The Working Writer's Life

Vision Board 2012

2012-01-13T02:00:00.000+04:00

Today is the reveal day for my 2012 vision board. This year I made two vision boards – 1 for 2012 and 1 for long-term goals. I didn’t slap them together as hurriedly as I did last years. I put more thought into it and tried to use a lot of visually appealing images that represented everything I want and hope for. Anyway, here goes: -

2012 Vision Board

As you can see, the central theme for 2012 for me is live life, laugh lots, love forever! I’ve got most of the plans from last year on there including the things I didn’t achieve and a few new things, namely getting back into shape and giving up jeans and tees in favour of being a girl.

Now for the Long Term Goals Vision Board

This one has some stuff from my bucket list and one or two other things. Overall, I’ve tried to maintain the live, laugh, love theme and also learn.

I’m very excited about both boards. Even though we’re only 2 weeks into 2012, the ground for a lot of those things is already being laid.

As usual, both vision boards are in a prime location. I see them every morning and every night. If you’re worried about running out of steam along the way, check out my earlier post on Keeping Track of Your Vision Board. Let’s Go 2012!

PS. Sorry images are a tad blurry. That was all I could get out of my camera.

Keeping Track of Your Vision Board

2012-01-06T17:31:00.000+04:00

In my previous post, I reviewed my 2011 vision board – what happened, what kinda happened and what didn’t happen. I’m happy to say it mostly happened. Most of the time when we make New Year resolutions, we don’t stick to it. I wanted 2011 to be the year when I stuck to every last one. It wasn’t easy but the below kept me going with it -

Vision board in a prime location. Let it be the first thing you see every morning when you woke up and the last thing you see before going to bed. These actions help to stream the goals into your subconscious.
Stay focused. How? Think of the consequences. For me, failing the exam meant throwing $3,000 down the drain. Not saving meant I’d be less financially secure by the end of the year.
Discipline, discipline, discipline. Cultivate yourself and your mind to work towards those goals. Meditate and affirm it to yourself constantly.
Don’t procrastinate. Identify an action and get going with it.
Lastly, believe in yourself. You can do it. It’s that simple. You’re awesome and you’re unique and you can do it if you want to. Remove the obstacles in your mind and watch the obstacles remove themselves from your path.

Have you ever had difficulties staying focused on a goal? Were you able to overcome them? Let’s discuss.

Next up, I’ll be revealing my 2012 vision board and something else. Stay tuned.

2011 Vision Board Review

2012-01-02T22:12:00.001+04:00

In January last year, I put together a few resolutions in my blog post Time to Start 2011 but decided create a vision board as well. I put together the vision board in February and revealed it in Vision Board on Board. I hung it up in a visible position in my apartment and got going with the year.

Here goes the update:-

Save - I think I did good in that area and learnt to let go of a lot of useless things to achieve my target. Thanks to the following books – The Automatic Millionaire, Start Over, Finish Rich and Debt Free for Life all by David Bach.
Study for and take my CMP - I’m not going to front. Studying for that exam was hell. I had a killer work schedule and no study group. I passed.
Donate - I donated time and money to a few causes. Not as much as I would have liked to but I tried. Must do better.
Travel - And travel I did. I discovered 4 new countries this year. I’m broke but culturally enriched either way .
Writing - You’d think that’d be at the top of the list but not so much. I unfortunately didn’t finish Tapestry.
Writer’s Retreat - I didn’t apply for any because my work schedule was erratic and I didn’t want to get in and then have to turn it down. Reasonable but I know it still sounds like an excuse.
Learn how to swim - It didn’t happen. The class timings just didn’t fit into my work schedule and a customized class would have cost too much so I shelved it.

Well, there you have it. 7 goals. 4 achieved to my satisfaction, 1 not quite and 2 shelved. Did having the vision board help? Definitely. I will discuss how I kept on top of it in my next posting.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-30T19:57:00.001+04:00

Image Courtesy of 123greety.com

Believe in Your Dreams

2011-12-30T19:45:00.005+04:00

I’ve been gone for quite a long time. As usual, it was work. The event season began and things just kept getting tougher and tougher until there was no time to even think about writing. It was really hard for me and at some point, I felt like I’d given up on writing. I was in the middle of this quagmire when I went on a trip to Montreux a few weeks ago. Montreux is a town in Switzerland that has to be the most amazing place I’ve ever been to. The views were just stunning. It was also the first cold country in my life I wasn’t hankering the leave the minute I arrived.

While in Switzerland, the company CSR team recorded a song, Dreaming on the Outside, for the Little Dreams Foundation, which helps young children with talent to live their dreams. I must say I expected the locals to file an emergency petition with the government to have us deported once we started croaking but with Corrine, a fantastic singing coach, we managed to belt out something quite good. The song will go on sale soon and all proceeds will be going to the Little Dreams Foundation. I left Montreux armed with a renewed appreciation of the important things in life and a determination to live my dreams no matter what. You can view a making of video here – Dreaming on the Outside.

Believe in your dreams, believe in your abilities, believe in yourself and believe in what you want. Follow your dreams to where they lead you and never let go until you make them come true.

Over the next few days, I will review my 2011 vision board and reveal my 2012 vision board. Happy New Year in advance and don’t stop dreaming! :)

Get Checked

2011-10-19T23:55:00.000+04:00

We’re half way through October and there have been so many breast cancer awareness initiatives around the world. I’ve never seen so many pink ribbons and wrist bands in my life .

Here’s a breakdown of a few places where you can get your boobies checked for free or at a reduced rate during the pink month.

Welcare hospital is offering all women mammogram screenings at half price.
City Hospital is offering a 20% discount on mammograms.
Dubai Mall medical centre has a 50% discount on till October 27th.
Unicare Medical Centre at Burjuman is offering 5, 000 free check up vouchers which is valid till November 30th 2011. Click Safe & Sound Campaign for more information.

With all these freebies and discounts, there's really no excuse not to have the ladies checked out this October. Stay Pink!

10 Ways to Lower Cancer Risk

2011-10-15T01:27:00.000+04:00

Cancer isn't selective neither does it discriminate. It can happen to anyone. There are over 100 types of cancer, which mostly develops over a long period of time due to internal and external factors.

While there are no guarantees in life, there are a few simple changes you can make in your daily life which can lower your risk of getting cancer

Stock up on fruits on veggies – the more colour in your diet, the better. I have a tough time getting fruits in so I make smoothies every morning instead with a different variety of fruits.
Stay fit anyway you can. You don’t have to be a fitness nut. As little as 20 minutes power walking a day can help or using the stairs instead of the elevator.
Stop smoking.
Drink alcohol in moderation.
Drink gallons of water, much more than the recommended 6 – 8 glasses a day.
Drink tea everyday. I recommend green tea, which research, has shown protect against a variety of cancers as well as heart disease.
1 multivitamin a day can improve the functioning of the immune system.
Practice safe sex and stick to one partner. Multiple sexual partners increase the risk of HPV in women, which leads to cervical cancer. Having an unfaithful sexual partner also increases her risk.
Stay out of the sun and use sunscreen at all times.
Know your body. If something doesn’t feel right, get yourself checked out immediately. Early detection saves lives.

This isn't an exhaustive list, but these 10 simple steps have been proven to work. Take control of cancer prevention in your life today!

Safe & Sound Pink Walkathon

2011-10-14T00:01:00.000+04:00

The Safe and Sound Pink Walkathon has been going on since 1997 and takes place every October. It involves a 3.6 km walk to raise awareness for breast cancer. The walk will be held on Friday, 28th October and starts at 8:00 am from Burjuman. You can register to participate at Burjuman. You can also get the women in your office/family on board and the Pink Team will meet up to register groups of 10 plus. Registration fee for adults is AED 50 and AED 30 for children aged 8 – 12. Children below 8 walk for free. Men are also welcome.

You get a free tshirt and there’s loads of fun to be had, and prizes to be won. Proceeds from all funds raised are monitored by the Red Crescent and go towards generating further awareness and supporting patient care.

Click Safe and Sound Pink Walkathon to find out more about the initiative. Get ready to put your best foot forward to raise breast cancer awareness in October. See you there! :)

Let's Go Pink!

2011-10-12T11:56:00.000+04:00

Breast Cancer Awareness month is here again. As always, I encourage women of all ages to get on board for the cause and go pink for October. This year, I’m participating in a safe and sound walkathon in my mother’s memory on 28th October. I’ve wanted to be a part of this for 3 years but work always got in the way. There are many other ways to support breast cancer awareness this month and I'll be updating the blog as I get more information. Below are some ways to support the cause: -

Guess has designed a sparkling pink timepiece and everytime a customer purchases one watch, Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons & Guess watches will pay for 1 mammogram for a woman who can’t afford it. The watch is available at all Guess stores.

The Product House Group is donating profits from the sales of Eve Lom TLC Radiance cream throughout the month of October to the Safe & Sound breast cancer campaign. The cream can be found in spas all over the UAE including SensAsia.

Desert Rose in Wafi Mall has a range of handmade silk pouches for AED 50. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Cancer Patients organisation. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the pouch but it’s pretty and of course, pink .

Stay tuned for more information :).

Farewell....:(

2011-10-06T23:13:00.000+04:00

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011). RIP.

Sleepless in Dubai

2011-09-22T00:17:00.000+04:00

It’s nearly 1 am in the morning and I’m wide awake. I’m also languishing in extraordinary pain with a swollen cheek. I’ve had a toothache for quite some time but I’ve hitherto managed to stave off the dentist through sheer willpower and phobia. However, over the last two weeks, the pain grew unbearable.

The first dentist I visited made me uncomfortable and I took off. The next one I met today had some milk of human kindness and wasn’t as officious as the first but still, I wanted to bite her when she drained the abscess in my tooth. It took less than ten minutes but seemed like eternity and felt like someone was trying to extract my brain via my tooth. Alas, it’s yet to be over. I have been referred to a surgeon to have the tooth extracted ASAP. I’m sitting up in bed now paralysed with fear at the thought of returning to the dentist tomorrow. Right about now is when I’d call my Mummy except I don’t have one so... I’m blogging instead.

Someone tell me something nice...:).

High as a Kite

2011-09-11T20:02:00.000+04:00

No, not high on the usual stuff but high on happiness. I’ve been smiling to myself, and at random people, for the last few days because of an achievement that left me surprised. Earlier this year when I put together my vision board, one of my goals for 2011 was seating for my CMP exam, a professional certification for meeting planners. I blogged about the travails of adult education several times along the way, and also grew annoyed at my inability to give up when something became too tough.

Every night for 6 months, I dragged my weary carcass to my dinning room table and studied till 2 am. The first and second time I took a test exam, I failed both times. I returned to my notes and studied even harder. The actual exam itself was weird; multiple choice with at least two choices in each question seeming right. There was a point I got to where it felt like I was guessing the answers. After the exam, I didn’t know whether to cry or start studying to retake it. There was just no way of knowing if I’d done ok.

When the results arrived in my inbox on Thursday night, I was too scared to open it and went out for some hot chocolate instead. When I returned, I said a quick prayer and opened the attachment in the email. It turned out I’d done just fine. I went to the balcony and screamed for a good minute. The feeling of knowing all that hard work and determination paid off was amazing. Right now, I’m still smiling and it’s going to stay that way for a while :).

The Price of Overextension

2011-08-31T22:05:00.003+04:00

I haven’t updated the blog in a long time because I ran out of steam. The event season is starting up soon and it’s getting pretty hot at work. I also tried to send in a lot of residency applications, submit articles and work on my books all at the same time. With only 24 hours in a day, I became so overextended; I crashed and didn’t want to do any of those things anymore. Well, I had to go to work because that’s not optional but everything else, I dumped.

I’ve been a bum for the last two weeks, watching old episodes of Bones every night after work. By the way, I found the show very fascinating. It’s based on the life of one of my favourite authors, Kathy Reichs. I’ve got 3 of her books – Death du Jour, Bare Bones, Grave Secrets – on my shelf waiting to be read.

Currently, I’m on a 5 day Eid holiday. I spent the last two days sleeping and when I woke up this morning, I felt like my old self again. I realised in trying to serve everything I wanted to do, I ended up not doing anything the right service. The way my life is set up now, work takes the bulk of my time and I have few hours left in the day to get anything done. Squeezing everything in those few hours won’t work. Squeezing a bit of everything in those hours won’t work either. I've come to the conclusion that I’m going to have to give up one or two things and narrow down my focus. This saddens me a lot but until I quit working full time, it has to be that way. I still haven’t chosen what’s going to take a back seat yet but I’ve given myself a 24-hour deadline for that.

However, I don’t intend to stop blogging. So, see you soon :)

The Dark Abyss

2011-08-07T20:00:00.003+04:00

The abyss echoes with a silence that obliterates the sound of your breathing. You are plastered to the bottom unable to peel yourself away. Your mind tries to give you tough love, tries to kick you into action but your mind is helpless without your body; the body that has become the prisoner of the abyss. You are surrounded on all sides by the dark cloak of comfort, suffocating yet strangely comforting.

The darkness sees and understands your pain, it acknowledges it and urges you to come closer, deeper into the abyss where the silence locks out all thought and action but one; the chance to be one with the abyss forever. It whispers into your hears like a lover reciting Lord Byron’s finest verses. It caresses you, inviting you to come and float freely in a place where there is no hurt, pain or broken dreams, a place devoid of worldly whiles and worries. “Come,” it whispers. “Come and be free forever.”

Depression is one hell of a mo*********!

Thank God It's Over - Part 3

2011-08-02T19:49:00.006+04:00

This is the continuation of a previous post. Click for Thank God It’s Over, Part 1 & Thank God It’s Over, Part 2.

After listening to French for 5 minutes and nodding along like I understood exactly what he was saying, I walked off and ended up on the main road, which was miraculously the airport road. I jumped on the next bus to the airport. I then called the hotel and asked them to come pick me up.

They were puzzled and wanted to know how I ended up at the airport when my luggage was still in the hotel. I said, "Don't ask!" The driver picked me up, dashed back to the hotel, retrieved my luggage and took me back to the airport. I checked in with literally only a moment to spare. When I finally got on the plane, I went out like a light for the rest of the flight.

Bangkok was a different experience. It was hot and humid and reminded me of Lagos, the old capital of Nigeria. I stayed at The Westin on Sukhumvit road in a big, comfy, quiet room on a high floor just like I like it. I didn’t get to see much of Thailand as I was at the company training most of the time but I knew I wasn’t leaving without shopping after everything I’d heard about Thailand so on the last day, my colleague and I, under the guise of a coffee break, took off to MBK, a huge shopping mall on 5 floors. Everything on the planet except human beings was available and all cheap.

As usual, I almost missed my flight. We left the mall too late and got stuck in traffic on the way to the airport. After clearing immigration, my colleague and I raced through the airport and arrived at the boarding gate minutes before it closed. Thai people were quite friendly and easy to talk to. I give the cab drivers a bit of a side eye though as they’ll do anything to fleece you out of some extra cash but all in all, I intend to return to Thailand some other time and explore the city and a few islands.

I enjoyed the experience and I’m so glad I was able to do it albeit it will take the rest of the year and then some for my pocket book to recover from all the travel expenses. But hey, you only live once so live well, live happy!

PS. I didn't get a chance to take pictures this time around as I was too busy shooting a holiday video for my SO. I'd put that up except I have no idea where the cord is. :)

Thank God It's Over - Part 2

2011-08-01T23:44:00.001+04:00

This is the continuation of a previous post. Click for Thank God It’s Over, Part 1.
My new friend and her husband took me to see a few famous buildings in Geneva, then dropped me off at Lake Geneva with general directions on how to get back to the hotel after the trip across the lake. Lake Geneva was serene and beautiful with many cafes surrounding it. Families and lovers lost in each other arms strolled around the lake, and joggers with their headphones on ran in and out of the crowd.

I hopped on a boat, which took me across the lake. Instead of taking the boat back, I decided to walk around the lake instead. Half way to the bus stop, I came across several people street gambling. I’d never gambled before so I thought I might as well try it. I was swiftly stripped of 30 CHF. They invited me to try again but losing that money sent a sick feeling to the pit of my stomach as a voice in my head whispered, “You realise there are people who haven’t had anything to eat today in Somalia, right?” Thus began and ended my gambling days on the side walk of Lake Geneva.

As I walked away, I looked at my watch and realised I had less than 3 hours before my flight. I hurried towards the bus stop. Over the next 1½ hours, I turned getting lost into an art form. The first bus I got on dropped me off nowhere near where I was going. I asked someone on the street and was directed to another bus. This time I was dropped off at the convention centre where there wasn’t a soul in sight. The silence was eerie. Nervous, I started walking to nowhere in particular. I eventually came across a few houses but still no people. Ten minutes later, I glimpsed a man near a wood. I walked up to him muttering a silent prayer that I wasn’t about to speak to a mass murderer. Yes, I know, too much TV.

(To Be Continued)

Thank God It's Over - Part 1

2011-07-29T02:15:00.000+04:00

Well, I’m back from my travels and what a journey it was . I arrived in Geneva last week with a well laid out plan. Study on day 1, sight see on day 2, exam on day 3 then off to Bangkok. Nothing happened as I’d planned. The hotel I stayed at, Crowne Plaza, turned out to be a disappointment.

On day 1, I arrived back at my room after breakfast to discover there was construction going on upstairs. I called the front desk and they promised the noise would end at 12. Unable to study, I grabbed my bag and headed for United Nations on Palais des Nations. Two buses and vigorous city map waving later, I gave up and headed for the mall to get a new pair of shoes when my slippers broke on the street. As I bumbled through schoolgirl French in the mall, I subconsciously heard what my teacher had spent 3 years muttering at me in French class, “Votre Français est incorrigible”. I couldn’t have agreed with her more at that moment.

Eventually, I found a pair of flat shoes and headed back for the hotel on foot unwilling to ask directions in my appalling French. I arrived at 3 pm to discover the construction was still going on. Oh, heck no! I wasn’t paying 192 CHF a night for the privilege of noise. I called reception and demanded a stop to the noise or a new room. They informed me I would have to tolerate the noise, as there were no other rooms available at the hotel. They realised I wasn’t playing when I asked for the General Manager. 15 minutes later, a free room miraculously appeared. The new room had no safe, fridge or table but it was on the other side of the hotel and quiet. I stuck a “do not disturb” sign outside my door, got comfortable on the rug and dug into the books.

Day 2 was gloomy and rainy and I spent the whole day alternating between studying and watching news reports of the carnage in Norway :(. On day 3, I sat for the exam. The exam experience was odd and weird and frankly I have no idea if I will pass it but finally at 1pm on July 23, I set aside the 3 gigantic books I’d spent the last 6 months cramming and smelt the sweet air of time to do whatever I liked.

After the exam, I’d planned to check my office emails and get some work done prior to leaving early evening but I struck up a conversation with one of the exam candidates and she offered to show me United Nations and drop me off at Lake Geneva since I had about 4 hours before my flight. If I’d had a crystal ball, I probably would have stuck to the original plan but I didn’t want to leave Geneva without at least seeing something, and see something I did :).

(To Be Continued)

What about Caylee?

2011-07-09T04:29:00.001+04:00

There is a nursery rhyme that goes like this,

I know a funny little man, 

As quiet as a mouse, 

Who does the mischief that is done

 In everybody’s house!

 There's no one ever sees his face, 

And yet we all agree 

That every plate we break was cracked

 By Mr. Nobody

The poem has 2 other verses but the overall theme is – when it comes to mischief in the house, Mr Nobody is always responsible for it. I always thought he wasn’t real but in the last few weeks, it has become apparent that Mr Nobody lives and walks among us.

Anyone who’s been following the news closely would have heard or read of Casey Anthony, an American woman whose child, Caylee, went missing in 2008. She didn’t report Caylee missing for 31 days; actually she never did. It was Caylee’s grandmother that reported her missing after listening to several tales about an AWOL nanny for a month. During the time Caylee was missing, her mother (and I use the term extremely loosely) went partying several times. When I was a kid, if my mother couldn’t locate anyone within 5 minutes of asking, “Where is your sister?” she would turn the entire compound inside out. So it sounds marvellous and unnatural to me that someone would go partying when they have no idea where their child is.

Eventually, police got involved and her story kept changing. Caylee’s body was found in December 2008 with duct tape around her head. Cause of death remains undetermined. Her “mother” was charged with her murder among other things. Casey Anthony’s trial began a few weeks ago and at its conclusion last week, something phantasmagorical happened – she was acquitted of all charges. Casey Anthony will walk free on July 17th and may go on to profit from interviews, book deals and all such crap.

I know all the legal claptrap about the prosecution not being able to prove the case against Casey beyond a reasonable doubt but nevertheless my heart breaks for Caylee. What about Caylee? Who is fighting for justice for Caylee? Who is the champion for Caylee? Who is going to be punished for cutting short her beautiful life? Has Mr/Mrs Nobody gone quietly into the night from whence he/she came and will never be brought to justice?

Rest in peace little angel. I’m so sorry that the person that was supposed to love and protect you failed you miserably. You’re better off in the bosom of the Lord.

PS. I know I said I wouldn't blog until after my exam but my heart has been so heavy within me for the last few days, I just had to write something about it.

Helluva Day!

2011-07-05T00:56:00.000+04:00

I should have known something wasn’t going to go right with today when I drove out of my apartment building and missed crashing into a Toyota by seconds. I’d been up till 3 am studying and was half asleep at the wheel. That should have been my cue to park the car and use the metro instead but no, I went on with it. Three hours later, I stopped by an exchange to find out some information. When I returned to my car, I discovered I’d lost the key. I went back to the exchange but the key seemed to have vanished without a trace.

Of course, this had to be the day when I switched handbags and left my wallet with all my money and debit cards in the other bag at home. I called the car showroom and related my predicament. They informed me they would have to jimmy the lock, have the car towed, put in a new lock and reprogram the new key. They could also destroy the window to get in. Either way, it would cost me nearly $1,000.

At that point, I figured I hadn’t looked for the key quite hard enough. I told them I would call back and proceeded to traipse around the entire area for 30 minutes without any luck. Exhausted, I took refuge under a building porch. A security guard came over 5 minutes later and started mumbling some nonsense. I realized he thought I was a prostitute. “Dude, do prostitutes wear suits, carry laptop bags and stand in 45 degree heat with their make up running down their faces where you come from?”

I walked away in a huff and called one of my mates to come pick me up or at least provide some shade for me while I figured out a way to not spend all that money. While waiting, I walked up and down the street in an agitated manner and slowly turned into a well-done rump roast. Half an hour later, someone stopped me and asked what I was looking for. I said I couldn’t find my car key. She mentioned she’d noticed a key in front of a store nearby and took me there. The blasted key was wedged in the sand. I retrieved it, thanked her profusely and headed for my car to find a policeman about to issue me a fine because my parking ticket had expired. I sped to him and spent 3 minutes apologizing. He eventually let me go. By the time I got into the car, my jacket was soaking wet.

When I got to the office, I called the showroom to tell them everything was fine but I needed to make an extra copy of the car key just in case of next time. The quote for that? Nearly $300. I think I’m going to switch to a bicycle or motorcycle very soon.

PS. This will probably be my last blog posting before my exam. I intended to blog about a health scare I had last week before going on break but I’m still working through that in my head so maybe later on. I have less than 3 weeks to go before my exam and I’m lagging behind just a tad so see you end of the month and wish me luck!

11 Vital Sources for Writing Ideas

2011-07-04T01:00:00.000+04:00

Gene Fowler once said, “Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” Sound familiar? Often, you can reflect until you're ready to take a hammer to your brains but you can’t come up with anything worth a damn to write about. The obvious answer for inspiration is your muse but the muse does as it pleases and sometimes, it goes AWOL and there’s nothing you can do about it. In the absence of your muse, there are a couple of other places where you can find inspiration from:-

Childhood: - Childhood is full of memories that can be tapped into for excellent ideas. I’ve lost count of how many stories I’ve written based on my childhood. My hilarious over the top antics to get published between 16 – 18 years old alone would make for a novella.
Friends & Family: - What you write is to some extent based on someone you know within your family circle or from acquaintances. Observe friends and family more closely and you’d be surprised at how many story ideas pop into your head.
Work: - Both present and past jobs can be a rich source of inspiration. I’ve written 2 short stories based on people I used to work with. Just remember to change names and settings a little bit to avoid been sued.
Painful Times: - Every true artist knows all about this. Some of the greatest work from artists was borne out of a hurt or painful memory. I wrote a story once about heartbreak to a newspaper. After the story was published, the newspaper received an absolute deluge of letters from single men looking to meet me.
Good Times: - You can get some nice stories out of good times too. Just think of a really happy memory, something that filled your heart with so much joy, you thought you would explode – there’s a story in there somewhere.
Dreams: - I don’t know about you but I get half of my stuff from dreams. I just wake up, have an idea and start writing. I’m sure if you tap into your subconscious while sleeping, you’ll find something there. A few suggestions on how to do that would probably be relaxation exercises or meditation before going to bed.
Holidays: - You meet all kinds of people from all over the globe while on holiday. Some boring, some fascinating, some mysterious and some scary – all fodder for a good whodunit I believe. On my last vacation, I saw a man staring at me a little too intensely for comfort while I was leaning on a bridge. He came over and asked me a strange question and I took off immediately. Out of that encounter came a story entitled, “The Girl on the Bridge”.
Newspapers:- Most newspapers and tabloids are filled with stories ranging from good to bad to downright horrifying. Reading between the lines instead of scanning very fast can lead to a great idea. Truman Capote’s idea for In Cold Blood was borne out of a article in The New York Times in 1959.
Movies: - I can’t tell how many times I’ve watched a movie and gone, “Hey, that’s so stupid. If I were the writer, I’d do this instead of that.” That usually leads to other ideas of what I’d do instead and before you know it, a story is in the making.
Malls: - Sometimes I go to a mall, take a vantage seat and watch the world go by. You can tell a lot about people just from watching them which can light up a few idea bulbs in your head. Just don’t let the watching get a little too intense, or someone might call mall security.
Listening to people: - Earlier this year, I got an idea for a hilarious story when someone told me about a real female stalker. Listening to people go on about their day or life can lead to several story ideas as well.

There you have it. Most of the time, you’re not going to get an entire book from any of these sources – just a few that you can link together and then let your imagination aka your muse do the rest. Do you have any inspiration ideas you'd like to share?

Staying Motivated

2011-07-01T18:01:00.000+04:00

Combining full time work with writing is a tough job. After a long day at work, you have 4 – 5 hours tops before you need to get to bed. Within those hours, you have stuff like getting dinner ready, preparing for the next day at work, etc to get out of the way before you can finally get down to writing. It’s pretty hard to stay motivated in the midst of all that and the natural instinct is to give up. When I come close to that, here are a few things I do to get me back on track: -

I’m a big advocate of turning off your idiot box. If you tally the number of hours you watch it in a day x 365 days a year, that’s a lot of your life spent in front of a box that adds no value to you as a person.
Listen for your muse. Every writer has one. I have the crazy lady in the blue tunic. When he/she comes, stop whatever you’re doing and go with the flow.
If you can’t hear your muse, that’s ok. It doesn’t give you a pass to turn to the TV or Internet. Pick up a book and start reading instead. It will eventually get you going again.
Make a timetable and determine to stick to it. I try to do at least an hour of writing on workdays and 4 – 5 hours on weekends. Initially, it can be a struggle but once you get into the routine, it works out quite well.
Get off the Internet. I’m guilty of this. Under the guise of searching for some information you need for your book, you end up wasting valuable hours on the WWW. Limit your research to only 1 or 2 days a week, if that. If you’re a slave to the Internet, you can unplug it before you start writing.
Get officious with the writing. Have an area for it with a desk, printer and other necessary paraphernalia. Let the area serve as a writing office only.
Put all new age devices on silent mode i.e. blackberry, iphone, ipad, iwhatever, and focus only on the screen in front of you. No distractions.

If you have any tips for staying motivated, please share them in the comment box. Happy reading & writing. :)

Book Review – On Writing by Stephen King

2011-06-30T13:26:00.001+04:00

If you’re wondering at the thumbnail for this post, considering it has nothing to do with the title, it’s because there needs to be a drum roll for this review, which has been pending for quite some time. I think this is the only book I’ve ever read in my life, which took me this long to finish. I read 5 other books in-between and reviewed one of them. Don’t get me wrong; it’s far from being a boring book. I just had so many things I was trying to swallow at once, it kept taking a back seat to everything else but I finally finished it and here follows the review.

On Writing isn’t a step-by-step guide on how to become a writer or a better writer, and thank goodness for that. I’ve seen more than enough of those in the marketplace. Instead, the book is laid out in 3 parts. In part 1, we become familiar with who Stephen King is, how he got into his craft, his family, his struggles and how he became a renowned writer. He also mentions how having his wife believe in him made a huge difference during the tough years. She was and still remains his biggest supporter. The seriousness of the memoir is sprinkled here and there with humorous tales from childhood to adulthood. We also get a glimpse of his descent into alcoholism and drugs during which he created some of his greatest work. In part 3, he wrote about the car accident, which nearly ended his life, the painful road to recovery and getting back into writing. He describes it in a matter of fact way without complaint or name-calling.

Part 2 is where the good stuff is – about writing. I was surprised to discover a lot of similarities as related to my own writing processes/practices but not to worry, I dare not compare myself to Stephen King. If I did, who would be Anna Fani then? :). Anyway, at the start of the chapter, he recommends Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style and refers to it a few times. Needless to say, I ordered it before I’d even finished reading On Writing. In the grammar section, he expresses his distaste for adverbs (words that end in –ly), discussing it at length. I have to agree with him. Using adverbs can turn a writer into a lazy writer because it prevents you from thinking up a better word. Nevertheless, I’m still guilty of it. I presume this is something every writer tries to eliminate in the second or final draft of a book.

He goes on to outline the backbone of writing – read a lot and write a lot, the 3 parts of a novel (narration, description & dialogue), writing the first and second draft, research and where it belongs, grammar, passive voice, theme, symbolism, writing tightly, agents & publisher and his views on attending writing classes and seminars. Finally, he advocates writing for you. Expectation of fame and fortune shouldn’t be the reason you write. This was well said. It would be nice to become a bumpkin billionaire from writing but if I don’t become one, it’s perfectly fine. At the end of the day, I will always have a pen, a piece of paper and the crazy lady in the blue tunic, which is what really fires up my soul when it comes to my writing.

It, Carrie, The Shinning, Pet Sematary and Misery scared the bejesus out of me and cured any desire I had to read horror books but I have a newfound respect for Stephen King and his skills. I will be looking into a few of his non – horror books after this.

It was a fast and easy read and I highly recommend it to new as well as established writers. Click On Writing or on the link to the left to get a copy of the book.

Upcoming Book Reviews sometime this decade – Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver & The Elements of Style by Strunk & White.

Daddies...:)

2011-06-20T22:15:00.001+04:00

Bare with me if this post is a little too long as I'm full of nostalgia today.

The post is coming a day late but it’s easier for me to deal with today than it would have been yesterday. My relationship with my daddy was dynamic and multifaceted. We had a lot of similarities yet we argued a lot.
We argued about the right way to pronounce words, we had debates on the correct formatting for letters, he threatened to disown me when I took up jumping up and down in public otherwise known as martial arts, I threatened to run away when he wouldn’t cough up money for my vanity publishing project when I was 16, and we (my sisters and me) wouldn’t talk to him for days every time he threatened to annihilate boys.
He did in fact “handle” a few boys over the teenage years. The specific details of said handling shall remain within the family forever and ever. Lol :)! Whenever it was time to return to school for the semester and we all presented him with individual bills, he would look at it and unceremoniously hack the bills then remind us we needed to learn how to budget thus earning himself about a month of silent treatment. Some of us never learnt. Yeah, you know who you are :)!

I remember when my big sister was getting married, each time my mum added something to the bill, his blood pressure increased. Each time he dropped something from the bill, my sister’s blood pressure increased and every time someone changed something already agreed on, my mother’s blood pressure increased. I spent the entire time fighting with my sister over what shade of blue my bridesmaid dress should be. It was an exercise in absolute hilarity and a testament to the fact that nothing in this life can ever be like the wonderful experience of having a family. I don’t think anyone in our immediate family will ever forget the words “carton brown”.

Through it all, there was always this smile at the corner of his mouth when something was achieved that let you know he was proud of his daughters. He would stand in front of his store and tell anyone who stood still long enough (poor sods) about what [insert daughter’s name here] had just accomplished.

Mummies get a lot of accolades which are all more than well deserved but fathers are unsung soldiers. They provide for their families and protect their wives and children. They can’t have bad hair days or refuse to leave the house because of a pimple. They teach their children the value of truth, honour and integrity. They get on with it and get it done. Here's raising a glass to salute the true daddies, those that are still here with us and those who are no longer with us, and wishing them all a belated wonderful father’s day!

PS. The fly man in the thumbnail is my daddy in the 90s :).

The Power of Believing

2011-06-19T23:14:00.001+04:00

I’ve been a very busy little bee in the last week. I’m part of the CSR team in my company and we put together and launched a fitness initiative for the staff. I’ve also been holed up at the staff retreat, which turned out to be quite an amazing experience.

The staff were divided up into 6 teams earlier in the week and given assignments that would culminate in a presentation at the retreat. We had a variation of the same assignment last year and my team came last due to a variety of factors related to everyone wanting to be right. I wasn’t very happy about that.

When the assignment arrived in my inbox this year, I looked it over, turned to my teammates and said, “Guys, we’re going to win this year. Let’s get to work.” I didn’t say it just to put on a brave face. I said it because I believed it. Throughout the week, every time someone said anything about what team would win, I would confidently state, “Oh, it’s our team.”

The team researched and I focused on collating all the information into a kick ass presentation. I also focused on pumping up the team. The day came and we went out in full force to make the presentation, and what do you know, we won!

When all the excitement had died down a little and I thought about it, I realised that not one moment in the last week did it ever occur to me that we wouldn’t win. I believed it and kept affirming it over and over again to myself.

Sometimes, the power of believing something completely and relentlessly can bring that thing to life and make it happen. If there’s something you want to happen in your life, a good place to start would be simply believing in it.

Below are pictures of my team with our trophy and the fitness initiative banner. Don’t ask about the ridiculous hat!

Bucket List

2011-06-14T21:14:00.001+04:00

The Bucket List is a movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson as two men diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. They make up a list of things to do before they kick the bucket and spend most of the movie trying to get it done. I usually have a list of things I want to achieve from year to year but a list that contains stuff I absolutely must do before I die? Nope, not so much. So here goes my bucket list in no particular order - Anna's Bucket List.