Writing on writing : Amlokiblogs

Writing about the enchanting Gathering

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:44:00 +0000

I have been writing about my disenchantment with books. Not that the stuff I have been reading hasn't been good, quite to the contrary, but it has been a long time since I encountered magic. Anne Enright's The Gathering gave me that magic. It is a bleak, almost painful book, and in parts it hurts to read it. I am not exaggerating when I say it sent me into a minor depression. But I had to keep going back to it, much like a child (probably a boy) picking at scabs, making a healed wound bleed again.

I have moved on since to Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which has been a good antidote with all its dreamlike strangeness. I sometimes feel I should read less and see more, have more conversations, but then I am drawn back to books by an invisible elastic cord that gives me some leeway, but pulls me back all the same.

Reading has somehow become an organic part of my daily routine: if I cant find a novel, short story, or poem, I will find a magazine or newspaper, if I cant find those, I will find a brochure, or a menu, or a manual. Failing all this I will go a little cuckoo in my head and snap at people around me. Somewhat like when I am hungry and there is no food---the minute I'm bad-tempered my hubby asks me if I'm hungry, I guess he should add 'do you need a book' to his query. Reading is the best education there is for writing, so I suppose I should not be complaining.

I have been writing the past few days, and two of my short pieces got put up in the local webzine, so everything is mostly on the up and up. I should be happy, "should' being the operative word, but that is okay too, because I find that I tend to write more and write better when I have this nameless melancholy.

Writing about Poems

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:12:00 +0000

Writing poems has always been something to do when I am particularly stressed, as a sort of catharsis, to be purged out of my system and never to be bothered about again.

It is only after writing on a few of Rick Mobbs' paintings, using them as springboards, that I have had the confidence to let my poetry stand up for itself. Leon Wing has started off a great website which is all about poetry and flash fiction, and has kindly put up the poems I sent him. I have quite a few more lying around, but I am not being too enthusiastic about sending them out. When it comes to poetry, I have always preferred reading rather than writing! (Some would say with good reason, lol)

A good friend has lent me quite a few books, and I am set for a long stint of reading. First on the list are The Gathering and Reef and I am hoping to be surprised and enchanted by both, as they come highly recommended:)

Writing about Reading, Disenchantment

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:44:00 +0000

For some reason, I find writing on this blog far more difficult than on the other one, and when I think of the fact that this blog has subscribers, I feel shamed into updating it. Apologies to all my subscribers, for having been a sorry blogger!

But I find that on this blog writing meaningfully is much more important to me than writing often.

In this article, Annie Dillard says:

“Write as if you were dying. At the same time, assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients. That is, after all, the case. What would you begin writing if you knew you would die soon? What could you say to a dying person that would not enrage by its triviality?”

I am not sure what I write here has that acute relevance Dillard demands, but I can say honestly that I only write here when I feel I have found something to share, mourn or puzzle out, usually something meaningful.

Recently, I have begun again to look at books with a critical eye. Not the critical eye of a reader, or critic, or even an editor, but the critical eye of another writer.

And though I find much beauty, a variety of fresh perspectives and great understanding of human nature, I find I have not been astonished by a book in a long time. That feeling of "Bugger! This is so simple yet brilliant! Why didn't I think of it?" has not come by.

This could be because I am jaded, or have simply lost the eyes of an innocent reader. But what if I have not? Frightening thought, that one, one I am sure is all delusion. Or maybe I am reading the wrong kind of books entirely.

Here is to reading well and writing better. Books on my reading shelf right now: The Enchantress of Flo rence, The Sewing Circles of Herat, and The Silmarillion.

Writing about writing good dialogue

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:22:00 +0000

Learning to write good dialogue

Writing fiction has many aspects, and the importance of dialog writing cannot be over-estimated. Realistic dialog pulls you right in to a story or dialog, whereas stilted stuff gets rejected after a few lines.

You listen to people talk all the time, right? So it should be easy to write dialog, right?

Unfortunately, the answer is NO!

I am not sure how good my own dialog writing is, and so I have been looking up some resources. The best I found so far was this book: Writing Dialogue, by Tom Chiarella. This guy gives you some really neat tips.

You can also read some excellent tips on dialog writing (as I did), here, here, and here.

Writing about Writing Fast, Really Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:38:00 +0000

Advantages of Speed Writing

I have been free-writing and doing my "write-as-you-think" journals for quite a while. But it is only recently that our writing teacher introduced me to the idea of speed-writing. The problem with the way I was doing my free-writing was that I did not write at break-neck speed, which gave the "cynical me" or my "inner critic" the leeway to raise its ugly head from time to time.

But speed-writing, specially speed writing on paper, is a visceral experience, blistering in its speed. Your eyes flip, your arm aches, your pen almost slips, the paper nearly burns with the brush of your hand as you whip yourself to the end of the page, frothing out quantity, with absolutely no respect for quality: no grammar, no punctuation, no pauses, no thought, no looking back. It is just take the pen and run, run, run.

My poor inner critic (I scoff at it nowadays as I spill out more than 2000 words under an hour) gets chopped, chopped, its weedy little head cut neat away every time by the furious scythe my pen has become.

I write five minutes on nothing in particular, five minutes about a random word picked from a dictionary, 10 minutes on a piece that has 5 random words picked from a dictionary, and then I make fun lists (timed, of course): lists of things lost, things gained, things that have hurt me, things that have humiliated me, things that have caused me total agony, and so on......or I pick up a writing prompt and then just run with it, letting my pen scamper off like a page in a historical novel, with a momentous message to deliver on pain of death. The only rule is that there are no rules. I start off with something I buried, and end up on a post-mortem table. (Quite right too, wouldn't you say? lol)

I churn out a lot of crap, but as a friend put it the other day, the crap needs to come out. I need to get it out of my system before I can do anything meaningful.

At other times I am hit with moments of self-realization:

I can make it happen. There is no hurdle but my own self, no problems but my own doubts, and I have to cast them aside no matter how hard or real they seem before my work is truly begun.

After I have done this sort of 100 m sprint in preparation for the marathon, and shat out my 2000 words for the day, my writing flows easier, and an article on domaining, blogging on blogging, or a macabre short story are all in a day's work. To use a rude analogy, I feel as a severely constipated person must feel after the successful use of a laxative. (Yeah, I know, ugh, but the relief in being able to write without getting stuck throughout the day is enormous!)

Speed spurs creativity, and that has been known in most spheres of art. When you are expected to come up with something in extremely limited time, your sub-conscious takes over. It short-circuits its way to create something, anything, but usually something that the rational/logical part of the brain can never hope to produce.

As I said in a recent post, something speaks to you, something outside of you, and people infinitely worthier than me have felt it too. The absolutely marvelous poet, Sharon Olds, says:

"It's a little more hearing - it's almost as if I hear them just before they come out the end of the pen. I don't hear them, but it's as if they're in a chamber just outside my hearing. I don't usually try to write a poem unless that's happening. The poems come to me, I don't go to them."

But to hear that voice, you have to be there, be willing to write every day. And the faster you write, the more chances you have of hearing something truly extra-ordinary. It is like being a radio-enthusiast, and being tuned in to some divine channel purely by accident. Speed creates these accidents oftener.

Speed writing is popular as a technique, and much celebrated. If you want you can write a novel in three days, or a month, or win a poetry contest that always begins two days before the deadline. Or, if you want to experience it every day like me, just get a countdown timer (my cellphone has one) and get writing right now.

Writing about Novels and Short Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:15:00 +0000

Writing about novels and short stories is not easy without drawing a comparison.

Which is the better genre? Which is the more lucrative? Which is the easier one to write?

I was talking to an editor friend of mine today, and she said: "Well, they are different genres which require entirely different skills. Just because you are good at one does not automatically mean you would be good at another. The opposite, that you would suck at both, is also not true. You could be writing a brilliant novel and only an average short story, or vice versa. Very few people, like Thomas Mann , were masters of both, you know."

As to which is the more lucrative, well, that is easy. The novel. Wait, maybe the answer is changing slowly, as this article in the Guardian tells you.

There are a lot of authors who have vacillated between the two forms, or compared the two,
but essentially it has turned out that both forms demand equal amount of devotion from the author. A lot of people make it straight as a novelist, without having published any short stories at all.

I believe that the length of the story is decided by the story itself. If you have a wide, sweeping story to tell, which has a cast of hundreds, you can hardly fit it into a short story. On the other hand, if you see events not as a continuous motion but as fragments of time, short stories are your best bet.

I have loved reading novels, always. But then, there is nothing to beat a collection of short stories or an anthology when you are in the mood for a multi-flavored literary snack, is there?

Writing about Freelance Writing Charges

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:16:00 +0000

Tips to Decide Freelance Writing Rates

Writing comes easily to a good writer, but "freelance writing" is rarely about writing alone. If you are a freelance writer, you have to do more than write: find clients, send queries and samples, chase payments.

In the course of doing these "non-writing" jobs, a newbie writer's first question usually is :

BUT, HOW MUCH SHOULD I CHARGE FOR MY FREELANCE WRITING?

Here are some tips to help you decide your charges throughout your freelance writing career:

Freelance writing charges for newbies: If you have just started out writing, one of your first objectives should be to build a portfolio of writing. Write aggressively and charge less, so you have a bunch of published samples to show for your efforts. Some new writers start off with as low as 1 cent a word.

Freelance writing charges if you have a little experience: If you already have a few articles behind you, and feel confident about handling a project, hike up your rates a little. This is the stage to start looking for higher-paying markets.

Freelance writing charges online and off-line: Off-line publications usually have stricter requirements and bigger budgets than online publications. You can try and build a portfolio online before bidding for off-line projects.

Freelance writing charges depend on quality and research: If you write good English and are capable of writing articles researched in depth, you can charge more for your work. A lot of website owners are looking for uniquely written and keyword-rich content, and could not care less for quality and research. These clients are good to write for when you break into the market, but if you want to make serious money without suffering burnout, search for quality work as soon as you have some work behind you.

Freelance writing charges depend on location: If you go to a freelance writing site that is based on bidding like Guru.com and Getafreelancer.com then you have to settle for low pay. Most writers on such sites are from countries like India where the low cost of living allows them to quote below par rates for their work.

Freelance writing charges depends on ownership of rights: If you are willing to give up the ownership to your writing completely, you can charge more. If you are determined to keep the article rights to yourself so as to be able to use it again, you have to drop your prices a little.

Freelance writing charges may vary according to deadline: If your client gives you a short deadline you are within your rights to charge a premium for the prompt service.

Freelance writing charges change according to client relationship: If a client gives you regular work, and pays on time, you should give him/her a break on the price. Makes long-term business sense. If the client gives you a byline in a big magazine when you are a relative beginner, it is a very good thing for your portfolio. Grab that irrespective of the remuneration.

It is very hard to set a bar on rates to be charged. But a beginner freelance writer online can hope to make make 1-3 cents a word, an experienced one can make anything from 5-20 cents. A freelancer for magazines would usually get 50 cents to 2 usd per word. Rates could also be lumpsome for the project, on a per page basis or at an hourly rate.

The rates for freelance writing do not follow any hard and fast rule. It is a world where you have to use horse sense to get yourself the best rates possible, keep abreast of the rates going in the market, and keep searching for better-paying clients.

The winning mantras for freelance writing: know your skills and don't sell yourself short.

Writing about Reading Across Genres

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:07:00 +0000

I am not writing much right now, other than work and poems on my other blog, obviously. But I am reading like only a grumpy old bookworm can. I am losing my temper when I am denied my reading.

I currently have a thriller, a collection of short stories, a fantasy, a scientific journal, a biography, an epic poem( ...err, is it really that many? I checked, and it is!) and God knows what else. I seem to be back in the days before a graduation in English literature robbed me of the pleasure of reading. I fit in a lovely short story reading in the middle of writing this post too!

Reading books with different voices, locales, ideas and themes really helps....it kind of goes into a compost heap somewhere. When I am writing some of my own stuff, strange connections between diverse bits of info get wired together in my mind, and surprise me. Words of wisdom don't hurt either.

I love being surprised by my own writing, it usually means I am doing well. For now, my writing seems to have taken a short hiatus. I am still content, reading some really convoluted short stories by Updike on the nature of love, seems to keep me from fretting over my temporary writer's block!

Writing About the Writing Muse

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:16:00 +0000

Learn to let your writing grow organically they say, do not try to build it. Let it come from that molten space within you from where flows the magic of creation, do not analyze or rationalize in any way, put pen to paper, or in this case, put finger upon keyboard and let the dance begin. Let the rhythm decide the movements, not conscious thought. Let your heart and your senses guide you, don’t let your mind mess with it.

But what happens when that molten space closes upon itself like a crystal egg, shiny, tempting, but impenetrable? What happens then? What if each word that comes on to the screen or the paper has to be pulled out by force like a broken cork stuck in a wine bottle, with no guarantee that the cork will not be broken in the process, nor the bottle broken?

On days like this, what happens on such days?

On such days I am so jealous of writers that write with such seeming ease, like these lines from Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, pray, love”:

Time-- when pursued like a bandit--will behave like one; always remaining one county or one room ahead of you, changing its name and hair color to elude you, slipping out the back door of the motel just as you’re banging through the lobby with your newest search warrant, leaving only a burning cigarette in the ashtray to taunt you. At some point you have to stop because it won’t. You have to admit that you can’t catch it. At some point as Richard keeps telling me, you gotta let go and sit still and allow contentment to come to you.

While I love the passage here for its literary merit, I think I can also draw a parallel to writing, or to the writing muse, if you will.

The more you chase after her, the more she shies away, hiding herself out of reach. When you give up, and are not even thinking about her, perhaps running at the gym, driving out of town or taking a shower, she would come to you, prodding, teasing, compelling, just when it is the most inconvenient.

I need to discipline this lady, make her visit me at least some of the time at my bidding, and not purely according to her sweet will. But I guess that is what writing practice is for. Time to haul ass and start writing.

Writing about Slow-Motion Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:50:00 +0000

I like the way some writing lends itself to slow motion.

I was settling the books on my shelves, when I saw my old foe, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I hated it during graduation, because it was rambly and quite difficult to fit in my reading schedule. I started on the first page, and with new-found appreciation I read these lines:

`Hold your noise!' cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. `Keep still, you little devil, or I'll cut your throat!'
A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.
`O! Don't cut my throat, sir,' I pleaded in terror. `Pray don't do it, sir.'

Firstly, I dig the way Dickens throws in the man's description between the threat by the man and the boy's plea in reply. Time seems to have stopped for the boy in his shock and terror, and he notices all the details of the man's appearance. So apt.

Secondly, I realize that the whole para is made of incomplete sentences. There is no verb, no action. Again, very, very relevant. If time has stopped, there can be no action, because time itself is a function of motion.

In conclusion, I understand how terribly debilitating studying literature can be, and how it takes away from the enjoyment and appreciation of a book. I was blind to these lines and their effect for all these years, ever since I had skimmed over them for the first time, quite possibly before some exam or the other.

Writing about Writing Rules vs Imagery

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:02:00 +0000

Writing about Imagery through the Written Word

I have been browsing through the writings of Nora Ephron, who wrote and directed movies like Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally.

I am reading Crazy Salad right now, a hilarious look at a particular stage in the evolution of modern American life. Even after the passage of years, when a lot of the incidents Ephron describes have lost their relevance, the freshness of her incisive irony never fails to make me laugh.

But what I really, really love about the collection of essays is Ephron's undeniable talent in conjuring up images through words strung together every which way. I like the way I can see in a motion picture of sorts in my head, the things she is writing about. The book is strewn with passages that call up memorable scenes:

It is September, just before school begins. I am eleven years old, about to enter the seventh grade, and Diana and I have not seen each other all summer..... I am walking down Walden Drive in my jeans and father's shirt hanging out and my old red loafers with the socks falling into them and coming towards me is.....I take a deep breath...a young woman. Diana. Her hair is curled and she has a waist and hips and a bust and she is wearing a straight skirt, an article of clothing I have been repeatedly told I will be unable to wear until I have the hips to hold it up. My jaw drops, and suddenly I am crying, crying hysterically, can't catch my breath sobbing. My best friend has betrayed me. She has gone ahead without me and done it. She has shaped up.

I love how the description brings up images for me. Ephron has two long, wandering sentences in the paragraph, one of which has four "and"s. She seems to have thrown writing rules to the winds. But who cares about the rules of grammar and writing when the imagery is strong?

Writing on Ironic Juxtaposition

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:01:00 +0000

Writing technique: Ironic juxtaposition

I was flipping through “Madame Bovary”, written by Gustave Flaubert, when something struck me about a particular dialog. Rodolphe, a confirmed cad and runner-after-women is trying to seduce the pretty and bored wife of a country doctor, Emma.

The venue is an agricultural fair, and I am struck by how Flaubert manages to tell us exactly what he thinks of Rodolphe through the contrasting background voices that intrude into Rodolphe’s seductive monologue:

*--------------------*

"Thus we," he said, "why did we come to know one another? What chance willed it? It was because across the infinite, like two streams that flow but to unite; our special bents of mind had driven us towards each other."

And he seized her hand; she did not withdraw it.

"For good farming generally!" cried the president.

"Just now, for example, when I went to your house."

"To Monsieur Bizat of Quincampoix."

"Did I know I should accompany you?"

"Seventy francs."

"A hundred times I wished to go; and I followed you--I remained."

"Manures!"

"And I shall remain to-night, to-morrow, all other days, all my life!"

"To Monsieur Bain of Givry-Saint-Martin for a merino ram!"

"And I shall carry away with me the remembrance of you. But you will forget me; I shall pass away like a shadow."

"To Monsieur Belot of Notre-Dame. Porcine race; prizes--equal, to Messrs. Leherisse and Cullembourg, sixty francs!"

*-----------------------*

I searched, then and searched some more, and figured out that this writing technique is called the ironic juxtaposition.

Use irony to hilarious effect by putting two contrary things together.

I am so kicked with the way Flaubert has used it, I am going to try and use it in one of my stories. I know this is no writing technique for a novice, but there is no harm in trying, is there?

Have you found other examples of such writing, where the author uses the contrast to such telling effect?

Fiction Writing: Playing the Waiting Game

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:08:00 +0000

Writing Fiction: Using the Right brain and the Left brain

My creative writing teacher has been echoing in each class the value of waiting.

Of waiting for an ending to come to you when a story is going nowhere.

Of waiting for a period to read the story again to see if it is worth sending to an editor.

Here’s his reason for waiting before looking at a piece of your own writing again:

Writing is a combination of Left brain and Right brain activity:

The Left Brain is Logical, Sequential, Rational, Analytical, Objective, Looks at parts

The Right Brain is Random, Intuitive, Holistic, Synthesizing, Subjective, Looks at wholes

Most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking. Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying the right-brain ones. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy. Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on aesthetics, feeling, and creativity.

So, fiction writing stems from the right brain, but needs to be examined by the left brain in order to really work for a reader.

The waiting is all about letting the left brain take over from the right, which can only really happen if you let some time pass, between writing a story and looking at it again.

Benefits of waiting after writing: the story that emerges

You are able to detach yourself from the story, to look at it as if it was written by someone else.

Your subconscious might have been working on the story while you did other things. When you come back to the story a few weeks, months, or even years later, the solution for some dilemma in the story might be right there, waiting for you.

You will have a better fleshed story, and be able to identify and cover up the holes in the plot.

You will probably be able to eliminate spelling or grammatical mistakes.

You might be in a better mood while you are looking at your work after a period: this might give you a fresh perspective, tell you what the story is really about.

You might be an older, wiser writer, better at your craft, and your story gains from it.

The other day I was reading an article that said Kafka had a placard placed over his writing desk, saying “WAIT”.

I am thinking of doing the same. The next time I have the temptation to shoot off something I have written, I am not giving in.

I Do Not Want to KISS: the Long and Short of Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:55:00 +0000

Writing: Long or Short?

I have been writing about short, pithy writing, high on impact, low on fluff. Apparently the best in the business agree with me.

Here is Stephen King talking about paring it down in his now classic “On Writing”:

Mostly when I think of pacing, I go back to Elmore Leonard, who explained it so perfectly by saying he just left out the boring parts. This suggest cutting to speed the pace, and that’s what most of us end up having to do (kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings)...I got a scribbled comment that changed the way I rewrote my fiction once and forever. Jotted below the machine-generated signature of the editor was this mot: “Not bad, but PUFFY. You need to revise for length. Formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft – 10%. Good luck.”

But I have a problem.

I love reading puffy passages like this one from the Brazilian author Jorge Amado in his “Dona Flor and Her Two Husba nds”: the widow of a profligate dead husband grieves for him:

Now it was a wait without hope; it availed her nothing to listen to the footfalls, those of the drunks, especially, to the cautious sound of the key in the door, to a scrap of song, to a tune lost in the distance.

Yes, to a tune lost in the distance. Because there had been nights during her seven years of marriage and waiting when Valdinho had come to awaken her with a serenade, with guitar, violin and flute, trumpet and mandolin, repeating that other unforgettable seranade of Ladeira do Alvo, when she had first learned the true nature of her love: poor, without a penny to his name, a petty employee, a chiseler, a deadbeat, a drunk, a libertine, a gambler.

I am seduced by the beauty of the words, by its voluble Latin American charm.

I am lulled, much like the women spellbound by the unbridled passion of the incorrigible charmer Valdinho.

I so wish I could write like this: sometimes I do not want to KISS: Keep it simple, sweet.

I’d much rather be seductive and complicated like Valdinho, and by implication, Jorge Amado.

Eight Tips on Freelance Travel Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:05:00 +0000

How to Start on a Freelance Travel Writing Career

You love traveling, you love writing, so travel writing is the natural next step. Easy, right? Wrong!

As many aspiring freelance travel writers with their softboards covered with pinned rejection slips will tell you, travel writing is not one of the easiest markets to break into. You need a passion for seeing new places, and an insisting, continuous itch to share your experiences. And even then travel writing assignments don’t come easy.

To pitch for an assignment you need to have the winning mix in your writing..... here are eight tips on good travel writing which could help you achieve just that:

Write a Travel Journal or Blog: Maintaining a journal or a blog of your travels, however short, like day trips, hikes or short treks, gives you the writing practice you need. It also gives you ready material for future travel writing assignments.

Take travel pictures: When you get to become an established travel writer you might get an expert cameraman to collaborate with you. For now, you need to have a camera with you wherever you go, and snap pictures of whatever you like on your trips. It will give you the ability to figure out the right angle and perspective to show your audience when you are travel writing for real. Who knows, you might even become an established cameraman in the process: this travel blog is an absolute delight in this respect.

Keep your sense of humor: Very important. To prove my point, here are two descriptions of Paris: the first, an excerpt from the New Yorker, and the other a paragraph I randomly copied off the internet.

“In Paris they warn you before cutting off the water, but out in Normandy you’re just supposed to know. You’re also supposed to be prepared, and it’s this last part that gets me every time. Still, though, I try to make do. A saucepan of chicken broth will do for shaving, and in a pinch I can always find something to pour into the toilet tank: orange juice, milk, a lesser champagne.”

and the other, which I randomly copied off the internet.

"Paris is a grand, evocative and stimulating place to visit. The French revolution ensured the development of a certain spirit of thought, now a particular western mentality, and a strong sense for the individual prevails. It has also paved the way for an inventive and creative spirit in the arts, architecture, literature and music which enhanced the development of science and technology".

Which would you like to keep reading on? There you have it, if you have a sense of humor, bring it to your travel writing.

Keep your travel writing humble: Nothing is more irritating than a travel writer who is full of himself or herself. The more self-deprecating you are, and the more capable of preventing your personality coming in the way of the story, the more successful you will be.

Give them facts on travel: You may not be writing a travel guide most of the time, but even for a feature piece, the reader would like some facts on how to get there, what is the best time of the year to go, where to stay and so on. In case you don’t fit all this info into your piece, make sure you have a small sidebar on such facts about your destination. But if you can, fit in facts, like in this post from Beijing, because in a diverse culture this might make interesting reading.

Give them your feelings during travel: When you write, it is important that the reader vicariously experiences your destination, so tell them how you felt: describe the sounds, the smells, the sights--- bring it alive for them.

Travel writing is all about the story: When submitting to a travel editor, the most important thing to remember is that the success of your pitch lies in the story you tell. The same destination may have been covered by a lot of other people, but it is your story that hooks the reader in.

Submit your travel write-ups online: Before querying the big magazines, it might be useful to send in your submissions to online travel zines. They give you the required experience and help you build up a decent portfolio.

Travel writing tips are all very well, but what you really need is the urge to change your location, become a vagabond, immerse yourself in the experiences of the places you see, and then try to capture them in words.

Happy travel writing, and hope these tips help you as much as they helped me in my writing.

Motivational Writing: How to Set Your Readers on Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Mukul) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:19:00 +0000

Tips on Motivational Writing from an Expert

Today's post is by MUKUL SAXENA, who has spent a lot of time motivating people and writing motivational text at institutes and organizations. Here is what he has to say on how to write copy that truly motivates in every sense of the word:

We’ve all read articles and books that motivate us. They seem to suddenly make us come alive, to bring back the enthusiasm to do something, make a difference to our lives or to someone else’s. We rarely stop to think about how the authors did it.

How did they come up with the style and content that ended up motivating not only us, but a whole lot of people? I’m sharing here what I’ve found about motivating and about motivational writing through my own experiences.

Let's understand a bit about Motivation itself.

To motivate is to create a motive, a purpose. But do you actually create a motive? Or do you just remind people of the simplicity of realizing it?

The motive or purpose might have been forgotten, or put aside in the worry and scurry of other things that took priority in our minds. You feel motivated when you are reminded of what was important to you to begin with, what needs to be paid attention to first.

How do you know what to share, and how to share so that your readers are motivated? There are several approaches to consider, and you will choose at different times based on what you know and what you think.

Know your readers: what are they interested in, what are they challenged by, what do they want to achieve.

Helping them with knowledge and the encouragement to move ahead on their path is the simplest way to motivate. Increasing their focus and their knowledge adds the momentum and the edge they need to chop through the firewood of life.

Make people think. Be real, be simple, be hopeful.

Believe in the positive eternally, believe in the readers’ potential to achieve, and share that belief unstintingly.

Let them know who you are (role model), what you care about, where you are coming from (the context), and where you want to go (create).

In the final analysis, the best motivational writing originates from a firm and clear set of beliefs of your own, and the care you demonstrate in sharing them with your readers.

It is important to have integrity and completeness in what you know and believe, before you write and share your care for communicating it to your readers. The trick is in simply being good, and then in being your true self.

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Seven Tips That Helped Me Write

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:10:00 +0000

Here are the seven tips that I have shared on this blog so far.

I actively use all of them in my own freelance and fiction writing, and I find them invaluable!

1. Poetry writing advice: This one was a post on distilling, as much as possible, the art of writing poetry for someone who wants to attempt it seriously.

Writing poetry? Not!.....but if you want to try....

2. Capturing writing ideas: This post talks about the ability to capture and record ideas easily using available technology.

On Ideas, Dictaphones and Writing

3. Flash fiction as a genre: This post was all about writing flash fiction, and is illustrated with an example and useful links

On Writing Flash Fiction

4. Freelance writing entry levels: This post is a brief list of areas where an aspiring freelance writer can try and break in, and the future possibilities this will lead to.

Web Freelance Writing Opportunities

5. Mind maps and their use in writing: This post defines mind-maps and explores the ways in which they can inspire and unclog all kinds of writing.

Writing and Mind-maps

6. Using a camera to inspire writing: In this post I explain a method I always use to hunt for new ideas, the free-association triggered by an image.

Writing Inspired by a Digital Camera

7. Blog in order to write better: This post is all about how blogging works to help not only your writing skills, but also your writing career.

Writing a Blog to Help your Writing

Each post addresses a different aspect of writing, but all of them have one aspect in common: all the tips I talk about are tried and tested, and really, really work.

Writing a Blog to Help Your Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:15:00 +0000

How to Become a Better Writer Through Blogging: Five Tips

1. If you clicked on the link above, you already know the first way in which blogging can help your writing. It keeps your writing muscle exercised, which is very important whether you are a web writer or a novelist, beginner or an established writer. Good writing skills are basic, and blogging helps you keep them sharp.

2. The second, often overlooked way blogging helps writers (especially fiction writers), is when they browse the blogosphere, which is a hotbed of ideas just waiting to be harvested.

Someone has a bad day and rants about it, another is depressed and gets drunk and ends up in bed with a perfect stranger, someone wants to bake brownies but they bounce off the oven......all these personal confessions can be picked up, distilled and assimilated in a fiction writer's mind and find its way out in his or her work. Fresh, original, and completely unrecognizable from the blogs it was inspired from.

While browsing, you can check out those blog gems out there as well which provide useful information for writers: great for inspiration and advice. Or how about reading up on the journal of a writer just like you? You are sure to learn a lot!

3. The third way a blog or an author website is a must for a writer is because it gives you someplace to showcase your work, and apparently literary agents think it is important you have a blog or an author's website; whether you are an established, published author, or a rank beginner.

A blog could actually help your writing career, because an agent or editor you have queried might just want to look you up on the internet before taking things further. A professional looking blog or author's website can sometimes be your ticket to eventual publication.

On the other hand, a blog by an established writer like Neil Gaiman, for instance, can provide wonderful insight into the writer's thought processes and win over new fans. A publishing author could also consider blogs and blog tours as marketing tools.

4. If you post your writings on your blog, it could be a way for you to get feedback and criticism. Your readers may leave you comments, and that can only help you improve your writing.

What is more, the posts which get the most comments, or attract the biggest number of hits can be your metric for judging which kind of writing you can do is more popular than others.

5. A blog becomes an online networking tool. If you are a writer who contributes to writer's forums with links to your blog, read and comment regularly on the blogs of editors, agents and fellow writers, you can slowly build up a presence in the writing community.

If you are a writer, blogging definitely is the way to go.

This picture from concurringopinions.com says it all, as far as I am concerned:

But before you rush off to start your own blog, or even if you have recently started one, Arachne Jericho has some great blogging advice for writers that you might like to thumb through. ( Some of this advice could come in handy even if you are looking for freelance blogging gigs).

If you need some tips on Blog writing, check here for some sound advice.

And for those with apprehensions, here is some encouragement from the Fragmentist.

From here on out, here's to all the writers, would-be writers, and all those with the writer in you: Happy Blogging!

Writing Inspired by a Digital Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:58:00 +0000

How to Use a Digital Camera to Inspire Writing

I have often been stuck for a writing prompt. Some days, the words would not come.
I suppose it is the same with everyone, and like me, each of us tries to find inspiration in the things around us. This is where I find that my gallery of photographs taken by my Olympus digital camera handy.
Whenever I am traveling, or even going out of the house, my digital camera goes with me. And sometimes when something around the house or the view from my windows catches my eye, out comes the camera. The resulting pictures go into a CD.

They stay there, and on days when I do not know what to write about, I browse through my gallery and pick out the pictures that make me look twice. Take the picture below, for example:

It was taken on a trip to a museum in Malacca, Malaysia. The ornate beauty and the time taken to decorate a functional item like a ceiling fan was so emblematic of the unique atmosphere of Melacca, a quaint little historical town, quiet, laid back, almost sleep-inducing.

And from there on, I wrote a short story about a lonely old man in a small town whose life consists of chatting with his aged friends, good food, waiting for the yearly visits of his children and grandchildren, and a passion for collecting knives with ornate handles. He takes his time about everything he does, and the story is a contrast between the jet-setting life of his offspring, and his own attitude of taking each day as it comes, enjoying it, and giving it his best.

So to trigger off your writing inspirations from a digital camera, you need to:

Carry your digital camera with you wherever you are.
Snap things that catch your eye, and make a mental note of why you liked the thing before you enough to shoot it.
Save your snaps on a CD
When stuck for an idea, insert the CD, and browse through the pictures, trying to recapture the emotions you felt while taking the picture.
Let those emotions trigger images and associations and write those down.
Make a mind-map with them, if you like, because it is an ideal brainstorming device.
Flesh out the ideas that emerge into your writing, and voila, you have a story!

Writing and mind-maps

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:30:00 +0000

How to Use Mind-maps to Improve Your Writing

I have been writing a few articles on mind-mapping, and only recently have I realized its potential for a writer, whether it is used for fiction or non-fiction.

A mind-map is essentially a diagram created on a page, which contains the gist of information on any given topic. The subject under discussion is placed at the center of the page, and then the ideas that occur to you when thinking of the subject are placed at the end of branches stemming from it. This branching out is free, unconstrained and extremely stimulating, because you can see the big picture at a glance, and can include images as well.

You can use a chalk on blackboard, pen on a piece of paper and even free software to make a mind-map. For a writer, it can be a fascinating alternative to taking notes, because its free-thinking associative nature mimics that of the creative mind.

Mind mapping and fiction:
You can create a mind-map for each of your characters, working in appearance,personality, background, timeline and so on.

Plot-lines work out smoothly through mind-maps as well, because you can easily see how each character and event is related to the other in the universe of a novel on a simple page as a snapshot. Plot crinkles can get ironed out this way, or new pathways chosen on the spot!

Brainstorming this way can be incredibly fun and most always successful. Collaborative brainstorming done between friends and colleagues using this technique can yield some fantastic results.

Non-fiction and mind-mapping: Without realizing it, I have been making mind-maps on subjects on which I need to write articles, and they really help, because I can easily go from headings and subheadings to the actual matter and the kind of images I’d need.

Research using mind-maps: It is so easy to read, research and retain while working on a writing project if you use these maps. Whether you are a historical fiction writer researching background or a feature writer for a magazine collecting medical facts and definitions, mind-maps make it incredibly simple to reduce all of it into understandable pictures that contain all the info at a glance. It is there is your brain and on the map right when and where you need it.

Writer’s meets and mind-maps: Taking notes through mind-maps at conferences, or taking such a map with you on the podium before speaking, is a great way of keeping track of all the points that need to be covered. The same goes if you are attending a creative writing workshop.

It might sound a little complicated, but once you start on it, it is addictive.

Try planning a party or an upcoming vacationing trip through a mind-map, and see what you get. Use lots of different colors and put down everything that comes to mind, and very soon you would find yourself planning your next bit of writing using mind-maps!

Web freelance writing opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:49:00 +0000

How to Find a Job as a Freelance Writer on the Internet

Before the internet age, freelance writing was an almost unknown profession. Access to information on any subject was limited to books, periodicals and magazines, and communication was often slow and dependent on the pace of snail mails. But with this burgeoning new medium, flying solo as a writer has become an attractive option. As an independent professional, you get to be your own boss and enjoy all the advantages it entails; or, you could even do it part-time.

Here are a few of the opportunities open to you if you are a good wordsmith and can sell your talent to the right markets:

Web Content Writer: This is an entry-level position that can easily be found by trawling the web for freelance job sites, forums and blogs. While it does not pay much initially, it is a great way to create a writer’s portfolio with articles that have been credited to you. You can take it from there to break into higher- paying job markets like magazine features and newspaper columns.

Being a web content writer can get you lucrative ghostwriting opportunities, not to mention positions like those of a telecommuting researcher or a writing assistant for publishing houses. You could end up as a travel, health, fashion, automobile or entertainment writer, to name just a few general categories. Each category has a spectrum of opportunities all its own.

In addition, becoming a web content writer paves inroads into creating and monetizing websites. Many web writers either launch websites and blogs of their own on niche subject areas, or partner with a website owner for this purpose. Done well, this could be a great way of generating revenue.

Blogger and forum poster: This could be an interesting niche, which is not very high-paying but may help build a network of clients, fellow writers and editors. A lot of websites are looking for knowledgeable writers to post regularly on their blogs and forums, because that is a great way of bumping up web traffic and marketing products. Once you have a specialized niche for blogging though, you can write for established and well-paying organizations.

Copywriter: If you have a way with words and feel confident about persuading someone to buy a service or product purely on the basis of your write-ups, then you could create your own well-paid gig as a copywriter. A copywriter creates hard-hitting material which can be used for marketing purposes in the form of online web content, newsletters or press releases.

Resume writer: There is an increasing demand for professional writers who specialize in creating targeted, well-presented resumes. If you feel you have a knack for human resources as well as writing, this could be the calling for you.

Technical writer: If you have an engineering background or are simply fascinated by all kinds of technologies, procedures and products, you could become a technical writer. You could happily spin out tutorials, procedures and product reviews and get paid to do it.

Freelance writing can be more than just a meal ticket. It has the potential of becoming an enjoyable and rewarding profession in its own right. If your day job frustrates you or you simply want some extra income, take the plunge and write your first article or blog post today.

Write-as-you-think-journal: entry

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:28:00 +0000

For today’s post I am posting an entry from my write-as-you-think journal. It won’t be much fun, seeing that I am not in such a funny mood---in fact, just the opposite.

It is very difficult to write when you are in this kind of mood, but as I often tell myself, the mark of a writer is not how he or she writes on days when writing comes easy, but instead on days when pushing each word on to paper or the keyword is a long, hard struggle.

Just a few days ago, I had one such day, most of which I spent alone: writing and re-rewriting the same three lines over and over again. And just when I thought I had got the best three lines at the end of the day, I forgot to save changes, and there I was, back to square one!

But never mind, that is the point of a write-as-you-think journal, where you put in exactly what your mind dredges up at the minute.

In fact, by some strange association, I have begun to think of death, of a day when I exist no more. But a part of me knows that a part of me is already no more.

My cells have renewed over the years, my hair cells, my skin cells, the cells in my hair--- none of them are the same as when I was born. They have divided, multiplied and changed beyond recognition. They have died a million deaths, witnessed a million births, and with every inhalation my body has seen a new birth and every exhalation a new death. The day this constant renewal is no more, I will be no more.

But so much of me has already passed, and so much of me is to pass away. Despite myself, I often find these periods of acceptance, where I can see into the nature of life, and of death. If only these periods would become my constant state of mind.

Writing prompts

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:42:00 +0000

Following writing prompts given in writing contests is a great way to kick-start some great ideas.

It lets your mind free associate, and provides a springboard to dive into a sea of ideas and images, and then acts as an anchor which keeps you grounded in your association of ideas.

I sometimes pick up writing prompts from random contests, often without even participating in them. I start writing, working on the ideas and images that strike me at that moment, just to see where they would take me.

And sometimes, a writing prompt comes from another blog, like this one.

Works well, especially when I am tied up in that bane of all us writers, the infamous writer's block!