Adventures of a Writer

Photo by Valentina Conde on Unsplash 2020 has rolled in and with it a new set of to-do's for the Year. Am I the only person to feel pressured by the things that were left undone or half-done in the year gone by? I don't know about you but I feel like being the "woman on a mission" is simply too much pressure and takes the joy out of life and the things that are supposed to give you joy! So, what's the point, right? In the process you end up stressed out for the projects that remained unfinished. And what about the achievements? The small and not-so-small things that you got done? The moments of joy that were perhaps a bit too fleeting? Pause. Take a deep breath. And pat yourself on the back for those little successes. Because believe it or not, life is too short to harp on the failures. Move on, if something is not working out, accept defeat gracefully and move on to something else. Staying motivated is not just about counting your successes. It...

By Jaideep Sen For a while I wasn’t being able to identify what to base my next piece of SALAAM SALIM SAAB on till the Legend himself cleared my dilemma.   During a recent conversation he mentioned that when they had narrated the biggest game changer film in contemporary Indian Cinema, Zanjeer , to a renowned film director of that era, he had told Salim Saab that they had wasted two and a half hours of his precious time.  Now that was a statement that grabbed my immediate attention for two reasons. One, the audience has proved time and again that it is far sharper and smarter than filmmakers while it is difficult for good content to get made into films due to the lack of understanding of filmmakers. Two, don’t get affected and shaken by   ‘rejection’.  When I brought this up with Salim Saab, the humble cinematic giant took the onus on himself for the initial rejections by saying that it was the nature of the story and not the lack of understanding ...

If you are a writer you probably know about NaNoWriMo. Unless of course you have been living under a rock or have been writing away furiously in your Writing Cave. In the latter case, you probably have no need for a NaNoWriMo! Of course for lesser mortals who are juggling day jobs and household chores and dreaming about writing that wonderful novel that has been playing out in our heads, NaNoWriMo is just what the Muse ordered. A whole month you can prep for (and it comes in November) and work on your manuscript. The sheer thought of millions of writers plugging away at their manuscripts all over the world is itself hugely inspiring. But.... (yes, the dreaded 'but') life always doesn't always turn out as planned and for many of us, writing simply doesn't happen in November. So, what's the alternative? Well, what if you could create your own Novel Writing Month and join hands with some writer buddies for the much needed writing support? That's an idea wort...

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do." -- Leonardo da Vinci Writers need to be self-starters. The act of finding an idea, developing it, putting it through its paces to make sure there is enough meat and material to turn it into a certain length requires an enormous amount of motivation. More so, because there is no tangible gain: no promise of a fat advance for your manuscript and no guarantee that your indie book will sell millions of copies. That itself is a huge barrier to writing. The delicious irony of being a writer is that the act of writing a piece of fiction also involves creating characters that have 'motivation'. Without motivation, your characters will not have enough juice to power your novel's plot. So, as a writer you are doing double duty -- motivating yourself and finding some for your characters. It would be great if you could find a bottle of that wonderful ingredient called Motivation in a store...