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
When a piece of music is good, it gets a lot of claps. When a piece of music is great, it gets silence. It is easy to compose and deliver music that gets claps. It is the work of a true genius to compose and deliver music that gets silence. No claps, no words, only … Read more
I had been told to get on Facebook when I started writing. I did. I used to have an author page where I kept posting blog posts regularly at one time. Then I was told to publish them on LinkedIn. I had never bought a book, especially fiction, after reading about it on LinkedIn. Or … Read more
50 isn’t very different from 49, I discovered the day after my 50th birthday. Did the above line catch your attention? I just wrote it as an experiment. When I started writing, a lot of courses told me that the first line of a story is very important. So, I cultivated this habit of noting … Read more
When I first started writing, more than the actual writing, I spent a lot of time on reading about writing. Later, after reading a lot about writing, I realised that my time is best spent in the actual writing, going forward. But at that point in time, when I was new to writing, publishing and … Read more
Recently read a book by Ruskin Bond titled ‘The India I love’. Within that, there was a chapter called ‘Joyfully I write’. As an author, some of what he wrote resonated strongly with me. I am sure as readers and writers, you will find it equally delightful. Here are a few excerpts from that chapter … Read more
A few months back I read a book titled ‘The Practice’ by Seth Godin. I loved it a lot and made some notes from it. They are some profound lines from the book which spoke to me. The first and second set of these lines are here and here. Here is the third set: *** … Read more
A while back I read a book titled “Business for Authors” by Joanna Penn. Though I never looked at writing as a means to a livelihood (25 years of corporate life perhaps allowed me to keep it as a hobby at best, or at worst, a vocation), for those who have the gumption to start … Read more
For writers and all kinds of professional or hobby artists, I highly recommend the book “The Practice” by Seth Godin. I read it almost a year back and it has still stayed with me. I have taken notes from the book and refer to them off and on when I need inspiration. You will find … Read more