instinct was supposed to be saving the child.

While I understand this angle, I also understand one thing. The primary role of media, and sometimes art (literature) is to reflect, not to interfere. Emphasis on the primary.

I don’t reckon he was happy to see the girl in this state. I don’t think he enjoyed taking the pictures either, but it was NECESSARY.

Because saving one girl is good and all, but this picture brought the whole world to see and feel the plight of these people. What if he had not taken the picture? How would we know the extent of what happened in Sudan?

I read the girl recovered and continued her trek to the feeding center, and it’s not known whether she eventually made it. But what we know is that Kevin Carter, the photographer, poisoned himself four months after winning the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph. He was 33. 

The best explanation for me is that he, like many other artists, had to live through a lot of horrible stories, too much for him to contain.

And that is one of the many ways a writer ends up on the news for committing suicide.

to be continued…

©Tochukwu Precious Eze

founder, MeHAA