A. Type
B. Proofread
C. Send
The ABC to curing Writer's Block.
B. Proofread
C. Send
The ABC to curing Writer's Block.
Sunday 14 July 2013
Thursday 6 June 2013
Ideas For Free!
Okay, so these are a few ideas I had during my mad months earlier this year. Sadly, I'm not going to be able to use them, but if you like any or think you can make something of any one of these ideas, then they're yours for the taking. Here goes:
1. A girl who is protective about her friends, a guy who is used to being pampered by her discovers that she is being mistreated at home and makes a plan to get her out of there.
2. A guy who has vowed to stay away from the War, ends up joining when he discovers the girl he loves has disguised herself to go into battle.
3. A young girl leaves everything and goes to a hill station to chase her dreams of writing. There, she meets a guy who had also tried to do the same and unable to, set up a small cafe, which becomes a cultural hub. There she sees all kinds of characters, but she falls for him who shelters them all despite him being many years older than she is.
4. A bar, where the bartender and owner manipulate the patrons and place bets on how the stories in their lives will unfold.
5. He ignores her, almost not seeing her, because he's so busy with the war and doesn't want to burden her with his troubles. She's the Queen in disguise and she doesn't want to burden him with the troubles of ruling her corrupted land once she comes back into power. Upset with him, at the end of the war, she goes without leaving him a message. He discovers that she is the Queen and goes to win her back.
6. A girl makes a clone of herself to marry him. However, he is as bossy and narcissistic as she is. They fight as he tries to control her and she kills him, just as he dials 911. he has no record, no birth certificate so the officials do not know what to arrest her on the basis of. They set her free and she she sets off for home, only to get shot in the back as she realizes too late, that he wasn't totally dead.
7. An artist who kills people and uses their blood to create her paintings and the detective who falls in love with her.
8. A guy volunteers to repair the grave of his mother as it is broken. One brother supports him and decides to take up the job. The other brother and his sister oppose him, thinking they will have to pay for it. From the grave, it goes to the will and about how one is trying to show he has more love for the mother to get a larger claim on the inheritance. The other brother is shocked and decides to leave the grave untouched. The lady sips her tea alone, as she looks at the property she sits in. The grave lies broken as ever.
9. She has always felt like an alien was inside her but never told anybody. She visits her granny's house unexpected one day and sees her performing the weirdest ritual as alien beings come on earth. Curious, she stows away and finds she is princess in this land. But she discovers that there is a defect in this land, a vacuum through which everything is slowly being sucked out. The only way to plug the hole is by connecting it to another land. So she volunteers to carry this responsibility and comes back to earth.
10. She leaves her wedding ceremony when she learns of her brother's disappearance from a maid. Confronting her uncle, who had seen the entire thing, she finds out he was taken by an outlaw. She leaves to get her brother back. There, she discovers a handsome man with his own set of rules. They fall in love and she realizes he was her betrothed, He was chased away for the death of his father as a little kid. They collect his men and go to fight the uncle who uses her brother as ransom. But they defeat him in the end.
1. A girl who is protective about her friends, a guy who is used to being pampered by her discovers that she is being mistreated at home and makes a plan to get her out of there.
2. A guy who has vowed to stay away from the War, ends up joining when he discovers the girl he loves has disguised herself to go into battle.
3. A young girl leaves everything and goes to a hill station to chase her dreams of writing. There, she meets a guy who had also tried to do the same and unable to, set up a small cafe, which becomes a cultural hub. There she sees all kinds of characters, but she falls for him who shelters them all despite him being many years older than she is.
4. A bar, where the bartender and owner manipulate the patrons and place bets on how the stories in their lives will unfold.
5. He ignores her, almost not seeing her, because he's so busy with the war and doesn't want to burden her with his troubles. She's the Queen in disguise and she doesn't want to burden him with the troubles of ruling her corrupted land once she comes back into power. Upset with him, at the end of the war, she goes without leaving him a message. He discovers that she is the Queen and goes to win her back.
6. A girl makes a clone of herself to marry him. However, he is as bossy and narcissistic as she is. They fight as he tries to control her and she kills him, just as he dials 911. he has no record, no birth certificate so the officials do not know what to arrest her on the basis of. They set her free and she she sets off for home, only to get shot in the back as she realizes too late, that he wasn't totally dead.
7. An artist who kills people and uses their blood to create her paintings and the detective who falls in love with her.
8. A guy volunteers to repair the grave of his mother as it is broken. One brother supports him and decides to take up the job. The other brother and his sister oppose him, thinking they will have to pay for it. From the grave, it goes to the will and about how one is trying to show he has more love for the mother to get a larger claim on the inheritance. The other brother is shocked and decides to leave the grave untouched. The lady sips her tea alone, as she looks at the property she sits in. The grave lies broken as ever.
9. She has always felt like an alien was inside her but never told anybody. She visits her granny's house unexpected one day and sees her performing the weirdest ritual as alien beings come on earth. Curious, she stows away and finds she is princess in this land. But she discovers that there is a defect in this land, a vacuum through which everything is slowly being sucked out. The only way to plug the hole is by connecting it to another land. So she volunteers to carry this responsibility and comes back to earth.
10. She leaves her wedding ceremony when she learns of her brother's disappearance from a maid. Confronting her uncle, who had seen the entire thing, she finds out he was taken by an outlaw. She leaves to get her brother back. There, she discovers a handsome man with his own set of rules. They fall in love and she realizes he was her betrothed, He was chased away for the death of his father as a little kid. They collect his men and go to fight the uncle who uses her brother as ransom. But they defeat him in the end.
Tuesday 4 June 2013
My New Writer's Process
Normally, I let a really strong emotion grab hold of me and lead me into the story. After creating a character who's feeling the same thing I am, I explore her (or his) reasons for the feeling, going through her mind and her life and ultimately resolving the conflict she faces, also subduing the emotion I started with.
But a few months ago, I went through an intense ideating phase. I was reading articles about plot and characterization and I'd wanted to experiment with the insights I found there. So, I wrote plot after plot after plot, seeing the action unfold and the change in the character from conflict to maturity. Out of these ideas I created, there are 13 ideas I really want to flesh into stories.
I feel too impatient to be leisurely about them but at the same time, I want to enjoy them. So, I'm going to create a new process for myself from today. I will write one of these stories everyday or every two days, depending on the time available with me. I shall add these stories to the list of others that I have been meaning to edit since very long. Then I shall begin editing them after these initial drafts have been written.
Meanwhile, I shall pen down new ideas as and when I get them and if the urge is too strong, make that idea my story for the day. Till now, I've been moody and capricious with my writing. I wonder what will happen when I create this routine. It's time to see.
This is my daily plan as of now:
1. Write a story from the 13
2. Read a friend's story or a popular story and analyze it
3. Edit a story from my list of pending stories
:) Let's see how it goes.
But a few months ago, I went through an intense ideating phase. I was reading articles about plot and characterization and I'd wanted to experiment with the insights I found there. So, I wrote plot after plot after plot, seeing the action unfold and the change in the character from conflict to maturity. Out of these ideas I created, there are 13 ideas I really want to flesh into stories.
I feel too impatient to be leisurely about them but at the same time, I want to enjoy them. So, I'm going to create a new process for myself from today. I will write one of these stories everyday or every two days, depending on the time available with me. I shall add these stories to the list of others that I have been meaning to edit since very long. Then I shall begin editing them after these initial drafts have been written.
Meanwhile, I shall pen down new ideas as and when I get them and if the urge is too strong, make that idea my story for the day. Till now, I've been moody and capricious with my writing. I wonder what will happen when I create this routine. It's time to see.
This is my daily plan as of now:
1. Write a story from the 13
2. Read a friend's story or a popular story and analyze it
3. Edit a story from my list of pending stories
:) Let's see how it goes.
Monday 3 June 2013
An Insomniac Due To Writing and Proud Of It!
I was reading one of my friend's stories yesterday, when I had this burning urge to write a story of the same genre. So, at 12 p.m., knowing full well I had work the next morning, I let the urge take me over and I wrote. It started with an idea I had had earlier but hadn't had the impetus to write and it morphed into something larger than what I'd initially thought of. The premise was what if you get caught red-handed doing something you're not supposed to? I like it when I start with one idea and end up with something a bit different, because the story maintains its unpredictability for me then. I can enjoy the journey, without getting obsessive about the construction. I ended up having so much fun that by the time I finally finished it was 4a.m. 4 a.m!
Thankfully, I was able to wake up. And I was able to come to office. In fact, I'm here right now.
Thankfully, I was able to wake up. And I was able to come to office. In fact, I'm here right now.
Friday 31 May 2013
Getting To The Middle of It
I just finished reading "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman. It's a wonderfully imaginative work but I had to read quite a few pages before the really interesting parts began.
The book clearly delineates Coraline, her parents and the characters of the new neighbors before the real drama begins. Similarly, a lot of really great books take the time to set up the situation, the characters and their relations before they plunge into the conflict and take off into the weirdosphere.
I find it hard to read such books sometimes, wanting the book to get to the main conflict sooner or be exciting from the moment I open its pages. But it's only once we've been acquainted with the book's normal world, that the dangers or anomalies that take place later have any real effect on us, right?
A similar impatience affects my writing. I immediately get to the points I really want to write about and the buildup suffers as a result. I need to work on the establishment of the day-to-day occurrences that lead up to the wild, bizarre and outrageous scenes I really want to get to.
The daily scenes require constraint, patience and temperance to create. But the rewards of a piece with these plateau areas are much more than a piece without them.
After all, it's the slow climb to the top that makes the rush downwards that much more exciting, isn't it?
The book clearly delineates Coraline, her parents and the characters of the new neighbors before the real drama begins. Similarly, a lot of really great books take the time to set up the situation, the characters and their relations before they plunge into the conflict and take off into the weirdosphere.
I find it hard to read such books sometimes, wanting the book to get to the main conflict sooner or be exciting from the moment I open its pages. But it's only once we've been acquainted with the book's normal world, that the dangers or anomalies that take place later have any real effect on us, right?
A similar impatience affects my writing. I immediately get to the points I really want to write about and the buildup suffers as a result. I need to work on the establishment of the day-to-day occurrences that lead up to the wild, bizarre and outrageous scenes I really want to get to.
The daily scenes require constraint, patience and temperance to create. But the rewards of a piece with these plateau areas are much more than a piece without them.
After all, it's the slow climb to the top that makes the rush downwards that much more exciting, isn't it?
Tuesday 28 May 2013
The Joy of Writing With Somebody Else
Confession time! I have an awesome friend at my workplace, who I write stories with during the free time we can make. Our backs will face each other when we write, but once we're done, we immediately turn and give each other feedback or help.
More than this, we will make sure the other takes the time to write, whether it's during office hours, or during the weekend at home. It's great to have a buddy, who asks you what you have written and suggests what you can write next.
We each have our writer goals and we know the other's goals as well as we do our own, so it becomes easier to make suggestions.
Right now, we're working on creating entries for writing contests and sending them across. Since I have somebody behind my back, I'm finally meeting deadlines and it feels good!
Do you have a writer buddy too?
More than this, we will make sure the other takes the time to write, whether it's during office hours, or during the weekend at home. It's great to have a buddy, who asks you what you have written and suggests what you can write next.
We each have our writer goals and we know the other's goals as well as we do our own, so it becomes easier to make suggestions.
Right now, we're working on creating entries for writing contests and sending them across. Since I have somebody behind my back, I'm finally meeting deadlines and it feels good!
Do you have a writer buddy too?
Thursday 23 May 2013
What's Your Writer Persona?
The Myers-Briggs personality types are used by psychologists all over the world to judge a person's traits. It can help you understand how you deal with relationships or how you approach work, and to a similar extent, how you approach writing.
For e.g., I oscillate between being an INFP and an ENFP, which means my ideas can often represent a Gordian knot, I need to feel strongly about the topic in order to write about it and I tend to drown myself in information while writing.
For e.g., I oscillate between being an INFP and an ENFP, which means my ideas can often represent a Gordian knot, I need to feel strongly about the topic in order to write about it and I tend to drown myself in information while writing.
The various personality types with their characteristic writing patterns have been listed here.
You can discover your personality type by taking this test:
Whatever I have mentioned here is based on information available from:
http://www.personalitypage.com/INFP.html
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