Every writer has a bunch of notes to him/herself for ready reference on the craft of story writing that suits that particular writer’s style of writing. For me, it has evolved over the past few years of writing. As I started with blogging to writing articles, and then jumped to humor and slice of life … Read more
Recently I read another Seth Godin book titled “The Dip: The extraordinary benefits of knowing when to quit (and when to stick)”. Though I would not classify it in the same category as ‘The Practice’ or ‘This is Marketing’, it nevertheless is a very good book with a lot of wise one-liners that are typical … Read more
Note Extracts from my reading of Vedanta-Sara by Adi Sankaracharya: Vedāntasāra is one of the best known epitomes (Prakaraṇa Granthas) of the philosophy of the Upaniṣads as taught by Śaṅkarācārya, whose followers are said to number the largest in India. Māyā and Avidyā are generally used synonymously, though Māyā is sometimes said to be the … Read more
I made a bunch of notes on Writing Advice by Stephen King. I like to refer to this list from time to time. Here I reproduce it for your reference and reading pleasure. Stop watching television. Instead, read as much as possible. Prepare for more failure and criticism than you think you can deal with. … Read more
It has been a few months since one of my friends successfully summitted Mount Everest and came back down in one piece. When he returned home, it seemed to me that he had not quite registered the enormity of his feat in the eyes of commoners like us. In the number of interactions that I … Read more
Note Extracts from my reading of Aparokshanubhuti by Adi Sankaracharya: Such treatises as aim at serving as introductions to a more advanced study of a system of philosophy are generally known as ‘Prakarana Granthas’. Besides giving an outline of the system, each of them emphasizes some one or other of the main features. Aparokṣānubhūti is … Read more
After my first draft, my first round of editing is about getting the story right and sharp. In that round, I focus on getting the character, its conflict and the resolution of that conflict correct and smooth. My second (and usually last) round of editing is more technical and focused on finishing. Here is my … Read more
I read this much-celebrated book ‘The 4-Hour Work Week’ by Timothy Ferriss lately. Perhaps it is intended for a younger audience but for me, a writer close to fifty after twenty five years of corporate life, most of the details in the book were too much work to read. I found only the last section … Read more
One of the things that I have often wondered is whether it is necessary to finish everything that I start. There is this quintessential image of a writer with heaps of torn paper next to him as he isn’t quite able to finish what he started satisfactorily. I have come around to the thinking that … Read more