Mohabbat : Love

Just fall in love…into those deep-set intense eyes. Sigh!

 

The Insecurities of a Writer

About time to confess my insecurities as a writer. Trust me I am not alone facing this. Every writer goes through this. However, there can be a slight difference in the way they react to it. Some go to hibernation, some may swear never pick up the pen again while some bounce back with the same force. Amongst all there also exists another subspecies of writers who are not even bothered about insecurities. All they do is just brush them off from their cloak and move ahead.

So watch out which league you fall into. I won’t even mention mine. I shall keep it for you to guess it. Okay, so before I start this let me remind my disclaimer once again.

Welcome to a new series of blog posts titled “Authors’ Tips – A to Z of Writing”. Authors Devika Fernando, Preethi Venugopala, Reet Singh, Ruchi Singh, Adite Banerjie, Saiswaroopa Iyer , Sudesna Ghosh and myself — will be posting on a multitude of subjects related to writing. Topics will be chosen alphabetically and each week we propose to cover at least one or more subjects characterized by the Alphabet of the Week.

Okay, so here are a few things that give me shockers.

• A new plot for your book.

A new idea always excites me however, I am equally insecure about my idea theft. I have seen writers go bonkers over the thought of it. A plot that they have been toying around for some time is suddenly in front of them in the form of a book or series written by another writer. Oh my God! It is the biggest nightmare for any writer. Goosebumps.

• The first draft of your book.

Oppps. It’s more like an emotional vomit actually. Pardon me for using the word but that’s how it is. Actually, the first draft has everything the writer thought to make his book stand out among the other books of the genre. The only difference is you consider this as your masterpiece and expect others to think of it too. But shit is a shit – good or bad doesn’t matter. Throw it on the wall, if it sticks on the wall it’s a good shit and if falls it’s a bad shit.  As long as it sticks its fine but if it falls down, will you still feel the same? Meaning self edit your work as if there is no stopping. Several rounds done will still make it feel as if a little more is needed. So you are trapped in this vicious circle.

• At the editor’s table, your book is anything but at mercy.

The treatment your protagonist and the situations will get from your editor can leave you sleepless for nights. Do you take a yes or a no is all that is actually going to take place as long as your book is undergoing treatment with your editor. What you thought to be your book’s best scene might be shown the way to the trash. Are you ready to face it?

• Your beta readers, the angels, actually your first readers.

Oops! Biting nails. Yes, you can be earnestly waiting to know the reaction of your beta readers. That’s one of the longest waits ever. They will precisely tell you how they feel about your book. Take it as they come. You have all the chances of applying the changes if you want to.

• Finally, your book is ready for the public. Now all your chances of making any changes are gone. Of course on KDP you can always go and update your book. However, the reaction is never the same. The first time you declare that your book is out it is the readers who will give the final verdict to your book baby. As you count your sales your eyes will also be on the lookout for the reviews they leave. OMG, a poor star rating or someone has given out spoilers and you might consider your book finished even before it takes off.

Every writer goes through these insecurities irrespective of the genre of the book. However, one thing  should always be kept in mind that – one book cannot make or break a writer. So keep writing.

Overcoming all of my insecurities I have finally managed to write the Jungle Series that is based on jungle theme. The first book of the series is a stand alone novel, The Clockmaker, #paranormal #thriller #horror is ready for release very soon.

You can read the excerpts and the book trailer here

 

 

Mukhote: The Mask (Hindi Poem)

Social media is very much part of our life and our Dp represents who we are. But does our Dp really show the frame of mind? Many times we fake it.

Life is always not a blessing. Its full of challenges. Sometimes it breaks us sometimes it makes us. When the time is good we are happy and let the world know about it. However, when it is the other way round we tend to hide it behind our mask.

How to write a horror story? Authors’ Tips – A to Z of Writing

My upcoming book, The Clockmaker, is a supernatural series releasing this month. So here I am  sharing a few tips on the same. Since you are reading this post so you are interested in supernatural or horror stories and maybe you are writing one too. Cool! So lets’ quickly get down to the tips but before that I would like to mention that this post is part of A to Z blog post series that a few of us, authors are doing.

Welcome to a new series of blog posts titled “Authors’ Tips – A to Z of Writing”. Authors Devika Fernando, Preethi Venugopala, Reet Singh, Ruchi Singh, Adite Banerjie, Saiswaroopa Iyer , Sudesna Ghosh and myself — will be posting on a multitude of subjects related to writing. Topics will be chosen alphabetically and each week we propose to cover at least one or more subjects characterized by the Alphabet of the Week.

Okay, so here are a few of my tips on writing horror stories. But just for your information, they are my personal tips, one that works best for me. So please suit yourself.

• Perfect timing is a must for me. I am usually more comfortable writing late at night. Pin drop silence around. So that when I read my horror scenes I am scared too. Especially around midnight when for some reasons all the dogs in our neighborhood start howling together. Jesus!
• Start the story with some action scene. This is especially recommended for both thrillers and horror. Show one of your scenes that is really scary. Let the readers bite their nails and question the narrator why??
• Remember there is no logic. When you write your story you are your best judge. Don’t let anybody else voice your thoughts. This I consider extremely important for writing. So let your story flow as it comes. For me, it’s my characters who decide the course of action they want to take. I only know the beginning and the ending of my scene, rest I flow with them. Let them meet challenges and overcome as they go.
• When writing horror scene just make sure it is short and crispy. Play with your words, show the setting, let the reader hear the sound, let them feel what the character is feeling. Make the reader part of your story. Always remember the fear till it is undiscovered. So play along till then.
• Ending the chapter with a cliff-hanger can be engaging. This will keep the readers questioning. But make sure you answer them in the next scene itself otherwise the excitement will die down and the reader may lose interest.
• Every horror author has their own style of inflicting fear. Some do with zombies, some use the ghosts, some try bloodshed, some with the unknown and so on. All the factors are good as long as you stick to one of them. And whichever you choose to make sure, the tactics are same everywhere. Always give your protagonists the best they can have and then take it away from them. By the time the story ends the readers very well know who will be the winner.

There are more but I would end it here. I do hope my tips are of some help to you. Do share your thoughts on it and stay tuned for my next post.  Thanks.

 

 

 

 

Shabab : The beauty (Hindi Poem)

Sometimes even the beauty can be unforgiving.

 

My storytelling experience

So in the kids carnival I had been invited for storytelling to the kids. It was a big opportunity for  me as I was seeing instant reaction of the kids as I was telling them stories from my books Grow Up Messy! and The Santa’s Gift. Here is series of dialogues that a few of the kids had with me.

Me: Did you ever got a chance to climb trees?

Kids: But why do we have to climb trees?

Me: No. No. You don’t have to. You see kids enjoy plucking mangoes from the tree and that too when the guard is having his siesta. You see thats what Misry and her gang of village kids use to do in the lazy summer afternoon. Its fun. (I stressed the last word a bit)

Kids: But maam, we don’t have mango tress around so we guess we are going to miss all the fun. Anyways what happened next.

Me: And then …..(I could see their gleaming with happiness as if they were part of the gang)

Kid: Ouch! Didn’t she get hurt when she fell down from the Machan?

Me: Yeah it did hurt her but you see she had landed on the sleeping guard and woke him up.

Kid: OMG! She should run then.

Me: Blah blah ….So Misry goes to Bheeu’s house to looks at the goat kids.

Kid: A goat?

Me: Yeah a goat. Haven’t you seen one?

Kid: I don’t remember seeing one.

Me: (googled for Goat) Here see this pic.

Kid: Oh this I have seen. They are bought young and fed very well until they grow up and then one day they are chopped off.

Me. Silent.

Living in big cities these kids haven’t come enough closer to nature to undersand the beauty of it. I wish this generation gets to have more fun outdoor without any props and gazattes like the kids in the 80s and 90s .

 

 

Dastak: The Knock (Hindi poem)

Life always gives a second chance, all you need to do is hear the knock.

The Algebra of life

My first post this year is a Gyan Varsha. Hope you relate to it.

So I was teaching Algebra to my son. This is his first time with the subject and he is also taking a keen interest in it. I am enjoying it too because at school it happened to be my favorite chapter in Mathematics. All you have to do is just understand the grouping to solve the riddle. It is fun, Algebra.

Apart from the fun, this time I saw the algebraic expression in a different manner. Somewhere I could relate it with our own identity. Lols. I know you might be smiling back at my words but there is one. Let me show you how.

According to the rules of Algebra,

When there is no constant with a variable in an algebraic expression, then it is considered to be 1

Ex:  x²y⁵  has no variables. Therefore the constant numerical here is 1.

Similarly, if an expression has no symbol before it then it implies it is (+)

So x²y⁵  is actually (+ 1x²y⁵)

Where + and 1 are present in the expression but hidden.

Now let’s take another example, (-2 x²y⁵).

In this one can clearly see,

the symbol (-) and the constant (2)

This implies, if something is not visible, its presence cannot be denied either. Like (+1) though not visible in the expression x²y⁵ but is very much present.

Now let’s, relate the same to our life.

Let’s look at the picture.

He is alone and his expression is not visible. So maybe he is happy, sad, angry, frightened or it can be just about anything.

However, just like the expression in algebra, there are variable and constant factors in his life too. and so does the symbols. Variable can be his situation, his job, his relationship, his quest for life etc. And the symbols can be happy, sad, angry, frightened etc. There can be a constant factor too in his life as his children, parents, siblings, relatives etc. The spouse can be considered as a constant, however, technically it is not always the case with many. With divorce and extramarital affairs at rising it is better off as a variable.

So let’s get back to our man. He is alone and no expressions visible.

So this can imply, he has no constant and no symbol. Which again implies, there is something hidden which is not visible to others. He isn’t alone and he does have a symbol.

The constant factor that is with him is the God (Jiska koi nahi uska khuda hai yaaron, when there is no one there is God) and since no symbol means + therefore, what he possesses is tons of positive attitude which of course, can keep him walking up the ladder of his life if he just realize its power.

But we tend to forget it and depend more on others to make us happy or successful. If we try, things are in our hands only and with small efforts, we can bring about big positive changes in our life. All we need to do is believe in ourselves that whatever we are doing is for good.

So, man, I am never alone, as I have angels watching over my back and I love the solitude too. My positive approach keeps me moving ahead even in the rough patches of my life. So that’s the algebraic expression of my life.