Rachna's Scriptorium

Let’s get to know each other better

2012-03-13T00:00:00.024-07:00

As I am approachingmy second blogoversary, I am going through heavy bouts of nostalgia. I clearlyremember my first post and my first follower and also the first comment. I wasgripped my fear at that time. Would anyone want to follow me? What would I blogabout?

All that is a thing of the past. I have gathered 304 friendsand blog buddies. I have made good writing friends who have encouraged andsupported me in my writing journey. I have got to know quite a few of you well.But, I would like to get to know you all better. There is no writing related post today. This post is about you all and me.

I am eager to know all about each and every blog buddy ofmine. I will start with myself. I graduated with a degree in Psychology,Literature and Journalism. I have been writing for many Indian newspapers for more than a decade. From the past two years I have been teaching creativewriting in Mount Carmel College.

I write Middle Grade Fiction ( for ages 8 to 14). My initial lot of books werefor the younger readers. Now, I concentrate just on MG fiction. In future I wouldlove to explore the YA territory. I used to have major stage fright. But,teaching college girls has got rid of it.

I love reading, watching movies and going out with friends. Ihave a mortal fear of snakes, dogs and lizards. I am a complete fitness freak.Though I love junk food, I also relish my health food. I am always ready for ice-creams. I love going for longwalks. Jogging and yoga are my stress busters.

I also suffer fromCGS ( Continuous Giggle Syndrome). When I am in the company of my elder sisterand nieces I can spend the entire day laughing. I am also a completechatterbox. I can talk for hours.

I am extremelyattached to my parents and spiritual master. I look for honesty in my equationwith people. Hypocrisy is a huge turn off. For me the honest approach worksevery time. I am a huge believer in clearing misunderstandings. I have a soft heart. I go out of my way to help people in trouble. Many times I have got into trouble because of this habit. I am also a huge worry wart. I tend to getanxious a lot.

You can always bribe me with chocolates. I am absolutelytouched by selfless and warm gestures. My singing can drive people nuts. Idon’t even sing in the bathroom nowadays.

I am also into meditation. Quite a bit of my inspirationpops up during my meditation sessions. I am very fond of writing short stories. I have written andpublished over 60 short stories.

My dream is to have my books published globally, to get anagent and perhaps see a movie adaptation of one of my books. Quite small dreams, right?

Now, I would like to know all about you all? What do you alldo? What kind of books do you all write, your hobbies and passions. Everythingabout you all interests me. So, go ahead. Tell me all about yourselves. Let meget to know you all better.

Why its Important to Critique another Writer’s Work?

2012-03-09T00:00:00.006-08:00

Two years back, I critiqued a lot of picture books and shortstories for my online writing friends. Actually I nearly ended up rewriting afew short stories. The person whose story I rewrote was pretty cool about it.Thank God for that. Else, I would have had an angry writer chasing me with hersharp pen.

Initially scared, as I had no belief in my critiquingabilities, I hesitantly agreed to the job. But once I started, I realized thatcritiquing was something I enjoyed doing. As they were short stories, they gotdone fast. For one I love reading and the second point is it’s easier to getcritical with someone else’s work as there is a distance involved and it’seasier to be objective about it.

My critiquing abilities sharpened when I started teaching incollege two years back. Reading my students’ home as well as class assignmentshas helped me analyze someone’s else’s work better. When I correct theirmistakes, I return home and look at my own mistakes. It’s easier to spot mymistakes after critiquing someone else’s work. I feel critiquing is the bestway to improve one’s own craft.

When we see what is not working in another person’s storymakes us more alert to things that will slow down our own stories. It makes usmore aware of the mistakes that stand out in our manuscripts, errors that ourcrit partners will be looking for.

And then ofcourse there is the good Karma involved when wehelp someone. We not just acquire a grateful friend, we also acquire alife-long supporter who will help us improve our craft through the easiest wayinvolved by reading. Reading someone else’s manuscript is one of the best,fastest and also the most effective way of becoming a better writer. So, it’s awin-win situation for all of us.

What have you all learnt through critiquing someone else’swork? Have you felt that it has improved your own writing abilities? What’syour take on it?

How much should we believe in Book Reviews?

2012-03-06T00:00:00.013-08:00

Two days back, while googling myself (No, I am not a selfabsorbed writer. I have been told by my mentor that writers should often runtheir names through the search engines to see what the internet coughs up intheir names) I came across a book review of an anthology of sports short stories brought out by PenguinIndia last year, in which I had contributed a short story. The review was on GoodReads.

I was quite amused to see the lone review. The generous reviewerhad given the anthology a rating of 2stars and a single sentence review. "Almost every single story should have been sent back for a rewrite.”The single sentence review made me burst out into laughter. For a change I wasneither offended, hurt or insulted. It was nothing personal.

The reviewer wasdisdainful towards the entire collection and not just one single short story. The reviewer’s message “ I'd prefer not to engage in a discussion with an author ofsomething I critique,” made me laugh some more. I feel she or he was scaredof a backleash from the 10 contributors.As many of us (Indians) are not on Goodreads, I am sure the book review and the2 star rating may not have been seen by the 10 writers. I came across that review quite by accident.

I wonder whypeople say such silly things. What are they trying to prove? A good reviewwould have mentioned each story by name and then passed a judgement on eachstory and not made a general derogatory comment. Or the reviewer could havenamed the stories that merited a rewritein her opinion, instead of running down the entire collection. I am sure that anyone who would have read that review would have shuddered at the prospect of buying a book that merited just a single line review.

We writers knowwell that our stories and books may not find a universal appeal and we are wellprepared for it. We personally may not have liked all the stories we have read.So it’s no big deal if we have our fair share of detractors.

What do youfeel about such reviews? Shouldn’t the reviewer have mentioned the stories that deserved to be rewritteninstead of writing off the entire collection? What would you have done in myplace? I would love to know all your opinions.

The Many Fears a Writer Constantly Faces

2012-03-02T00:00:00.021-08:00

We writers are constantly facing fear. The ugly monster offear is a perpetual pressure in a writer’s life. These fears hound us from the time we chose atopic or decide on a story. Even after we finish writing fears continue toaccost us.

I havealways felt that these fears are obstacles and road blocks thrown along ourpaths by forces unknown to us, to test our mettle, to firm our sometimesweakening determination and to strengthen our resolve to stick to the pathchosen by us.

The monster of fear comes in differentforms:

Fear of choosing the wrong subject. A subject that will just not interest the readers, agents and editors. This is one of my biggest fears.

Fear of not doing justice to it by way of plot, characters, dialogues, setting and resolution.

Fear of not having sufficient time to devote to the manuscript.

Fear of not being able to complete the book. Many times half way through writing we realize that certain elements are just not gelling. Should I shelve the book, or rewrite?

Fear of not getting an agent. It’s a fear that has gripped me now in a big way.

Fear of the book not finding any home (publishing house) even though the agent is on board. (That is my biggest fear). Once I overcome no.5, I will be caught by this fear.

Fear of the editor chopping parts that we considered crucial or important. That is after the book has been placed with a publishing house. For one of my earlier books the illustrator made a blunder and I had to bear the brunt of it by changing one of my main characters.

Fear of being trashed by critics on whose words hang our writing careers. (If a critic is having a bad day, the result is a bad review).

Fear of readers disliking the book. I always worry about this one.

10. Fear of the first print run being unsold. This fear has bypassed me for a change as my

first lot of books have gone into several reprints. Thank God for that.

11. Fear of not being given another chance to redeem ourselves.

12. Fear of failure, of being unable to rise upto our own expectations.

I sufferfrom quite a few of these fears. It varies at different stages of mywriting. Sometimes I wonder how I amable to even write with so many fears surrounding me. But the urge to get mystory out keeps me going. The vision of my books in a reader’s hands propels meforward.

Do any ofyou have any such fears? Am I alone? Which fear or shall I say fears do youface or have faced in your writing journey. How do you capture these fears towrite day in and day out. It will be ofgreat help to each of us if you share your experiences.

What has Triggered our Writing Passion?

2012-02-28T06:01:00.000-08:00

Ihave just returned from a fabulous holiday. My brain is still woozy witheverything not related to writing. Sitting on the beach watching the sunset my mind drifted to whattriggered my passion for writing. I don’t know why water has that effect on me.

Iam sure that there is something or someone who has triggered our writingpassion. It could be a book we must have read, a person who has become a sortof writing mentor or perhaps our English teacher in school who set us off on ourwriting journey.

One of the earliest influences on my writing wasmy grandmother. Every night while making me eat my dinner when I was around 4to 5 years old she would tell me stories. These were more often than notfolktales, or, stories that revolved around the Hindu Gods and Goddesses andthe great Saints of the past. The tales of the various Gods' childhoodpranks was absolutely wonderful. It brought each God to life.

My passion for writing has its roots in mychildhood. I was a voracious listener then, never tiring of granny’s stories,craving them hours after the dinner plates had been washed. Long after she gaveup the practice of making me eat my dinner, I continued to badger her forstories. Granny, I am sure exhausted her well of stories, but, not one to admitdefeat she made up stories just for me.

For an entire week she told me the same storygiving it different endings. I asked her why she was telling me the same storywith different endings, she laughed and said “I am running out of stories,child.”

Each ending changed the entire story. Fromhumorous it turned into suspense, and then moved to the battle of good overevil. Each story was embedded with a moral. I am sure that it was deliberate,to make us imbibe good qualities and emulate the noble characters who peopledher story. I was fascinated by Granny’s quick thinking. My love for stories:listening, reading and writing started then. One of my first few publishedarticles was the story she had narrated to me during my childhood.Unfortunately, she passed away before the story was published.

Though the stories were repeated she never boredus, as she embellished the story with each narration. Sometimes adding fewcharacters, at times dropping few. This habit of hers has inculcated in me thepractical experience of finding out how the same story can end in manydifferent ways. Yes, at times I toy with different endings and finally zero inon the one I think works best for my stories and books.

What has been your earliest writing influence? Didsomeone prompt you to start your creative journey? What made you all startwriting? Was it a person? A book? A teacher? We all would love to know aboutwhat triggered your passion?

Salvaging Rejected Manuscripts

2012-02-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

I am sure many of us have a few manuscripts which aresitting idly in the bottom most drawer of our writing desks. These are themanuscripts that have done their rounds of agents and editor’s inbox and beenpolitely turned down.

There arealso the manuscripts that we have abandoned halfway because we have moved on toanother project that has excited us more. We writers do have a couple ofmanuscripts that I would tag as practice manuscripts that have helped us findour writing voice. These are also the manuscripts that we have practiced ourwriting skills on. These manuscripts need not be completely abandoned

Even in our worst stories there are a few redeemable scenes. We can use these scenes as short stories by making a few adjustments.

We can also if time permits serialize the manuscript and send it as a serial to magazines or newspapers that publish such work. A writer I know in Bangalore whose book did the rounds of many publishers serialized her book as 18 episodes. These were carried by a newspaper for the children’s section.

As most of us have chosen the genre we write (I am assuming that our unpublished work belongs to the same genre as our current work) we can lift a few redeemable scenes from the unpublished work and add them into the new one.

Another suggestion would be to rewrite the entire book keeping in mind every thing we have learnt along the way. This does require time and lots of effort but the result is worth it.

I plan to rewrite a manuscript. I willdefinitely be letting go of many scenes, but on the other hand I also now knowwhat is not working in that particular book.

What about you all? Do you all have a few manuscripts inyour files? What are your plans for those manuscripts? Are they going to berelegated to the files? Any plans of making use of these manuscripts? Do shareyour views.

As I amgoing out of town, my next post will be on 28^th Feb. Till then, keepwriting.

What does Blogging Mean to me ?

2012-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

When I started blogging, nearly two years back, I barelyknew what blogging was all about or what I would blog about twice a week. Infact, I always thoughtI would stop blogging a few months down the line.

But, it’s my 23^rd month andI have continued with my blogging and have gathered a vast number of amazingwriters in my friends circle.

Bloggingfor me initially was a platform building tool as I was advised by someone who Iconsider a writing mentor that agents looked for a writer’s online presence.So, reluctantly I took the plunge.

I wasextremely nervous for the first few weeks. I would spend days planning a post.I am sure I could have written a manuscript or two in the time I took to planand write posts. Slowly, I gained confidence. I started scheduling my posts.

But, as timehas passed, I have completely forgotten about the building a platform part. Ihave connected with a whole lot of wonderful writers and bloggers from all overthe world. Many of who have gone out of their way to help me. I even met my twocrit partners through my blog.

Blogging forme is also a way to discuss all things writing related. I just cannot discussthis with my non-writing friends who all find excuses to do a million thingsthey have left halfway through, when I mention plots, characters, humour,resolution, edits or revisions.

Blogging hastaught me more about the craft of writing than the three craft books I possess.Every blogger is an angel in disguise, eager to help out, support, encourageand promote another writer. We have all shared whatever we are learning in our writing journeys. Bared our hearts, exposed our fears and frustrations, shared our good news with each other.

Over time Blogging has become a way of connecting with other writers from all over the world.

Nowadays, Ifeel I am kind of addicted to you all wonderful people who live inside mycomputer. If I don’t get visits from you all, I feel kind of low. If I don’tdrop in to your blogs, my day is incomplete.

Why did youall start blogging? Was it just to build a platform? Or was there anotherreason for it? What does blogging mean to you? Have your views about bloggingchanged with time? We all would love to know your views.

P.S. Is anyone else having a problem with certain websites and blogs (Samsung mobiles, Nokia and few florists) leaving their ads in the comments section? Does anyone know how to get rid of this problem? As none of these blogs are my followers, I can't even block them.

Going Global - Guest post with Author Stephen Tremp

2012-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today's guest post is with my blog buddy Stephen Tremp, author of two successful books: Breakthrough and Opening. Here Stephen shares tips on going global.

Rachna, thank you for hostingme today on my Grand Opening Tour! I’m very excited to visit Rachna’sScriptorium and your amazing group of followers. My topic is Going Global!

Our world is becoming muchsmaller. Borders are disappearing. We have the ability to communicate to anyoneanywhere in real time. Example: as writers, we can research people and placesfor our works. Need to know what a particular hotel or restaurant in Singapore islike? Just read Yahoo! user reviews and you can write an accurate and descriptivescene that will make that chapter come to life for the reader!

Global Characters

It’s important to developcharacters that are from different parts of the world. I have characters fromor with a heritage to India,Korea, China, and Japan among other places. Living insouthern California,a mosaic of people from around the world, this is vital to writing a novel thatpeople can relate to. And it’s a great way to target a much wider audience.

Global Marketing

The British once clamed theyhad an empire in which the sun never set. Because of this, much of the worldspeaks English. Approximately 350 millions people speak English as theirprimary language and 600 million people as a second language. World wide, about 1.8billion people speak English.

This opens up large marketsoutside the U.S.for writers like me. The blogging community is awesome in that I can connectwith amazing people like Rachna and we can share our works and ideas with eachother and those who we connect with.

Airport Bookstores

Airport bookstores (especiallyinternational airports) are a great way to get your book to people and places allover the world. Have you ever noticed the continuous line of people at theregister buying books at these places? There are three major airports within drivingdistance (Los Angeles, OrangeCounty, and San Diego) that I am working with.

Street Sales

I used to have book signings ata Borders Books and Music near Orange County Airport.People with long layovers would stop in to buy books. It was a small goldmine.Lots of sales and lots of people from around the world buying my book!

But Borders is now out ofbusiness. So I took my cause to the streets. I can set up shop with the samesign I used for Borders book signings and sell them to the locals and tourists(I live in southern California).There’s no overhead except the gas to drive there and a cup of Starbuckscoffee. I’ve sold books to people from Europe, Asia,

India

,even the Middle East. Tourists from

Japan

seem tolove my book.

Translating to Another Language

Has anyone had their bookstranslated into a different language? I’m considering translating Breakthroughinto Japanese. I’m wondering about the cost. If I can do this for a reasonableprice I’d like to move forward with it.

Question: what do you do or what have you seen in globalmarketing that the average writer can use to promote and sell their books?

“A scientific breakthrough of such magnitude it could radicallyalter the future of humanity—for better or worse—is in the wrong hands”

StephenTremp, author of the BREAKTHROUGH Series, has a B.A. in information systems andan MBA degree in global management. Stephen has a background in informationsystems, management, and finance and draws from this varied and complexexperiential knowledge to write one-of-a-kind thrillers.

Hisnovels are enhanced by current events at the European Organisation for Nuclearresearch (CERN) and other scientific research facilities around the world.These potential advances have the ability to change the way we perceive ouruniverse and our place in it!

Youcan visit Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs. OPENING can be downloaded at:

Amazon for $1.99
Smashwords for $1.99

Thank you Stephenfor this insightful post. We all wish you lots of publishing success. If you have any questions for Stephen, he will be glad to answer them.

Using Serendipity and Co-incidence in Stories

2012-02-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

I read a book some time back where the author had used heavydoses of serendipity and co-incidence inthe story to resolve certain tricky plot issues. As I ploughed on through thestory, I was hopeful that the author would explain the reason why certain knotsin the plots were being unknotted so easily and quickly.

But the reasons were not explained. Needlessto say, I was disappointed and felt cheated that the author had simply used thesedevices as a cheap way to resolve a dilemma within the plot.

BothSerendipity and Co-incidence are unavoidable in fiction. But an excess of bothprovokes incredulity in the reader’s mind. The reader will wonder how and whythe protagonist is getting lucky time and again. Excess of both can also leadto the story getting bogged down by being syrupy and sticky.

Many timesI have used both serendipity and co-incidence to resolve issues in the firstdraft. I always make it a point to go over these and tweak them into scenesthat depend less on these devices. Andif by chance I do overlook them, then I have my two amazing crit partners tocatch my flaws.

I feel ifwe writers follow the cause and effect theory we can turn both serendipity andco-incidence into devices which work in favour of our stories rather thanagainst our stories. There has to be a reason for every action of thecharacter. Relying on reasons we can dispense with incredulity. Even fantasyfiction has to have its basis in believability.

Have youever encountered serendipity and co-incidence in stories you have read? Whathave you felt about it? Have you personally resorted to using these devices?What is your opinion about it?

Innovative ways to Introduce the Main Character

2012-02-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Last year, I struggled with the first chapter of my MiddleGrade Paranormal Trilogy (I rewrote it several times), but I am still not happywith it. I keep thinking that I can introduce the main character in a morepowerful way.

I introducethe main character when he (a nine- year old boy) is getting a scolding from his father for being a wimp. His fatherwants him to fight back the bullies in his school. The father is urging his sonto punch a few bullies.

I have toyedwith several ideas to introduce my main character. Every idea in my opinionsucks. Whatever our main character does has to tie up to the story or it has tohave consequences later in the story. We usually introduce the main charactersin the first chapter, often in the first paragraph. I am trying to think of differentand unique ways to introduce my main character.

Plenty ofideas have entered and exited my mind. Should I introduce my main character while he/she is doing something unusual thatimmediately piques a reader’s interest. This unusual activity has to haverepercussions in the story. Else it makes no sense. It will be just an exercisein futility.

I readsomewhere that we can have our main characters engaged in a unique hobby (perhaps looking after sick birds) or going through their collection of animalbones or lizard tails or moth wings oreven cleaning their stolen item collection. I am sure that these activities will turn the readers off rather than intriguethem into reading more and wanting to get to know the main character better.

If I wasthe reader I would wonder why the MC is collecting lizard tails or moth wings.Or why has the main character resorted to stealing. I would brand him asadist and a kleptomaniac and hate him for his traits.

Doesanyone have any tips on an innovative way to introduce the main character. Whichopenings do you think attract readers and which introductory scenes put themoff. Please share your views with us.

Why do we Writers need a Day Job?

2012-02-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Writing as a career option is not a very lucrativeprofession; the hardships are many and rewards few. Unless one is working as ajournalist in a newspaper office or a magazine establishment and is assured aregular pay cheque at the end of the month, writers by and large do not make agood income from just their writing. Unless and until they have received a hugeadvance or movies are being made from their books.

Many peopleassume that as writers we are flooded with advances and royalty cheques. Butthat’s not the case with all of us. For most of us in

India

, there is no question ofadvance, very few publishers endorse that, for most it’s a royalty at the endof each financial year. And we do gasp when we see the royalty cheques; gaspmore in shock than surprise.

A writer’slife comes with its fair share of frustrations and a lot of struggle, that’swhy it becomes important for writers until they make it big to cling on totheir day jobs or atleast have a part time job. This assures a regular incomeand security while one is struggling to establish a writing career.

Money is indeeda great boost to a struggling writer’s ego and self-respect. Atleast one aspectof life is taken care of while we struggle to establish our writing careers.

The regularday job also diminishes the frustration that our writing career throws up as weare assured that atleast we have a job and there is money in our bank account and that we are not spending time pursuing a career that’s justnot taking off. Just imagine the scenario if writers were to live solely on theincome provided by their writing. Itwould be one stressed human, tearing his or her hair out and struggling financially.

How importantdo you think a day job is for writers? Do you think having a steady job helps awriter. Ofcourse with a day job there is less time for writing, but the financialworries and fears are taken care of in a big way and there is also the optionto leave the jobs whenever our writing careers take off. What are your views onthis? Please share your opinion with us.

What has Teaching Taught me?

2012-01-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

From the past two years I have been teaching creativewriting in college to degree students. Initially apprehensive as I had heardconstant complains that nowadays students are more addicted to their cells thanacademics, I took up the job with a fair degree of anxiety hovering over myhead.

Beforethis, I had never taught anyone anything. Neither did I have the experience northe confidence. Doubts constantly surfaced in my mind. Would I be able to teachthem anything? Would I be able to discipline the students?

All thisis now a thing of the past. I have adapted to my new role like a duck to water.Everyday my students teach me something new. Words that I had never heardbefore (words that my creative students have up conjured from their over activeimagination) are thrown into assignments.

Mostassignments hover at the doorstep of romance. Twilight has seeped into theircollective conscious. My students are teaching me how to stretch mylimited resource of patience. I haveconstantly confessed that patience is not one of my better known virtues. Mystudents are ensuring that it becomes my most well- known trait.

One thingmy students have taught me in abundance is getting critical with my ownwriting. Reading few assignments makes me aware of all the information dump yardthat some students turn the stories into. And then there are the students whoskip over the crucial details just to get closer to the end of the story. It’sobvious that they have rushed through their assignments just to get rid of myreminders about delayed assignments.

Teachingthem has made me appreciative of all the creativity a tiny human brainpossesses. Their excuses range from accidents to sudden tooth-aches while thehand hovering over the stomach makes me wonder whether it’s the tooth or thestomach causing all the problem.

I oftenurge them to exercise all the creativity while doing the assignments. Moststudents forget that I too studied in the same college. While the students havechanged, the excuses have remained constant.

Forthose of you who are into teaching what have your students taught you? Forthose engaged in other professions what are the things that life or peoplearound you have taught you? We would love to hear about your learning experiences.

eCollegeFinder Writing Blog Award

2012-01-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Fewdays back, I received an email from Brittany Behrman asking me if I would accept nominationfor my blog Rachna’s Scriptorium for the eCollegeFinder Writing Blog Award.Initially apprehensive, as I did not have the time to adhere to long winded rules and list of requirements, I emailed Brittanyasking her about the rules for participation. When she emailed me back saying that Iwould not have anything much to do other than to just answer a few questions, I wasthrilled. That should not be difficult I thought.

The Top Writing Blogs Awardwas created to provide students with a collection of helpful and encouragingblogs from authors, publishers, book reviewers, writing experts, and talentedbloggers. They have included nominees that will inspire and teach their studentreaders to find their writing style and improve their skills, whether thestudents are writing an essay for Composition 101 or starting their firstnovel! Check out the nominees for Top Writing Blogs Award by clicking on this link below.

I request my blog buddies to visit the site by clickingon the link below and voting for my humble little blog and also other blogsthat you all like. All of us need your votes. Click here.

http://blog.ecollegefinder.org/writing-blog-award/

To cast your vote, checkthe boxes next to the writing blogs that you find to be the most valuableresources, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click “vote”.

The best part isyou can vote as many times as you’d likebefore the end of the competition, February 3, 2012, 5 PM EST. Once the finalvote has been cast, Top 3 Writing Blogs and the Writing Blog Award Finalistswill be announced!

If you’d like to tweet about the competition, use thehashtag #ECFtopwriting (view the feed here: http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23ECFtopwriting)!

Thank you all in advance for your votes. I know that all ofyou will visit the site and cast your valuable votes for the blogs that you alllove.

At What Point should the Inciting Incident Occur?

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

Lastyear, when I read in many blogs andwriting craft books that the Inciting Incident ( the incident which changes theMain Character’s life or causes upheavals in his or her life) should occur asearly as possible in a book, preferably in the first chapter, maybe even on thefirst page, had me extremely worried. Because in my book/s the IncitingIncident occurs in the fourth chapter,though I have dropped hint of the changes or tremors my Main Character willundergo right on the first page.

The writing craft books mention that the IncitingIncident is instrumental in snagging the readers’ attention and keeping themhooked on to the rest of the story wondering whether the Main Character willachieve his or her purpose.

On thebasis of this theory I am sure my book will lose out, as I have a little worldbuilding and setting up the character’s background in the first 3 chapters.

When Icame across a post by former Literary Agent Nathan Bransford in which he talks about theneed to have the Inciting Incident occur by the first 50 pages, I heaved a hugesigh of relief. Nathan mentions that if the Inciting Incident takes longer thanthat to occur, then the readers’ attention will wane and patience with the pace of the story will decline, and this doesnot augur well for the story or thewriter.

Forme personally, I would like to know a little about the character, start caringfor him or her before I am plunged deep into trouble along with the character.I need to see the character in his or her background before changes threatenhim or her.

Iwould like to ask you all, both as writers and readers, that at what pointshould the Inciting Incident occur. I am sure there is no ideal time; for eachstory the need for the Inciting Incident’s arrival is different. What do youall consider the correct time for the occurrence of the Inciting Incident,especially for Middle Grade fiction which I write? Please help me out bysharing your thoughts.

13 Elements of a Good Story

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Manyelements go into making a book lovableand memorable. The reason we like somebooks and dislike others is not just because of thewriting style or the story, but for several other reasons. I have read many not so great books onlybecause I found the characters worthy of following. Unfortunately thesecharacters were caught in a not so great story. Many other books I haveread because I liked the way theplot twists kept me on tenterhooks, though I disliked thelanguage and the writing style wasordinary.

For a bookto make the cut, many elements must fall into place. The ones that instantlycome to mind, I have listed below.

1. A Strong Protagonist: who beckons the reader into his/her story and makes them follow him/her page after page. Theprotagonist has to be likeable and has to have a few redeeming qualities whichwould make a reader chase him /her through the story.

2. APowerful Antagonist: who evokes immense dislike from the readers. Anantagonist so vile that to see the antagonist fall readers will stay awake theentire night to turn the pages.

3. AUnique, Original, and Amazing Setting that makes the readers take an amazingjourney into a previously unchartered territory. Settings take time to create,but they are well worth the effort.

4. AnEngrossing Conflict that sucks the readers in its grip.

5. UnexpectedTwists and Turns of the Story: keeps the readers engrossed.

6. A Generous Sprinkling of Romance: brings a smile on the readers’ facesand makes their hearts flutter.

7. HeartTugging Emotions: very crucial for theemotional connection with the readers.

8. Rounded,Peripheral Characters : they help in pushing the story forward.

9. Atleasttwo Strong Subplots that Intersect theMain Plot: this can involve theperipheral characters and is extremelycrucial to break the monotony if the main plot slackens.

10. AGripping Plot: packed with racy scenesthat add tension and make it a page turner.

11. AwesomeWriting Style: full of vivid and unusual descriptions that tease the senses.

12. WonderfulDialogues or as I prefer to call them Conversation Pieces that are rememberedlong after the book has been put down.

13. A GreatResolution ; preferably a Happily Ever After or a resolution that leaves thereaders satisfied with the way the story has ended.

Do you think there are other elements that I haveoverlooked? Is there any other element that is crucial? Please share with us. Not only are we keen tohear about it, we can also add it into our next manuscript and perhaps getclose to writing an awesome book.

P.S. I suddenly realized that Friday had crept up on me and I had not written a post. So, I cheated by reposting an older post with a few changes. Hope cheating is allowed once in a while.

What is the Hallmark of Success?

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

I have always wondered what is the hallmark of success forwriters. Success is different for different people especially when we takewriters into consideration. For some just getting published is being successfulas a writer. For some others it is getting an agent. Now whether that agent isable to sell the manuscript is another thing.

For fewother writers success is measured interms of getting a huge advance. Big advance equals a huge buzz which ensures asteady mention by the different media. Advances do arouse the interest factorand also ensure that people get familiar with both the writer and the book.

Success forsome would be the number of copies sold. More copies equals to more peoplereading our books which is also equivalent to more royalty. The more people whoread our stories the wider is our reach. While there are a few who believe thatwinning awards is the ultimate sign of being successful as an author. I feel winning awards does make the roadtowards publishing smoother and faster. Though award winning authors may not beselling many copies of their books, they are albeit taken seriously atleast bythe literatti.

For methe definition of success has changed with time. Initially it was just to finda publisher. After a few books of mine hit the shelves, my idea of successchanged to a fervent desire to see the book go into several reprints.

Now itis to get an agent and also hope that the agent is able to sell the manuscript.I would hate to find my agent and then face disappointment when the manuscriptremains unsold.

Personally, I think I would consider myself successful if my books sellwell, irrespective of the advances I get, irrespective of the publishing houseswho publish my books. More and more I am noticing atleast in India, thatsmaller, previously unheard of publishing houses are coming out with books thatare selling remarkably well ; the number of copies sold is phenomenal.

What isthe hallmark of success as a writer for you? Is it a huge advance, a big agent,a large publishing house, being on the best-seller list for weeks, winningawards, or just getting published. Please share your views.

Books are a Writer's Best Friend

2012-01-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two thingsabove all others: read a lot and write a lot…reading is the creative center ofa writer’s life…you cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of yourwriting until it has been done to you."

–Stephen King

I completely agreewith Stephen King’s words. It’s important for writers to read a lot, not justin the genre that we write but also other books that pique our interest. One ofthe best ways we can hone our skill is by reading. Readingfamiliarizes us with different styles of writing, plots, characters, and howother writers use dialogues effectively. Good books are of course greatteachers who teach us how to write well. Readingin one’s own genre is advantageous as it makes us aware of what kinds of booksare currently selling.

I hate to use the words bad books, so I will just say thatbooks that are not all that great too teach us by highlighting the shortcomingsof that particular story, by making us aware of the faults in the story: weakcharacterization and plots with large holes in it. We know what to avoid in ourown writing, we know what can bore readers and turn off editors and agents.

The best way to put all that we have learnt while readinginto practice is by writing like there is no tomorrow. As we write more andmore, we do tend to get better and better. Our critiquing abilities aresharpened when we read lots of books.

I seriously don’t understand when some writers tell me thatthey just don’t have the time to read. It’s like an athlete saying that hedoesn’t have time to practice. It’s our passion for reading that propelled usinto writing.

I just finished Amish Tripathi’s Book 1 of the ShivaTrilogy: The Immortals of Meluha. I havejust started Book 2: The Secret of the Nagas.

What kind of books do you all read? Is your readingrestricted to your genre or do you read all kinds of books? What are you allcurrently reading?

Why is it Necessary to Name all the Characters in our Books?

2012-01-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

When I started writing, I disliked naming all the charactersin my books. Giving a name to the main character and the secondary characterswas tough enough so I often took the easy way out by not naming the othercharacters. I didn’t want to tax my brain by coming up with unusual story ideasas well as unique names for the characters.

The othercharacters would be left without an identity: the watchman, the principal, theteacher, the neighbour and the watchman’s cat would be anonymous creatures justmaking a few appearances and then doing the disappearing act.

As I wadeddeeper into my writing career, I realized that it is extremely important toname the other characters as giving a name creates a mental picture in our mindabout the character. With the picture comes the character’s looks and style ofdressing in mind. It also helps us in creating more rounded characters. Nameless characters are akin to cardboard cut-outs which lack personality and appeal.

I find iteasy to visualize a character after I have bestowed a name on it. For everystory/book I write nowadays, I spend a little name giving names which I feelwill suit my characters. Once a namedrops into my mind, it brings with it a tiny mental picture of the characterwith it. With the mental picture in place, I weave a bit of back-story and giveit a personality, looks and mannerisms.

I do tryto go for unusual names, but not very exotic or tongue-twisting ones which cangive the readers a verbal paralysis. Indian names by and large are not easy onthe tongue. One of my CP’s who is an Indian, went nuts trying to pronounce thedifficult names of my characters. Her critique was, “ I loved the first tenpages, but, honey, please go easy on the names. I had an extremely difficulttime pronouncing the names.”

How are youin naming the characters? Do you spend time thinking of the names, or do you justpick a name randomly. Is it important for you to go for exotic names or youprefer simple, easy to pronounce names? Is a name synonymous with the character’spersonality for you? Please share your views on naming characters.

Are you in Favour of Pen Names?

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

A pen name or a nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted byan author. Its sometimesused to make the author’s name more distinctive or to disguise their gender (asin the case of J.K Rowling, her publishers were worried that boys may not readbooks if they realized they are written by a female), to distance an authorfrom all of his /her works, to protect the author from retribution for theirwritings and for several other reasons either related to marketing or for aestheticreasons. Most of these author’s real names were known only to the publishers.

Many times authors used pen nameswhen their real names were likely to be confused with that of another author or anotable individual. Some authors who regularly write in more than one genre usedifferent pen names for each. Romance writer Nora Roberts writes erotic thrillers under the pen name J.D. Robb, and Samuel Langhorne Clemens used the aliases "Mark Twain" and "SieurLouis de Conte" for different works. Similarly, an author who writes bothfiction and non-fiction (such as the mathematician and fantasy writer CharlesDodgson, who wrote as Lewis Carroll) may use a pseudonym for fictionwriting.

I havenever been in favour of pen names. I would always wonder why some writersadopted pen names. For me its always my full name that is a part of my byline (for the newspaper articles) and books, and stories that have appeared inanthologies.

There areseveral reasons for using pen names. Occasionally a pen name is employed toavoid overexposure. Prolific authors for pulpmagazines often had two and sometimes three short stories appearingin one issue of a magazine; the editor would create several fictitious authornames to hide this from the readers. RobertA. Heinlen wrote stories under pseudonyms so that more of his workscould be published in a single magazine. Stephen King published four novels under the name Richard Bachman because publishersdidn't feel the public would buy more than one novel per year from a singleauthor. Eventually, after critics found a large number of style similarities,publishers revealed Bachman's true identity.

Sometimes apen name is used because an author believes that his name does not suit thegenre he is writing in. I find this reason very strange. What do names have todo with genres. A reader would pick a book depending on the blurb or review andnot because he/she liked the sound of the author’s name.

Western novelist Pearl Gray dropped his firstname and changed the spelling of his last name to become Zane Grey because he believed that hisreal name did not suit the Western genre. Romance novelist Angela Knight writes under that nameinstead of her actual name (Julie Woodcock) because of the double entendre of her surname inthe context of that genre. Edward Gorey had dozens ofpseudonyms, apparently for his own amusement, each one an anagram of his real name.

I thinkI am too much in love with my name to use another one for writing. What do youall feel about pen names? Are you in favour of them? Have you ever used them? What would you have wanted as your pen name? Please share your views with us.

The Benefits of a Break

2012-01-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hopethe holiday season has rejuvenated and refreshed everyone. And I also hope that2012 will be a great year in each and every way, for all of us.

Thetwo week break that I took from blogging as well as other things in life hasrefreshed me in several ways: I have come back with a renewed vigour to tacklethe onerous task of querying a new bunch of agents, with a query that I thinkis quite decent. I utilized the break to research more agents (aren't I funny).

During my break I caught up with family and close friends, went out forlunches ( as the college was closed for the Christmas holidays) and read andread. Readingis one pleasure that I would hate to give up in life. The relaxed pace of lifehas helped me quite a bit. It has literally lulled my writing stress to sleep.Thank God, for that.

I amalso excited about the book I am writing. I have finished one-third of thestory (though this is just the first draft). The remaining two-thirds has meexcited beyond measure. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of this month. Another thing that I am enjoying is going with the flow for this currentstory.

I think putting away the Middle Grade ParanormalTrilogy and moving away from it: both mentally and physically, has done me aworld of good. I am fretting less and my stress level too has come down.Perhaps it was not the right time for that story. Maybe, God meant for me towrite that story later.

Ialso connected with two awesome writers; one from Canadaand the other from America.In one of my emails with Angela Ackerman, while we were discussing mysubmission process, Angela volunteered to help me polish my query. Dear Angela has been simply awesome with herinsight. Gosh, just by going through my query she has grasped my story. WithAngela’s help I have managed to write a decent query. My fingers are crossed.

Another awesome writer from America, Mark Noce has volunteered to read my collection of stories (Mark sure is a braveguy). I am sure that he will come up with an amazing insight where my storiesare concerned.

Ialso want to thank each and every one of you for all the support you all haveextended to me and my blog and for being a part of my writing life. Just wanted to let you all know, that I missed you all a lot.

Now tell me, what did you all do during the holiday season and what areyour plans for this year. I am eager to hear it all.

A New Distraction

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

The book that I am working on right now, was actuallystarted to distract me from fretting about the query business and also becausethe plotting for my MG ParanormalTrilogy was not going too well; a result of excess adherence to all the WritingCraft books I am reading and trying to follow. I got so fed up with stressingover the Inciting Incident and raising the Key Question in the reader’s mind,that I temporarily put that book on the back burner. I will return to it nextyear.

Thisnew book I am writing, I feel it is like a cuddly teddy bear (the reason I called the story cuddly is because it has come to my mind at a time I badly needed a story to distract me by embracing me in its warmth and letting me forget everything).

Icannot deny the immense help that writing craft books have to offer, after allthey have been written by experts who know what they are talking about, but toostrict an adherence to these tips can be detrimental to one’s inherent writingskills. As a writer, I have both my share of strengths and weaknesses and noamount of reading craft books can help me, if I don’t actually sit down towrite that first draft. For me the world- building happens as I write; then thecharacters start whispering their secrets and revealing their stories to me.

Mycurrent literary playmate is a new book, something I am pretty excited about. Iam writing in the First Person Narrative for the first time. For this book, Ihave just the beginning and the end in my mind. The rest of the story isunfurling every time I put pen to paper. Every time there are new words on thepaper, I am surprised to see my story grow and characters too grow.

Forme the two characters appeared in my mind and now its time for me to tell theirstory. I have realized that with this book I will follow my instinct and gowith the flow; without any pre-conceived notion of technique. The book may notfind a publisher, but I will know with a certainity that I wrote something Iwas passionate about.

What about you all? Do you follow writing craft books strictly or do youfollow your own story telling abilities. What do you think is the correctmethod of story-telling? Is it writing what one is passionate about orfollowing what craft books endorse?

P.S. I am taking a blogging break for few days. My next post will be on 3^rd Jaunary 2012. Hereis wishing all my writing friends and blog buddies a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful and Joyous 2012.

Guest Post with Writer Shelley Souza

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today's guest post is by a writing friend of mine, who I metonline. Shelley Souza and I met on Face Book’s closed Group forwriters called Warrior Chat. Shelley is ever ready to help other writers honetheir craft and write the best story they can write, with her insightful adviceand tips.

BIO- Shelley Souza received aMaster of Fine Arts in directing from U.C. Irvine and spent over two decadesdeveloping and staging new plays by established and emerging playwrights. Sheauthored hundreds of articles on new technology (which she loves) andghostwrote four non-fiction books for clients of an independent publisher. Sheis a member of the Authors Guild and SCBWI

Shelley’s Guest Post

I have been writing for as longas I can remember. I decided to be a writer when I was around seven and for awhile believed I wanted to write plays. As it turned out, I did go into theatrebut as a director. One thing I learned in theatre is that act breaks areartificial. They allow for scenery changes and for the audience to go to thebathroom. The present trend of applying this artificial construct to novelwriting seriously messed with my head as a writer! For a long time I could notvisualize constructing a plot to fit the three-act structure, no matter howmany books on the method I read. Eventually, I managed to get something toclick but it didn’t help me to figure out the story. Because the three-actstructure is concerned with more artificial constructs that also belong toplays: an inciting incident, a first plot twist, a second plot twist, a climax,a reversal, and so on. I was about to throw in the towel on novel writing whenI became unwell.

During my illness I didn’t havethe energy to read or to write. What little strength I had was spent onwatching clips of J.K. Rowling. Two things stood out: her belief in her abilityto tell a story and her belief in the story she was telling (Harry Potter).I began to question my reason for writing the story I was working on anddiscovered I didn’t really believe in it, the way J.K. Rowling was speaking ofbelief. I started asking myself why, when I was a child, I never tired ofopening a new book. What I discovered was surprising beyond belief.

I put aside the story I had beenworking on—even though many writer friends and my writing coach at the timeloved the main character—and began working on a story I would have loved when Iwas young and that I would love to read today. It meant abandoning everything Ihad been told a story should contain (and not contain). It meant trustingmyself in a way I never had. Trusting what I already knew about myself: I was areader and a writer. Therefore, everything I needed to know about story wasalready inside me. I didn’t need anyone else’s rules to tell me how to write mystory.

For the first time in my life asa writer, every day, I wake up and I am excited to write. Not my story, I’m notyet close to writing the narrative, but the internal logical of the charactersand their reason for being in this story and not another.

The best distinction I readrecently (by an amazon reviewer of a HarryPotter film) was this: “plotis what happens to the characters; story is what happens AS A RESULT OF thecharacters.” I’m a story, not a plot, writer. What kind of writer are you?

Shelley's Tumblr Blog- http://shelleysouza.tumblr.com/

Thank you, Shelley, for generously sharing with us what you have learned in your writing journey.

The Greatest Gift for a Writer

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

The greatest gift that anyone can give a writer is to readher/his work. Readers are absolutely important for writers and by readers Idon’t just mean the Beta Readers, but also the other readers who go out and buyour books or perhaps borrow them from the library.

My firstcontact with my readers came about when I started writing for the newspapers.These initial readers went a long way in encouraging me and egging me on tocontinue writing. In those days, every where I went people who would have readmy articles, features and stories in the supplements of the newspapers wouldcome up to me and mention how much they liked my writing or how it appealed to them.During those days I wrote a lot of features and articles in the weeklysupplements. For several minutes I would bask in the warmth of their praise.

This hasn’t changed even a little bit. I stillcrave feedback from my readers. Sometimes I wonder whether it’s these words ofpraise that fuels a writer’s writing.

One of myall time favourite reader: an old gentleman, would make it a point to walk upto me in the club I visit, and tell me how much he loved my story/feature/article.He had never missed any article I had written for the newspapers. Infact, heeven told me that the moment he received the morning’s paper, he would look formy byline and if he saw an article by me, he would read that first and thenmove on to the other news.

When Istarted writing children’s stories, he followed me into that territoryfaithfully. Its readers like him (he is no more) that I cherish and it’s theircomments that motivate me to keep writing.

Do youall have any favourite memories where readers are concerned? Any reader or anyparticular reader comment that has stayed in your mind forever? No, we allwon’t think you are gloating or indulging in self-praise. I am sure we all are interestedin reading about what your readers think of your writing. It’s practically theend of the year and we all badly want a little cheer and smiles to light up ourfaces. Please feel free to write about your readers.

Trust Your Story

2011-12-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

Listening to me rave and rant about the long wait to hear back from agents, that is really stretching my patience to its limits, one writing friend advisedme, “ Trust your story.” Faith, trust and belief are words I would associatewith spiritual life, I would even use them when I mention friendships andrelationships, but not where writing was concerned.

Later, when Irevisited her advice, I realized that she was not wrong. We writers do have totrust our stories, trust it implicitly, that’s why we are able to spend endlessamount of time writing and rewriting it and polishing it as close to perfectionas possible. It’s this trust that sees us willingly adopt the hardships thatcome with a writer’s life. Writing is definitely not for the faint- hearted.And querying certainly is not.

The trustdoes take a beating, when our manuscripts are sent out on several journeysstarting with Crit partners and ending with editors. Everyone has a differentview about it; starting with how we started the story, whether our charactersresonated with the readers, whether our plot gripped the reader and windingdown to the resolution. It’s at times like these that the trust takes a hugebeating.

Ofcourse Itrust my story. I love it to bits. But, there are several people involved whoneed to trust my story and story-telling ability as much as I trusted it. Theseare the people who rule the publishing world and make important decisions thata writer’s career hinges on.

It’s this trust that sees me start mynext manuscript and again it’s this trust that sees me invest lots of my timein a world that to start with only I believe in.

Has yourtrust ever wavered in your story? Has your trust in whatever you are doing inlife ever meandered away from you? Have you doubted the literary world you havecreated? How have you regained the trust and faith that has moved away? We allwould love to know all about your tryst with trust.

P.S. Here is a wonderful post by my friend Patrick on How to Create an E- Book. Click here for Patrick's tutorial.

Agents Versus Independent Publishing

2011-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

From the pastfew days, I have noticed that several writing friends, my crit partner and manyblog buddies have opted for the Independent Publishing route instead of waitingfor an agent’s nod. The few writers I managed to chat with online had just onething to say, that they were bogged down by the entire query business: writingthat perfect query, waiting ages for an agent to request a partial or a full,then spending several months for the said agent to reply. Most never got areply even after being asked for a full manuscript.

The IndependentPublishing route is pretty fast, from the day of the contract signing topublishing, there is a gap of less than a year. And most of the writers arethrilled that they have bypassed an agent’s hefty commission.

What onewriter said to me was, “ there is no guarantee that even after I sign with anagent, that he or she will be able to sell my book. I may have to wait formonths and months and then start searchingfor another agent.”

Anotherwriter said that even after requesting a full manuscript submission at aconference where the writer made her pitch, the said agent took ages to getback with any kind of feedback. By then the writer was so exhausted with thesubmission process that she just went ahead with the Independent Publishinghouse which was ready with a contract.

I would loveto have an agent represent me and champion my Manuscript to editors, but to behonest the entire query business is wearing me down mentally. I find the longwait is killing me and the silences from most agents more deadly that cyanide.To divert my attention from agents I am working on several projects. Though Istepped on the Query bus just 3 months back, I am getting weary. Maybe deep down I am succumbing to the lureof going the Indie way. The only thing preventing me is that the book I amquerying is a standalone book. Most Indie publishers prefer signing a 2 to3 book deal. Standalones are a hardsell atany time.

Anothertrend I have noticed is that most of my writing friends are going the YA (YoungAdult) way. There is a huge market for them. MG (Middle Grade) fiction, which Iwrite is being forced to take the second place.

What do youall feel about the Agent versus the Independent Publishing Route? What would you all personallyopt for? How much time is right before one gives up on the query process andstarts looking for other alternatives? Please share your views with us?

How not to Let Rejection Hurt and Affect Us

2011-12-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

A writer’s most unfavourite word is Rejection. In its ninealphabets the word encapsulates the crashing of a writer’s dream and hard work.It’s a word I fear quite a bit like a cactus. It also a word I personallyavoid. I dislike saying that a publisher or an editor rejected my book. I wouldrather say that my book was turned down or declined. These words are less harshand hurt less.

Actuallyeven if we use the word rejection, the sting can be removed from it becausethere are several reasons a manuscript has been rejected or turned down.

An editorfriend of mine from one of

India

’sbiggest publishing houses explained to me that when they refuse a book thereare several reasons.

Sometimes a book is turned down because the editor is not in love with the story. “I like the story but I am not in love with it.” I have heard of this reason.

Sometimes even good books are refused, books which the editorial committee may have approved in stage one of the selection process, may be disapproved in stage two because of financial constraints. The publishing house just does not have the money to pump into this book at the current time.

Several times books are turned down because publishers are unable to think of a marketing strategy for that particular book. Books that cannot be marketed do not sell well. ( A publisher called me and personally told me that they were refusing one of my chapter book because they feared that they would be unable to market it, even though they liked the book a lot).

Very often the publishers have brought out a book similar to the one submitted some time back and do not want to repeat themes. They prefer to tackle different books. One of my Short Story Collection met with this fate. The publisher asked me to wait for 3 years. I thought that was too much.

Books that do not follow certain trends: read as books on unusual, bold themes, or archaic themes are refused for fear of them not selling well.

Books that need a lot of editing, both structural as well as grammatical translates into a refusal. Editors just do not have the time or energy to devote to such manuscripts. Everyone prefers a polished piece that requires minimum editing. Editors don’t mind corroborating with writers when a manuscript is outstanding and editorial changes can further enhance it, turning it into literary magic.

Many times even good books are turned down as there is a lacunae, in the style of writing and the theme. The theme may be for older children while the writing style for younger ones, or vice versa.

Good books are turned down as the publishing house’s publishing programme is full for the next couple of years and there is no room for new manuscripts, unless it’s a part of a series.

Several times good books by first time authors are turned down in favour of not so good books by authors who publishers consider well known or brand names. Brand names according to my editor friend ensures that the First Print Run sells.

There are several reasons for therejection of a manuscript. There is no need for us (writers ) to feel insulted or hurt. A rejection does not mean that a writer isbad, it just means that the story has not resonated with the editor or thatthey have different visions for it. It’s nothing personal. Do you feel thereare any other reasons for rejecting a manuscript? What does rejection mean to you?Please sharewith us.

P.S. To spruce up your Book Promotion and Marketing Skills, read this amazing post by Carolyn Howard Johnson on my dear friend, Stephen Tremp's blog.

Tips on Planning a Trilogy/Series

2011-11-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

Planning aseries has made me a nervous wreck. I am reading as much as I can on how tomake each book of my Middle Grade Paranormal Trilogy, a Standalone one. I likedJanice Hardy tips which I read on the blog- Literary Rambles. It made a lot of sense and is helping me inplotting the 3 books, creating individual conflicts for each book and thinkingabout the character arc.

Planning aTrilogy does take a lot of effort. There are several things to keep a track of,there is a tendency to overdo on the backstory and there is a fear of repeatingoneself. Writers have to create plots that can stand on their own feet and pushthe story forward.

I amundergoing several fears about introducing too many characters in the firstbook and leaving too few for the next two. I am trying to create for each bookan individual conflict, story arc and resolution.

When Iread Janice Hardy’s interview in the blog- Literary Rambles, it was like ablessing in disguise. Here is Janice’s advice regarding a trilogy.

1. Give eachbook a solid stand alone plot. The story can continue from book to book, butthe more solid your core conflict is, the easier it’ll be to write. You’ll havea good understanding of the goals and stakes and won’t be floundering to figureout how it all fits together.

2. Pretend the previous book(s)is the backstory. Don’t try to rehash or re-explain all of book one or two.Just pretend it’s part of the character’s history and treat it same as youwould any other backstory. Once the first draft is done, you’ll know what needsto be fleshed out for new readers.

3. Keep revealing new stuff. Evenif the plot is different, if readers don’t learn anything new about thecharacters or the world, it can feel like the same basic book all over again.Show new aspects of the world, the characters, the problems, the stakes, etc.

How many ofyou all are writing a series or a Trilogy. How difficult is it to keep track of everything. Do you all have any tipsthat will make my writing a trilogy easy? Please share your thoughts with us.

How many Drafts should a Manuscript Undergo?

2011-11-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Few months back, a writing friend asked me, “how many draftsdid your manuscript undergo?” I said, “several.” I really had lost track of thenumber of drafts I had made of that particular manuscript. She was shocked.According to her, manuscripts that undergo 7 to 8 drafts are just not a normalwriting procedure.

“Ideally,a manuscript should undergo just 3 drafts,” she said. I don’t know whether tolaugh or cry at that, because the manuscript I am subbing has definitelyundergone more than 3 drafts. I may not remember the actual draft count, but Ihad revised the book like hell.

I don’tthink there is a standard draft procedure or a norm where books are concerned.All I am aware is that the first draft is no where ready to be published, itsnot even ready to be shown even to the family members whose critiquingabilities don’t match other writers. The first draft is often a literary mess,a jumble of words that make sense only to the writer. It’s just a clutch ofscenes, sometimes the scenes are not even linked. It’s as we move on to thenext few drafts that the manuscript gets a semblance of a story; that there isa cause and effect sequence to it.

It’sdifferent for every writer. 3 drafts may be too less for some writers, while itmay be too much for few lucky ones. My first drafts are sometimes too lengthyand sometimes too sketchy. There is never a balance. I add the finer detailsslowly. The first draft is just the basic scene.

Do you thinkthere is a set rule for drafts? How many drafts of a manuscript is normal? Howmany drafts do you all make of your manuscripts? When do you feel its time tosend it to Crit Partners or Beta Readers?

The Forgotten Art of Longhand Writing

2011-11-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today Idid something that I have always loved doing, writing in longhand. Normally Iswitch on the computer and tap away furiously at my laptop keys. This new WIP,needed me to revert to my long forgottenroots. When I started writing, I would write with a blue ball point pen on linedfoolscap sheets. The first drafts were always on paper.

These wouldthen be transferred to the computer. As I got busy with other things, I startedwriting on the computer itself to save time. I would just open a word documentand start typing. Somewhere with my busy schedule I had forgotten the joys ofwriting longhand.

When Ipicked up the reams of foolscap sheets presented to me by my dad (dad had searchedlong and hard in Bangalore to get these lined foolscap sheets, I had justcasually mentioned to him that I was missing my usual paper as the stationaryshops near our house had all closed down). I was thrilled. Nothing likevisiting old times. Yesterday, the first day of the week I started writing therough outline of the first book of my Middle Grade Paranormal Trilogy. I amrewriting the first book, keeping just few scenes from the original draft.

It was sheerpleasure to watch the sheets fill up with my handwriting. Every filled pagesent ripples of delight coursing through my body. By the end of the day, I wasquite happy with my writing progress. While writing, the feel of the smoothpaper was bliss. I don’t know why, but I prefer staring at a blank sheet ofpaper than a blank screen. A blank screen tempts me to open my browser andcheck my mails, blog or facebook.

I feellonghand writing really unleashes my creativity. It sure turns my normal moodymuse into a caring and helpful creature. It also sets free my blocked andchoked up brain cells. For a few days I have decided to carry around the page in which I have outlined the plot, so that I can finetune the outline and add more to it.

I know it’s alengthy process: first writing, then typing. I am just going to write chapteroutlines and the major scenes, not the entire book. Lotof it will get changed while writing the consecutive drafts. I am seeing thepositive side of it. While typing I can also edit and make the changes.

What aboutyou all? Do you cherish the times when you wrote longhand or do you prefer itsquicker version; typing once for all on the computer. What do you all feelabout writing longhand? Is it too cumbersome for you all? What is your writing method?

Are we Scribblers or Gods of our Universe?

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Are we just Scribblers (penning stories) or are we Gods ofour Universe. As writers we get to play God with our literary characters. We become something akin to their Destiny Makers. We have the ability tobring them to throbbing life, or kill them with one stroke of a pen, or, withthe click of a few keys. We have the meansof ridding them of their problems quickly, ortormenting them for several chapters.

In theliterary world we can do everything that we cannot do in our real world. Wouldwe create problems in someone’s life like we do with relish in ourprotagonist’s life? God forbid. No. Never. Would we ever be accused of manipulating people in real life, in theway we manipulate all our characters? Again the answer would be no. But when wewrite we keep aside our guilt conscious, and trouble and torture our charactersmercilessly. At times with glee. The more problems we add in their lives the more believable the character becomes. A caseof the Written Life emulating the Real Life.

Asscribblers we give full rein to all our fantasies, create make believe worlds,people the world with believableprotagonists, add loathable antagonists, generously add conflicts of all kinds,and finally resolve it to universalappeal.

Aswriters we have complete control of the destinies of each and every characterwe create, not just the main. We set the stage for the entry and exit of allthe people who have initially resided in our imaginations. In real life moreoften than not we are helpless.

Haveyou noticed that the lack of influence we have over the people in ourlives: family; parents, spouse,siblings, children, and friends doesn’t trouble us during writing? Ourcharacters unlike our family and friends cannot call us interfering busybodiesor control freaks when we meddle with their lives. Writing is the only time we are in complete control(provided the muse is co-operating, and distractions that deter us from writingare at bay, and we get uninterrupted writing time).

In ourliterary worlds characters are created with impunity, they are shown the doorunceremoniously, flying on the wings of imagination our characters indulge in activities that we would neverdare to do! Deep down most of our characters reflect our secret desires and passions. Sometimes I think even the notso nice ones.

Ourcharacters are puppets that we manipulate to put on a wonderful performancethat will leave the readers asking for more.

Are wewriters closet control freaks? Is that one of the main appeals of writing for you? Tobe in complete control of every aspect of our character’s life? Or, do we love to create new worlds, new situations and new people? Whataspect of writing appeals to you all the most? I would love to know.

PS: This is one of my earliest posts. As I had no post planned for today, I kind of cheated by re-posting an older post.

Would like to alert you all to a fun Blog- Fest hosted by Madeleine. Click Here to know more about it and join the Blog-Fest. This is one Blog- Fest in which you are allowed to use Cliches.

Have you got your Writerly Stuff Ready?

2011-11-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Few days back, when the people in charge of the Short storycompetition in which my short story for children won a special prize asked meto send my picture with a short Bio fortheir website, I went into a mad scramble trying to find a suitable picture.Finally I had to beg my nephew to take a picture ( it wasnt a good one) butthen I had no other alternative. The author bio too needed a little bit ofeffort from my side.

Three daysback, when the editor of Penguin asked me to send my author bio for theAnthology in which one of my short story appears, I very happily sent them as Ihad already written one.

It was thenI realized that its necessary for writers to keep few things handy and do few other things before the book is out.

Author Bio-where all our writing credentials are mentioned as well as our qualificationsin a word document saved under the title of Author Bio. This can be updatedoften whenever we add on to our writerly activities, namely mention of competitionswon, articles published, books published and short stories that have appearedin Anthologies. One agent I wanted to query asked for a detailed list ofarticles and stories published with links to each article. Needless to say, Idid not query that agent as I don’t have these details in hand.

AuthorPicture. A picture that agents and editors want to put up on their websites under the list: Clients. This issomething I am looking forward to even though I am very unphotogenic. It wouldbe wonderful. Currently I don’t have apicture ready, but this situation will be tackled soon. We never know when Goddecides to smile upon our writing efforts.

Visiting/Business Card. I have often heard that itsimportant for writers to have a visitingcard with their credentials, contactdetails as well as their websites. To be honest, I have never bothered with avisiting card. I am still debating on this issue.

Website.This is another area I have not given much thought to. It’s my personal thoughtthat I would go for a website when I have more books published. But, I haveheard that it’s never too early to get a website as that makes writers lookprofessional in front of agents.

Blogs.Blogs have become necessary tools for building platforms. Most of us alreadyblog. The only thing I will add here is frequent posts; even once a week isgood enough. Blogs that have not seen any updates from months send out a wrongimpression.

Twitter. Ihave no clue about Twitter, but I have heard that it’s a great way to keep up to date on the latestpublishing news. And its also a wonderful way to build a platform.

Facebook Page. This can be either a Author Page or a Book Page. Its a great way to get the interest going.

Now it’syour turn. Tell me whether you have all your writerly stuff ready. I am guiltyof many writing transgressions. Whatabout you all? Have I forgotten anything?

If I were to Write with my Mother Beside Me

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

If ever I were to write with my Mother sittingbeside me, issuing instructions then itwould spell literary catastrophe. Because the kind of stories mom reads aredefinitely not the kind of stories I write.

Momloves romances. I don’t write that genre. Though I don’t mind a good romance once in a while, I am past that age where Iswoon over the hero’s gorgeous looks and sigh every time the hero/heroine comenear for a liplock.

She loves simple stories with lesscharacters. For me unless there are 35 to 45 characters in my manuscripts Ifeel lonely. Writing Middle Grade Fiction based in schools makes it easy to addso many characters. Too many characters and mom loses track of them. She has tokeep going back to refresh her memory.

Momloves Happily Ever After. I really don’t care who dies at the end of a book. Ijust love a good story. But if my reader is anything like my mother, then Godforbid if my story has an unhappy ending. That would be sacrilege, a violationof rights. How could I do that to her? She has taken out time to read my bookand I cheated her by depriving her of a happy ending! How could I? How dare I?

Sheloves a clear ending. Many of the endings of my short stories are ambiguous andleft to the readers’ imagination and she has often cribbed that she wasconfused by them.

Shehates heavy doses of love scenes. Fortunately for me, MG fiction really doesn’t give me a chance toexplore that area. I will have to think of that when I write a novel.

Momhas cursed authors who have belittled their countries. Several award winningauthors have met her disapproval for running down our motherland and showing usin a bad light. I agree. I would hate to run down my country just so that some publisherspublishes my work.

Ifthe story tugs mom’s heart strings and plays with her emotionally then she willrave about the book to everyone she meets. The writer can and should hire herto market the book as you just cannot get a better publicist than mom.

Strongand well rounded characters with an inherent sense of honesty, loyalty anddignity who abide by truth and decency win her over. She loves to see the moralfibre in her characters.

Characters who love and respect not just their elders, but every humanthey come across meet her approval. My characters are all brats. Who play pranks on their loved ones. Mom sure won’t be rooting for them.

IfI were to write with my mom in mind, I would have to create a super virtouscharacter, who has absolutely no or very few vices, who has never harmed anyonenot even a mosquito, and who can be called an angel.

Whatabout you all? If you were to write with a loved one sitting beside you andsubtly guiding you, what are the things you would avoid in your manuscripts? Whatare the things you would be adding to the character and story? Please share, itwill be fun to read the way your loved ones guide your writing.

PS: Mom very graciously allowed me to upload one of her favourite pictures of her and Dad.

Getting Out of a Writing Slump

2011-11-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

For the past few days I had been sinking into the longest anddeepest writing slump of my life. At the start of October, I had decided to doNaNo. It would have been my first NaNo and I was tremendously excited. I decidedto plan a rough outline of the MG novel I would be re-writing as well asoutlining books 2 and 3.

But, someoneup there had different plans for me. Every time I started rewriting or planningthe outline, it was dismissed by my inner editor as being too mediocre, tooclichéd, too stereotypical. My innereditor constantly shouted, “Try something different. Go for the unusual. ”

I think beingon submission too did its bit. Querying is a nerve twisting process, especiallyfor writers like us (being in India we are too far away from the hub of the publishing world) who have no access to conferences or cannot get areferral. Most agents I wanted to query were closed to submissions. They eitherwanted to work with a writer they had met at a conference or a writer who wasreferred to them by one of their clients.

My writing (crit) partners rallied around me, but every writer’s advice clashed with the otherwriter’s. I was driving myself crazy.

My best friendsduring that 14 day long slump were all the writing craft books I had bought. Atany moment you could see these books lying on my bed. I would be franticallymaking notes on how to hook the readers from page one, how to move theconflict up to the first page, make thestory question apparent as soon as was possible.

I had done verylittle writing in the last few days, though I brainstormed a lot. To getaway from all this, I plunged into reading. Reading is very theraupetic. I read two booksfrom the Kane Chronicle Series, I enjoyed Hunger Games, I read Animal Farm. Ialso went out a lot; caught up with my non-existent social life and stoppedthinking of both the query business and writing that perfect book.

Slowly thesun shone out from among the dark and stormy clouds. I think it was my faith inGod that provided the ultimate break through. The break through finally happened,though I didn’t feel the effects immediately, I know the cobwebs covering mycreative cells are falling away and the writer’s block is melting.

This wasliterally the worst phase of my writing life. I definitely don’t want to gothrough this again. Has something like this happened to you? Have you been inprolonged writing slumps? How many days has the slump lasted and how did youmanage to get out of it? Please share your stories, we all can benefit a lotfrom it.

Help for the Beginnings, Middles and Endings

2011-11-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

As I am rewriting Book 1 of my MG Paranormal Trilogy andalso planning book 2 and 3, I find myself turning more and more to one of myfavourite writing craft books: Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell.

I amsharing a few things Bellsuggests.

Beginnings

The firsttask of your beginning is to hook the reader.

Use greatopening lines, teasers, attitude, story frames or prologues to grab the reader.

Watch out for dull exposition at thebeginning. Act first; explain later.

Middles

Thestrongest plots have a sense of death hovering over the head. This can bephysical death, psychological death or professional death.

Adhesive holds the lead and oppositiontogether. If the lead can solve the problem simply by resigning from theaction, the reader will wonder why he doesn’t do so.

Duty isoften the adhesive. A professional duty ( as in a cop solving a case) or amoral duty ( as in a mother fighting to save her child). Physical location canbe an adhesive, where it is impossible for a character to leave a place.

Thefundamental rhythm of a novel is action, reaction, more action (ARM). You cancontrol the pace by how you control the beats.

Raisethe stakes throughout the middle portion of the novel. Stakes can relate toplot, character and society.

Endings

Thereare three basic types of endings: the lead gets his objective; the lead loseshis objective; or we don’t know if the lead gets it.

Thelead can gain his objective, but with a negative result attached;or he can losehis objective with some positive result.

Sacrificeis a powerful element in many endings.

Someendings focus on the final battle the Lead must fight. Others focus on thefinal choice the lead must make.

Keeping all these pointers in mind sure does help in plot points. Do youall have any favourite writing craft book that you frequently refer to? How doyou all plot your books? Any pointers for me to help me plot better?

Lessons I Learnt from Rick Riordan

2011-11-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lastweek I read the first two books of the Kane Chronicles written by Rick Riordan:The Red Pyramid and The Throne of Fire. I must admit that the books were a veryracy read. I could barely put them down.

I haveread practically all the Percy Jackson books and am a huge fan. I liked thedual point of view of storytelling adopted by the author for the KaneChronicles Series. The story is told in the form of recordings by the siblings.The brother and sister take turns to narrate the story.

Every alternate chapter is toldfrom the point of view of either the brother Carter or the sister Sadie. Toavoid confusion, beside the chapter headline is the name of whoever is tellingthat part of the story.

Rick hascompletely dispensed with not just a long winded introduction, but with anyintroduction. He plunges his readers into the heart of the problem where thesiblings’ father, the brilliant Epyptologist Dr Julius Kane blows up theBritish Musuem.

What theauthor has given the readers is a ticket to a roller coaster ride. The readersget to know the siblings as the story progresses; just bits and pieces abouttheir life.

Anothermaster stroke adopted by the author is the number of ancient Egyptian Gods whomake their entry throughout the books. The author has added oodles of appeal to allthe Gods. What I liked a lot was the author’s complete hatred for long windedexplanations about the myths and legends surrounding each and every God. Itsliterally a case of , “Hi I am Bast, Goddess of cats and I am here to help you two.”

Theauthor has blended Egyptian myths and history seamlessly into the story, factshave been woven and what has emerged is a tapestry of fiction. Boredom has beendenied entry.

Thereis action on every page. Every page sees the two siblings fighting fiercemonsters. These monsters have been sent by Set; a God of Ancient Egypt. Dollopsof humour urge the story along.

Improvisation is the name of the game where the author is concerned. Agod who drives an RV and travels byplane. A blood thirsty monster (as the legend says) is given several pints of Salsa sauce, abasketball loving baboon and a Dwarf who wears a blue Speedo and has trouble in his love life all make for an amusing and great read.

What doyou all think of Rick Riordan’s unique way of story telling and his take on theEgyptian Gods and myth. Is there anything in particular you all have learntfrom Rick Riordan? Please share with us?

The Lure of Imperfect Characters

2011-10-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

I am not sure about otherwriters, but personally I love Imperfect characters; both while reading andwhile writing. Most of the characters I create have some or the otherimperfection in them. Imperfection is actually the new perfection. The smudgeof Imperfection in characters adds an unexplainable and undefinable appeal.

Characters in booksmirror real life people. We all have our own individual idiosyncrasies, flaws,shortcomings and insecurities. So it’s nothing unusual if characters reflectthese traits. Actually this quality (Imperfection) makes a character more real.Readers find it easy to identify with someone who is imperfect. Someone whomakes mistakes, is swayed by emotions, is prone to mood swings is morereal than a character who is calm and unruffled and who never makesmistakes. Though we look up to perfect people, they do give us a temporarysense of insecurity. We feel small in front of them. We may even secretlyand subtly resent their perfection and larger than life image. But it’s theimperfect characters we bond with. In their presence we revel in our ownimperfections.

Have you all noticed thatmore and more often our protagonists lead imperfect lives. As the storyunfolds, these imperfect characters leading imperfect lives try to resolve theconflict by tackling their own personal imperfections first.

Aristotle called itHamartia, which was seen as a character flaw. This character flaw can be alimitation, a problem, a phobia, or a deficiency present in a character who isotherwise quite normal. The character flaw may be a violent temper that mayturn out to affect the character’s actions, abilities, or interactions withother characters. Sometimes it can be a simple personality defect which onlyhas effect on the character’s motives and social interaction and nothing else.

Flaws or imperfection adddepth and humanity to the characters in a narrative. For eg the mayor with a penchantfor gambling, the hero with claustrophobia, the heroine with an alcoholproblem. One of the most famous example is ‘ Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and MrHyde.’

Character flaws can be slotted into three categories.

Minor Flawsmake the characters memorable in reader’s mind, these give the characterindividuality, but other than that they do not affect the story in any way.They can be a scar, an accent, biting the lower lip, twirling the moustache, agirl constantly flinging her hair back. A protagonist can have several minorflaws, each having no effect on the plot.

Major Flawsare noticeable and important. They affect the individual physically, mentally,emotionally, morally or spiritually. Major flaws are not necessarily negative :they can be rigid religious beliefs or a strict adherence to a certainlifestyle. Major flaws like: greed, blindness, deafness, lust, often hamper andrestrict the character in one way or the other. The major flaw is important forthe character’s personal development and the story. Heroes and heroines mustovercome their own major flaws either partially or completely, eithertemporarily or permanently, at some point in the story, very often by theclimax, by sheer determination or skill to be able to solve the larger problemat hand. For a villain his major flaw is frequently the cause of his downfall.The protagonist’s major flaw defines the core problem, the entire journey toremedy this problem forms the firm backbone of the story, sometimes proddingthe plot forward.

The last flaw is the TragicFlaw, it’s the cause of the character’s downfall and eventual death.Tragic Flaw arises out of the character’s misplaced trust in another character,an excessive amount of curiousity that sucks him into problems, pride thatplunges him into a world of loneliness. The fall that often arises out of theTragic Flaw occurs at the beginning of a story.

Do you like perfectcharacters? Or Imperfection is the new perfection for you? What kind ofcharacter flaws do your characters have?

Avoiding the Dreaded Cliches

2011-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

At one time I could have been accused of adopting clichés asmy new friends. That was way back in school. Though it took time I outgrew thatfriendship. Cliches are an editor’s nightmare. They are also a creative writingteacher’s nightmare. Actually, they are everyone’s nightmare. I have nothingpersonal against clichés, but I really, really hate them. Whenever I comeacross the common cliches my hands itch to scratch them out.

Afterreading a few of my students assignments stuffed with clichés of all kinds fromplots and characters to the actual writing: her blood was the colour of tomatosauce/ketchup (I seriously stopped eating ketchup), her dress was as green asgrass (does anyone still say that?), he was as cool as a cucumber; I decided todevote an entire session to avoiding clichés.

Granted that few of these students were just out of school, but that’sno excuse to fall heavily into cliché territory.

I always feel there are better ways of sayingthings. Instead of saying “the colour of her dress was as green as grass,” wecan always say “ her dress was the colourof freshly watered grass.” This description instantly creates an image ofswaying grass with drops of water clinging to it.

Anothercliché that really irks me is “her eyeswere blue as the sky,” we can say this in a different way “her eyes were thecolour of a summer sky.” There is an instant visual of an endless blue skydevoid of clouds.

Acliché I detest is “ her hair was as black as the night.” There is always abetter description, we just have to exercise our creative cells. Isn’t the description “ her hair was dark assin, her hair was the color of melted dark chocolate, her hair was the color ofa cold winter’s night,” way better.

“Farfrom the madding crowd,” is a cliché I have come across several times.Isn’t “far from the dust and pollutionof the city,” or “ far from city noises,” a slightly better way ofdescribing the same thing?

Another student of mine had decided to cram as many clichés as possiblein her essay. I just hope that she was not testing my patience. Her firstcliché “he was as hairy as a bear,” I converted into “a bee could get lost inhis body hair”. Highlighting all theclichés with red, I asked her to write them in a better way. By the end of thesession, she had learnt to avoid clichés.

Cliches should be given a royal burial. Thereis no place for them in a good piece of writing. Cliches are responsible forpieces of writing that come under the heading of ‘Bad Writing.’

Aswriters we are supposed to see the unusual in the usual stuff, to see a thingdifferently is our forte. And to describe it in an unusual way is what wespecialize in. Our descriptions conjure vivid images in our readers’ minds.They literally transport them to otherand different worlds. It’s our moralduty towards our readers to give them different descriptions.

Isthere any cliché you particularly detest? Is there another and better way ofdescribing it? We all would love to read about the clichés you abhor.

PS. I am taking a small break, asWednesday 26^th October is Diwali (the most important Indian Festival). There won't be a Tuesday post. My next post will be on Friday 28^thOctober. Here is wishing all my writing friends a very Happy Diwali.

Guest Interview with Author Patrick Johnson

2011-10-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Patrick Johnson, pen name SB Jones, is the self publishedauthor of The Eternal Gateway series. Hecomes from a strong technical background after working for Dell Inc. for eightyears and a regular attendee of the DefCon hacker convention.

Tell us a little about the Eternal Gateway Trilogy.

The Eternal Gateway Trilogy centers on a oncehidden artifact in the jungle that allows certain worthy people to see andtravel to the past or future. I use amix of light steampunk: airships, gunpowder tech, trains and mega cities. Traditional high fantasy: magic, swords andsorcery. And science fiction: timetravel, and physics. The first novel,Requiem, is a classic hero’s journey of the main character going from theordinary to the extraordinary. Guardiantakes place five years after the events of Requiem and is a much darker,emotionally charged novel that the characters have to deal with the harshrealities of war. The fun adventure isover, it’s real now. The final book,Sentinel, is where everything comes together. The time travel elements will have you reaching for books one and twoagain. Redemption and revenge are themain themes as everything comes full circle.

Where does inspiration for your characters and stories comefrom?

Most of the characters come fromdecades ago pen and paper roll playing games created from grade school throughhigh school. Some started from videogames, movies, or TV shows. For example,Kail and Angela were characters from the pen and paper games, while the airshipcaptain, Camden Arland, I tried to model after LOST’s Sawyer. As I wrote Requiem, I just wasn’t able tomake Camdeninto a grumpy guy that hated that he had to do the right thing. My editor says he reminds her of Jack O’Neillfrom Stargate.

Do you have anyadvice for aspiring authors trying to create a trilogy?

Plan, plan, and plan some more. As I learn and become more experienced withwriting my views change a lot. A bigpart of me wishes that I had not published Requiem until the whole trilogy hadbeen written. I am almost finishedwriting book two and there so many details that I could go plant seeds for inbook one that have cropped up. I knowdeep down the trilogy would be better for it if I had waited. But at the same time, if I had not releasedRequiem, all of the feedback, comments, and people asking me when the next bookcomes out, seeing people smile and shaking hands at book signings would neverhave happened. Without that, there is avery good chance it would never have been anything more than a rough draft andan outline.

Being a regular follower of your blog, I have realized thatyou are a serious plotter and outliner. Can you tell us about your plottingmethod?

I like to start with note cards. I put chapters or scenes on them and lay themout on my bar. It’s nice because you caneasily move them around until you get the events the way you want. It helps eliminate plot holes or giant gapsin events. Regardless of what you do,things happen that you did not plan for so it needs to be flexible enough thatyou can adjust and not have to go back or redo work.

Did you try the traditional publishing route or did you gostraight into the self-publishing way?

Honestly I intended to go the traditionalroute first. I wrote 5 short childrenstories called Stan the Man. My plan was to get Scholastic to pick them upand use that success and money to fund the time while I worked on The EternalGateway. That never happened I justshook my head at the whole query, agent, wait two to ten years for an answerbusiness. Without an artist orpublisher, Stan the Man was shelved. When I was in the first rounds of edits for Requiem, I heard aboutAmanda Hocking. It’s easy to guess wherethings went from there.

You have said that “One of the nicest thing about being selfpublished, is the fact that your success is directly related to the effort youput in.” How are you going about marketing your book?

Marketing is a topic that willnever end. I think what most selfpublished and even traditionally published authors fail to realize until theyare in the middle of it is this. Writing/story telling is an art. Publishing is a business. A lotof authors throw their work up expecting hundreds or thousands of people to buytheir book. When it doesn’t happen bynext week, they blame Amazon for it. Alot put in time and effort to blog, tweet, and Facebook all day, but still failto sell. When you look at these authorsthey are doing a good job marketing to their peers, not their customers. Great, you have 500 followers, but they areall other authors. Look up @day9tv ontwitter. 71,000+ followers. Those are all fans, not other internet tvhosts. Blowing a $100 for a Google adfor a weekend isn’t going to work. Youare better off buying $100 worth of your own book and giving them away at themall. The majority of my success hasbeen from getting myself out there. Booksignings, shaking hands, small talk to the person behind you at the checkoutline. And always, always have somethingon you to give people. A business cardwith the cover and information to buy the book. I have sold more paperbacks and eBooks this way than from blogging,tweeting, and posting on forums. Don’tneglect these, because they will with time generate sales. It can take years though for it to happen.

What have you learned about marketing your first book? Howwill it influence your marketing strategy for your next two books?

I wouldn’t call it a mistake, but Ilaunched Requiem on Monday June 20. Thenext day Bantam Books dropped like 140 back listed Star Wars books onAmazon. When you checked to see what wasnew in science fiction my book was instantly shoved 10 pages deep.

Coordinating sales is something Iam going to try with Guardian. Itdoesn’t take many sales to push your Amazon ranking up the charts. For example if 50 people buy your book spreadout through a month, your ranking will be much lower than if you had those same50 sales in a day or two. So planningwith friends, family, and generating presales and letting people know well inadvance when it goes for sale is very important. Hitting a top 100 subgenera on Amazon is veryimportant for sales.

Last is picking a better launchdate. I have read several times thatlaunching around holidays that have gifts are ideal over random days. Christmas, Mothers Day, Fathers Day etc arebetter than mid July or late September.

How do you managewriting, marketing, blogging, as well as publishing your books? Is there a secrettime management skill you would like to share with my readers?

There is no secret. People have heard this one before. I treat it like a job. Tuesdays are my online marketing days, Irarely get any writing done now on Tuesdays as I make the blog rounds, postcomments, post a blog, hit the forums, find new blogs, tweet, Facebook andeverything else.

The other weekdays, I write. I get started around 10am, check emails, do aquick look through Google Reader to see what’s new in blogging. If there are new blogs from certain people,like yours Rachna, I will read it and leave a comment if I can. Once noon hits, I shut it all off, turn onsome music and start writing. Getting ridof distractions is very important. It’sall to easy to check your Amazon ranking, email, wander to a forum, browsetwitter and find that 3 hours have passed.

My advice for people who don’t havethe luxury of being a full time writer is you have to make time. Writing is a skill, it needs to be done overand over, like exercise. Even an hour a day if you can get in 500-1000 words,you can have a full length novel in 3-4 months. Nothing will get the book done other than butt in chair.

Do you have afavorite writing craft book?

I don’t. I don’t have any books on how to write. I use Google a lot to look things up when Iget stuck or I ask my mother who is a retired school teacher.

Thanks Patrick for giving us a peek into your creative process.

Patrick’s blog www.TheEternalGateway.com

Twitter as @starbuck_jones.

Requiem can be found in paperback and eBook at Amazon andBarnes and Noble.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00572MWYS

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/requiem-sb-jones/1103851384

The Ten Commandments of a Writer

2011-10-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

I was so busy this week (tweaking my book) that I forgot towrite my usual writing related post. I do have a few serious posts planned, but I had no time to writethem down. So, I decided we can all have a little fun. I am sure we have earnedit.

Ifthere were ten commandments for a writer, what do you all think they would be?I have compiled a small list. According to me a writer’s ten commandments wouldbe:

1.Thou shall not covet thy neighbour’s or another writer's character/story/book/agent.

2.Thou shall only worship one God: thy muse.Thou should love and respect it.

3.Thou shall consider one’s writing time holy and sacred and not spoil itwith

distractions that come in the form of Facebook, Twitter and Cell phones.

4.Thou shall honour one’s Characters and Plot.

5.Thou shall believe in Revisions, Revisions and more Revisions.

6.Thou shall adopt atleast two Crit Partners before unleashing one’s book on

the unsuspecting readers.

7.Thou shall avoid clichés and stereotypes.

8. Thou shall love thy Manuscript and believe init inspite of the rejections

piling up.

9. Thou shall not try to kill thy readers with boredom. Thou shall come up with

original plots and characters that will interest readers.

10. Thoushall not curse agents or wish them evil in case of rejections.

What are your writing/writer commandments? Any new commandment you wouldlike to share with us? Is there any commandment that you have ignored. I have been guilty of ignoring all the commandments at some time or the other. Please share your writing sins with us.

What has my writing taught me?

2011-10-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

My journey as a writer has beenquite long, starting with short stories and features for several years before Itook a full fledged plunge into the world of books. Over the years I have learnt several things in this journey andnot just how to create better plots and characters, but also about life. I want to share these insights with my writingfriends. I am sure few things will makeyou smile, and some things will make you nod your heads.

Writing has taught me patience. Patience is not one of my better known virtues. The time it takes to write a book from the day the idea pops into my overactive mind, until the day I see the book/ story in its published form is long. At every moment, impatient little me needs loads of patience to be able to do justice to the work I have undertaken.

Writing has taught me to respect people with split personalities as my personality undergoes a drastic change at different stages of my writing. When I am writing the first draft, I am quite stressed and irritable with the smallest disturbances. When I rewrite I am pretty upset with myself, and when I edit I am relaxed and cheerful.

Writing has made me value other writer’s efforts. I never dismiss a book as crap or run it down, as I am aware of the effort someone else must have invested in that endeavour. The book may have bored me to tears, maybe disappointed me a little, or a lot, but it still required a tremendous effort from someone else to bring it to that stage.

Writing has made me appreciate the little free time I get. For us writers, our work doesn’t end with just writing a publishable book, it starts with that. Once we have jumped onto the publishing bandwagon, we have to actively market our books. Its then we realize that the day could have done with few more hours, or, that we could have done with few less activities.

Writing has made me realize that If I were to wait for a visit from my muse, I would probable write just a book or two in my lifetime. It has made me realize that with or without the active participation of my muse I have to churn out those words that will fill my manuscript. If my muse sees me working hard, perhaps talking pity on me it will drop in for an extended visit.

Writing has been responsible for me developing a really thick skin. An editor/agent/reader/publisher/crit partner may not have reacted favourably where my work was concerned, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I am a bad writer, or, that I have to drown myself in self-pity. For every single person out there who doesn’t like my work, there is another person who will love it. Well, I personally have not liked all the books I have read, but that does not mean that the writer is bad, or, has failed. It just means that a particular story has not appealed to me emotionally.

Writing has taught me more about spirituality than the holiest of books. We writers get familiar with every aspect of spirituality: from surrender to working without an eye out for the desired result, to calm acceptance of our book’s fate. Do we know the fate of our manuscripts when we send it on its publishing journey? No. Do we know whether a character we have worked on for years will be loved or dismissed by readers? I am sure not. Do we know the reactions of the readers to our books? Definitely not. Do we know whether we will ever be able to make a decent living from our writing profession? Certainly not. Each cheque is a pleasant surprise.

Writing has made me an observer of life. Nowadays, I soak in everything; from the surrounding to people’s facial expressions to body language to how people speak and react. All this heavy duty observation is to bring authenticity to my writing.

Writing has also made me appreciate the value of other writers in my life in the form of blog buddies/writing friends/crit partners and brainstorming buddies. I know how precious a writer’s time is, but every writer in this awesome blogging community has gone out of their way to help each other.

Writing has also taught me to appreciate my readers: both for the stories and features I write for the newspapers and my books. It’s the readers’ appreciation that keeps me going.

What has your writing journey taught you? Please share with us,we all would love to know.

The Craft of the Short Story

2011-10-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

I am extremely fond of writing short stories. I have writtenaround 60 and practically all of them have been published. I hope to write many more. Short story was the starting pointfor my writing career. My editor told me something very sweet about a shortstory; it’s a novel waiting to grow up. Not always, I said. Many times a shortstory is just a short story, but, sometimes inside each short story lurks anovel, waiting to emerge.

MyBlog Buddy Mark Noce asked me “My big question for you is how to write a short-storywithout it morphing into a novel. This often happens to me.”

To answer Mark’s question, I wouldhave to say that a short story is just a very thin slice ofsomeone’s life, a beam of moonlight, a brief interlude. Its just one tinyincident that has happened in the main character’s life, while the novel is aseries of incidents.

Unlikenovels, short stories do not have the advantage of a long drawn courtship withthe readers. There is no serenading the readers over several chapters. Theattraction is Instant. Or, there is no attraction at all. It’s a Do or Diesituation.

One person stories are extremely powerful, andif its in the first person narrative, then,all the more better. This kind of narrative creates a sense of deep intimacy,the reader gets a close peek into the protagonist’s soul and life.

One of themain features of a short story is that it has just 1 or 2 main characters, toomany characters vying for space in a short story spoil the effect; its thenlike a party where no one has enjoyed the atmosphere. The movement of thecharacters is severely restricted. The writer is unable to do justice to any ofthe characters. A crowded characterization is acceptable if it’s a party, or a classroomscene, then, these extras lurk outside the fringes of the story, neverinterfering with either the protagonist, or, the movement of the story. Surplus characters slowdown the pace of the story.

Thebest feature of the short story is its indifference to cramming details aboutthe characters, situations and events. For a short story, it’s like one ispacking for a brief holiday: only the basic necessities that we just can’t do withoutare added to the suitcase. It’sdifferent from a novel, where one is literally shifting house: bag and baggage.

Thereins of the plot of the story are held tight, the writer is aware of each andevery breath the story is taking. The breathing is even and measured: no longdrawn sighs, or, gasping for breath. The journey of the short story is similarto a ride in which there is no halting, or, loitering around, or, even taking alittle rest. It’s more like a 100 metresdash. Start to finish.

Short stories with ironic and trick endingslike ‘The Necklace’ by Guy DuMaupassant will seldom be forgotten. Thepsychological short story popularized by Anton Chekhov has become memorable.The settings in many of his stories is in the minds of his characters, thedialogues are a steady stream of internal monologues. A short story that has lingered in many minds for a longtime is ‘The Gift of the Magi’ by O’ Henry. This heart wrenching story isrecollected every Christmas.

Short stories that work best have a Twist inthe Tales. They certainly grab a reader’s attention. It requires an adept storyteller to provide the end that takes the reader completely by surprise. Thistwist in the tale must stem from either the character, or, the story.

Shortstories make the tendency to tie up every loose end redundant. This is itsbiggest plus point. Few things can be left unsaid, few questions unanswered. A short story is just one scene from the main character’s life; a scenecomplete with a MC, Conflict and a Resolution. Most short stories start with a conflict, which is then quickly resolved. In a short story you need to start at the climax; think of a person in a setting.

Life Unordinary asked me what isthe ideal length of a short story. The ideal length is 400 words for Flash Fiction and 500 words to 800 wordsfor a picture book, 1000 words is appropriate for children’s stories, 2500 to3500 words is the word count for most competition entries for adult shortstories and also for older children. Some writers have gone on to write shortstories of 10,000 words.

PS: Justwanted to share with you all the good news that my short story ‘Ganesha’sBlanket of Stars’ won a Special Mention (Prize) in the Unisun Reliance TimeoutCompetition. Next year I have been asked to judge the competition. I am quiteexcited about it.

A Writer’s Many Fears

2011-10-04T03:50:00.000-07:00

Like characters, plots, scenes, story lines,different fears too reside inside a writer’s mind overflowing with ideas.Though these fears exist right from the time we put pen to paper (write thatfirst word or type it), they raise their ugly heads when we start querying.

Everytime there is a deathly silence from agent/agents we have queriedthese vicious monsters of fears raise their ugly heads. I feel these fears areobstacles created and thrown along our paths by forces unknown to us, to testour mettle, to firm our weakening determination and belief and to strengthen ourresolve to stick to the path chosen by us and make us have a firm faith in ourstories.

These fears come in different forms:

Fear of choosing the wrong subject. A subject that is hot now may not even receive a lukewarm response by the time we are thorough with the various drafts and rewrites and ultimately find a publishers/agent and the book finally gets published.

Fear of not doing justice to the main character. A weak character is such a let down.

Fear of not doing a good job where plot, characters, story arcs, dialogues and settings are concerned. There will always be somebody left dissatisfied with our story/books.

Fear of not getting an agent. What if no agent likes our stories?

Fear of the book not finding any home (publishing house) even though the agent is on board.

Fear of the editor wanting major rewrites that we may not be happy about, or chopping parts that we considered crucial or important. That is after the book has been placed with a publishing house.

Fear of being trashed by critics on whose words hang our writing careers. (If a critic is having a bad day, the result is a bad review)

Fear of readers disliking the book. ( That is a major fear)

Fear of the first print run being unsold. (Another fear that haunts)

Fear of not being given another chance to redeem ourselves. What if publishers and editors are scared to give us another chance?

Fear of failure, of being unable to rise up to our own expectations?

With somany fears surrounding us, it’s a wonder we are able to put pen to paper. Indeedit’s a brave soul that battles these fears to emerge with words that not onlymake sense, entertain, but also bring joy into someone’s life.

Which fearor shall I say fears do you face or have faced in your writing journey? At thispoint in time I am facing quite a few of these fears. How do you capture thesefears to write day in and day out? Itwill be of great help to each of us if you share your experiences and how youhandle these fears and stop it from messing with your creativity.

How Do Story Ideas Strike You?

2011-09-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Story ideas strike me at the most unexpected times and inthe least expected way. Whenever, anyone asks me how do I get the Inspiration for my stories (inthis case I am talking of the short stories I have written; around 60 stories ranging from 1000 words to 4500 words, which have all beenpublished in newspapers and books), I wonder how do I explain to a non-writerhow does this happen.

TheInspiration for my first book ‘The Lion Who Wanted to Sing,’ jumped into mymind while I was meditating. In that brief moment of calm, an image of a Liongazing at the sky flashed into my mind. The title too just popped into my mind as though someone had whisperedit into my ear. The story idea just unspooled from that brief vision. And thatvision became the book cover image.

Sometimes, Ijust see an image of a character or maybe two characters and the story startsfrothing in my mind. Many times, I even start with a title which acts like aprompt and the story starts building around the title. I know it soundsstrange, but that’s the way my brain gets its dose of Inspiration.

At timeseven a conversation with a writing friend on Facebook can trigger a plot pointor unleash a story idea hiding in the back of my mind. At those times I amextremely grateful for the distraction provided by the internet; it becomes ablessing more than a nuisance. And I secretly bless the writing friend for herindirect inspiration.

Most ofmy chapter outlines fall into place with chapter titles that just pop into mymind as though someone was urging me to write about it. I just adore theseflashes of Inspiration moments. I just wish they were more frequent andoccurred at least once a day.

That’swhy veteran writers talk about jotting down everything that is churned out byour mind: both the conscious and the Sub-conscious mind. We never know whenthese nuggets of gems may turn out to be the cues that can propel our writingto greater heights.

I knowit’s different for every writer. We all have our unique ways of tackling ourwriting. Many writers I know see their stories in their dreams. I would love toknow how story ideas approach you? Do characters come begging at your doorsteppleading with you to write their stories? Or do the story ideas fall into yourhead fully formed and you all just start writing? How do ideas strike you?

Lessons I have Learnt from My Spiritual Master

2011-09-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

This post is very different from my usual writing posts.Today, I will talk about my spiritual master: Amma or Mata Amritanandmayi Devi as she is known as. I will also sharewith you all the things I have learnt from my Spiritual Master. Amma is fromKerala. This Divine Saint has made it her mission to uplift humanity and helpthe poor by constructing free houses for them as well as providing them withbasic education, medical care and jobs. Amma’s Ashram runs one of the largestcharitable institutes in India.

Though,Indiahas many saints, Amma is different from other saints. Her difference arisesfrom the fact that she is accessible to all her devotees, irrespective ofcaste, financial background and age.

Amma travels all over the world, meetingpeople and giving her unique darshans, which consist of a hug, a candy and fewholy and loving words whispered in each individual’s ear. It’s not surprisingto see young students getting their hall tickets for exams blessed by Amma, orengineering students getting their projects blessed by Amma or excitedlytelling her their exam results.

Imet Amma nearly 19 years back. Ammavisits Bangaloreevery year in February. I eagerly wait for 364 days to spend a few seconds inAmma’s arms and feel that divine bliss and experience that radiant energy.

Ihave a unique relationship with my Spiritual Master. Amma treats me like a baby. Amma is very encouraging where my writing is concerned. It’s due toher encouragement that I started querying for my MG fiction. She constantlyurges me to write more books and not worry about big publishers.

Amma has taught me many things. Patience, something I am not famous for,is Amma’s best known quality, as well as humility. As writers we need boththese qualities in abundance. We need truckloads of patience to see a completedManuscript. As for humility, we are after all taking dictation from a highersource when we write. So, the question of pride just does not arise.

Another thing Amma has taught me is the act ofpracticing detachment, the ability to stand back and just witness what ishappening in one’s life. This is extremely difficult. The moment I startedquerying exactly one month back, I would check my mail every few hours to seeif any agent had replied. From the past few days, I have shed that habit and Iam much more at peace now. I have performed my actions (writing the book andquerying) and now it’s up to God to do the rest.

Ammaconstantly urges her followers to embrace the Indian philosophy of karma:performing one’s actions without any expectations. We writers embrace thatphilosophy in a big way. When we write our books and stories we have no idea ofthe reaction it will garner from the readers.

Amma is the source of my Inner Strength and it’s because of her DivineGrace that I am able to do all the things I do. I have felt her presence duringthe most stressful situations in my life.

Today,27^th September is Amma’s birthday. I wish her a very, very HappyBirthday. I pray that she blesses all of us in every sphere of our lives.

Here is the link to Amma’s website for those who would love to know moreabout this Divine Saint.
http://www.amritapuri.org/

Why are Publishers Interested in Series?

2011-09-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

My editor in Indiawho has been interacting with me for a story I am doing for an Anthologybrought out by the Publishing House, tells me that most publishers (in India we don’thave agents, we submit directly to publishing houses) are looking at series.Stand-alone or one off books, especially in the Children’s category are not agood proposition.

Herbelief is that single books have a tendency to get lost or disappear insidebookshops. Whereas a series has a great marketing potential. Series are greatfor attracting visibility. Series also have an advantage of allowing the maincharacter to create a bond with the readers. It also has a better recall value.She told me that though writing is a passion for writers, publishing is abusiness and publishers look for the market value of the book as at the end ofthe day, they do want to make a profit. Series have better profit makingabilities than single books. A series also ensures that a writer does not disappear after writing justone book.

Herwords resonated with me. A series has many advantages. Once a character iscreated and a setting is built, and both have struck a chord with readers, amajor burden has been lifted from the writer’s shoulders. Now, it’s up to thewriter to capitalize on this advantage by upping the stakes and increasing thetension and ensuring that the reader do not move away and stick to the next lot of books featuringthe same characters.

Another advantage of a series is that oncea reader interest is invested in both the character and story, then the chancesof them picking up the next few books inthe series are very high.

Though series are my editor’sfirm favourite, she is of the opinion that the series should not be a long one:a trilogy is most preferred. As for long series of 5 or more parts, it’sdifficult to keep a firm grip on the plot and characters.

Ihave noticed this trend every where. Most writers are either writing orplanning a series. What about you all? Are you of the same belief as my editor?Do you believe that series have better chances of being published than singlebooks?Are any of you planning a series or have written them?

My Favourite Writing Memories

2011-09-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

This post is triggered by the topic of the Essay Assignmentmy students in college chose. They wanted to write their essay on ‘My FavouriteChildhood Memory’. Needless to say, almost all the essays were good. The topicitself was easy and at the same time had a lot of room for fun.

Today’spost is on Favourite Writing Memories. In my entire writing journey (I hope itcontinues lifelong, there are quite a few memories that have become a favourite.

Thefirst that comes to mind is: the acknowledgement card I received from theeditor of a newspaper telling me thatthe short story I had sent them had been retained for publication. Not only wasI elated, the cheque I received for it made me feel rich (though it was a small amount). That was 15 yearsback. And it was my first published story. I still have the acknowledgementcard.

Thesecond most favourite memory is when I received a call from a publishing housetelling me that they are interested in publishing my books. The day was April 7^th20005. I will never forget that day in my life. I remember crying after thatphone call. My poor mother was shocked. I told her the good news after my tearshad dried. Then, she started crying.

Thethird writing memory was when I held the first copies of my books. It’s anawesome feeling to see the words we have worked with for years/weeks/days appearas a book. It’s a feeling I hope and pray all my writing friends experiencesoon. I would love to experience that feeling again.

Anotherfavourite memory would be my Book Launch. I can never forget that day. Speakingabout my books, signing copies for the young readers and giving interviews. Thedate was 14^th January 2006.

AnotherFavourite Writing Memory is sending the query letter for my MG fiction ten daysback. This memory comes with an avalanche of anxiety and worries. What if everyagent hates my query letter? What if no one asks for even a partial, forgetabout the complete manuscript? What if no one replies? Whatever the offshootsof this memory, there is a feeling of satisfaction at having completed thelongest book I have written. 240 pages. I have no idea how long my queryprocess will go on for, or how many agents I will have to query, but as my goodfriend Carole Anne Carr advised me on Sunday, “Enjoy the process. Don’t worryand fret. Everything will happen at its own time and start working on your nextbook and read as much as you can.”

Now, here is my question to youall. What is your favourite writing memory/memories? What, from your writing journey has glued itselfinto your mind? We all would love to know. And no, we won’t think you aregloating over your success. You all deserve to talk about it after all the hardwork you have put in. So, please share your Favourite Writing Memories. We allare waiting to read about them.

How Much Backstory to Add in Our Books?

2011-09-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

The first book I wrote in my life had pages and pages ofbackstory, actually each chapter started with backstory which was nearly onethird of the chapter. I tried to cram in as many details as possible of backstory,even details the story didn’t need and details that readers could have donewithout. Needless to say the book was inflated and the story lacked pace as itwas weighed down with oodles of backstory.

At onetime I was such a backstory junkie that every chapter began with a couple ofpages of backstory concerning all the characters in that scene. That book wasturned down by an editor as being too long. She even asked me to eliminatearound 25,000 words from it. I was shocked. This was during the time when Iconsidered cutting even one word from my story as sacrilege.

As I read more and more books, and ofcoursewrote more and more, I started looking at ways other writers of successfulbooks added the backstory.

I havenoticed that great books have backstory added little by little. Small detailsadded throughout the book do not bore the readers or slow the story down. Theyinfact help in pacing the book.

Anotherpoint I noticed was that only the information that furthered the plot wascrucial, anything that did not move the story forward could be deleted.

I becamea backstory watcher when I read any books. Backstory details are important whenthey are relevant to the scene. If the details ties up in some way with thescene, then it earns its place. If it has no relevance to the scene it hasearned its right to be chopped.

Backstorythat in some way is crucial, it brings meaning to a character’s action, addslayers to his personality, or explains a character’s motive, by all meansshould stay on the page. Else, its bye-bye time for that particular piece ofinformation.

I haveread that backstory can add depth to a story.Backstories are usually revealed, partially or in full, chronologically orotherwise, as the main narrative unfolds. Many writers create portions of abackstory or even an entire backstory that is solely for their own use inwriting the main story and is never revealed in the main story.

There are many ways to revealbackstory: flashbacks, dialogues, direct narration, summary, recollection and exposition.

I have come a long way sincethen. Nowadays, I carry my word scissors whenever I edit. I no longer feelguilty while I am chopping. Infact, I enjoy the entire editing process.

Let meconfess, shedding this backstory habit was pretty difficult. I had a tough timerestraining myself. What about you all? How much of backstory do you think ourbooks need? What kind of backstory information do you think bores readers?Please share your backstory tips with us.

P.S. When you get the time friends, do drop in on Kim's blog -Wrestling the Muse, to read my guest post on Creating Enduring and Memorable Characters. I would love to see you all there.
https://kimkoning.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/rachna-chhabria-character-secrets/

Click on this link to get a realistic picture of how much money writers should expect from their writing careers.
http://thescienceofstory.blogspot.com/2011/09/whole-money-thing.html

Tell me Your Writing Dreams

2011-09-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

This isthe first time in my entire blogging life that I didn't have a post in mind.There was no topic for today buzzing inside my overworked mind. Unfortunately, Icouldn't even get upset with myself as I had a pretty productive last week. Ifinished editing my collection of stories, finished the critique for my second crit partner’s 400 and odd pagenovel, finished correcting all my students’ assignments and grading them andhave started brainstorming my Spirit Chronicles Trilogy.

Atthis point I can pat myself on my back. This post is definitely a deviationfrom the heavy duty ones I usually tackle. But, what the heck, I think we alldeserve a break.

This post is all about Writing Wishes/Dreams. Let’s start with mine.

1. Iam already a published author in

India

, so my first wish would be toget an agent.

2. Mynext wish would be to see the novel I have started querying get a publisher.

3. My third dream would be to see my short storycollection also get published. I am extremely sentimental about that shortstory collection.

4. Anotherdream of mine, and I really don’t know the reason why I have that particulardesire is to see atleast one of my books in hardcover. I have been badly hopingfor that.

5. Anotherdream would be to write a successful series. Well, I can wish, can’t I? It willrequire lots of hard work, but I am more than ready to tackle it.

6. WheneverI see a movie adaption of a book, my heart goes into an overdrive mode. I knowthat it sounds greedy and over ambitious, but I would love to see a movieversion of one of my books.

Its earlymorning in Indiawhen I am typing this post, my sleepy brain has not yet yet fully awakenedwhile I am typing. So, if I remember any more dreams I will add them in thecomments section.

Now, tellme your dreams lovely people. Feel free and please don’t restrict yourselves. Iwould love to know what all my writing friends/blog buddies secretly dream orwish for. We all will send loads of positive energy to each and everyone. Whatelse does wish fulfillment require? Good wishes and positive energy from supportiveand loving friends. So, get going friends. I am looking forward to reading allyour dreams.

P.S. When you get the time friends, do drop in on Kim's blog -Wrestling the Muse, to read my guest post on creating Enduring and Memorable Characters. I would love to see you all there.
https://kimkoning.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/rachna-chhabria-character-secrets/

Potholes to Avoid While Writing

2011-09-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

For most of uswriters, our first drafts are bloated and full of errors. That should not be acause for worry as first drafts are all about getting a story out on paper. Ifwe worry too much, it can affect the flow of words. And we all know that firstdrafts are reworked upon several times until the manuscript shines.

There arecertain traps we can avoid when working on our second, third and consecutivedrafts.

1. WeakCharacters. This is one of the major flaws editors and agents can pinpoint.Characters who do not contribute much to the movement of the plot and Charactersthat do things without a justification can seriously hamper a book’s prospects.Strong characters, whether they ultimately succeed or not, drive the plot. Thereaders are watching the character’s every move. They are aware that thecharacter is trying. Underdeveloped characters can be a major irritant. When awriter has not tapped the true potential of a character/s, readers aredefinitely left with a feeling of being cheated.

2. Coincidence.Though coincidence is unavoidable in fiction, but an excess of it will soonprovoke incredulity. Coincidence must be treated with caution and should neversimply be a cheap and easy way to resolve a dilemma or conflict within theplot.

3. Serendipity.Serendipity can be delightful. Too much of it will become syrupy and syrupy onany page of fiction tends to make things sticky and can be a huge turn-off.

4. Chunkydialogues. Dialogues are an important part of writing and can definitely makeor break a story. To get the dialogues right, we should subtly eavesdrop onconversations. A lot can be learnt just from listening to conversations. Peopleseldom answer each other directly, but manoeuvre to steer the conversation backto their own agenda. Dialogues can be vital to give clues about characters. Wecan understand a lot from the way people talk.

5. Descriptions.Descriptions are a wonderful way to explain things, people and places in ourstories. But an information overload can seriously overwhelm readers.Descriptions that gently creep up on readers taking them by surprise is alwaysan asset.

6. Language.Words are always a writer’s asset. If clichés and the often used metaphors areavoided and replaced with new and unusual way of describing things, it works tothe advantage of a story.

7. LameEndings. Endings that do not resolve the major conflict/s in a book and endingsthat have just popped up out of the blueare major disasters that every writer should consciously avoid. Writers have tomove towards the ending by dropping fewhints and foreshadowing a little about it earlier in the story.

What according to you all shouldwriters avoid while writing. What do you feel turns off readers? What upsetsyou in another writer’s story?

Fiction’s Ultimate Concern

2011-09-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

“ The onlyrequirement for good fiction is that it be interesting,” Henry James said. A fiction writer is free from the shacklesthat bind the non-fiction writer. For creating a world of make believe, awriter of fiction is under no legal obligation to anyone except his muse. As awork of fiction belongs solely to the writer’s imagination, he or she is notbound by any formal rule. This freedom is akin to the wind under the wings. Theonly limitation comes from the imagination.

For any work of fiction to enter the realm ofclassic: it has to be good, it has to be interesting and of course relevant toall times; before and after its publishing period.

What separates a good fiction from a great one is not just the literary and technical skillsof the writer, but also the universality(the universal questions the book deals with in its own inimitable, unique andinteresting way).

Paul Tillich calls it the Ultimate Concern.The contemporary fiction which falls under the best category has the quality ofthe ultimate concern in abundance. Ultimate Concern is something that we takewith unconditional and utmost seriousness in our lives without anyreservations. It’s something that we are ready to suffer for, or, even die for.Ultimate concern is something which makes every other concern in that person’slife secondary. The ultimate concern consumes the person. It contains theanswer to the question of the meaning of that person’s life.

A person is Grasped by this ultimate concern.Take the example of Harry Potter in theseven books by Rowling. His ultimate concern was to destroy Voldemort'sHorcruxes and make him susceptible to death and also stop him fromunleashing his terror on the wizards. Harry was aware that either he would besuccessful in thwarting Voldemort, or, he would die in the process. The outcomeof this ultimate concern was absolutely clear to Harry. But he was grasped byit, caught in the ultimate concern’s death like grip. This thought haunted him day and night, he was a boypossessed with just one mission in life. Stop Voldemort.

Ibelieve that every work of fiction grapples with an ultimate concern whichconsumes the protagonist like a fire. The resolution of this ultimate concernforms the crux of the story. For me the ultimate concern transfers into theconflict in the book. Maybe the conflict in my book may not be universal, maybethis conflict is just crucial for my protagonist: but it becomes his or herultimate concern, something he or she is dead serious about. Something for which they are willing to stake theirlives.

How do you decide the ultimate concern of your protagonists? Are they grasped by itlike Harry? Please share. We would love to learn from everyone’s experience.

My September Goals

2011-09-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

My Crit Partner, Kim Koning, in her interview on my blog mentioned that she writes 3 foolscap Morning Pages with pen and paper every day. She was inspired to do this through reading “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. Julia advises one to write, longhand, 3 foolscap pages of streamlined consciousness which basically means whatever is in your brain.

I made this one of my September goals. I started it yesterday (September 1^st). Unfortunately, with my schedule, for many days of the week I will be writing those 3 foolscap sheets late at night). I wrote the first 3 pages last night and I restricted it to the Magic Spirit series I am planning. I plan to do this exercise for the entire month. If nothing else, I will have 90 foolscap sheets full of ideas at the end of the month.

It was an interesting exercise. My brain threw up many possibilities for the entire series. Plenty of scenes (though at this stage they are quite blurred) emerged. As did few small characters. I hope that while reading the previous day’s 3 sheets, my creative juices will kickstart in a big way. This exercise has got me pretty excited.

Hopefully, I will plot out the Middle Grade Paranormal Series I have planned from a long time, this month. I would also like to finish the major rewrites of the first book of the series by the end of the month.

There are atleast four books on my tall TBR pile that I want to read this month. These books have been gathering plenty of cobwebs. So I feel its time to tackle them. The books are:

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

The Last Judgement by Iain Pears

A Girl and a River by Usha K.R

What are your September goals? Please share them with us. We hope we can motivate you in some way into achieving them.

Second Part of the Interview with New Zealand Writer Kim Koning

2011-08-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Kim Koning is a South African Writer living in New Zealand. She is also a published poet and short story writer. Her story ‘The Ring of Fire’ (A YA Dystopian tale told in first person POV) was published in the New Zealand anthology “The Tales for Canterbury” alongside 33 other authors including the brilliant Neil Gaiman.

Here is my the second part of my interview with Kim. For part one click here.

Q. I have benefited from your amazing Critiquing abilities. Can you share with my readers what things do you look for while critiquing? What’s the secret behind your awesome critique qualities?

A. I think the most important thing to remember when you are critiquing another writer’s work is that you need to have a blend of honesty and empathy. I tend to critique with my “reader’s” hat rather than my “writer’s” hat. I usually read the entire manuscript once through aloud. Then I read it a second time and look for any inconsistencies, plot holes, character weaknesses, POV, story themes which I then send out to the writer. Then after that has all been done, I read it through a third time in line edit mode: checking tense consistencies, grammar, spelling. formatting. I try to be very thorough in all my critiques realising that my role is not to rewrite the story or make the story more like I would write it but to help the writer see any blind spots they have missed and help them put out the best version of their story as possible.

Q. You also mentioned that you will be attending a conference. Do you feel conferences help in bagging an agent or getting noticed by editors and publishers?

A. I belong to RWNZ: Romance Writers of New Zealand. Although I am not a romance writer per se, it is the largest writers organization in NZ and gives a writer the opportunity to meet fellow writers. I think conferences are always beneficial. It is a chance to meet editors and agents and other writers you might not have gotten a chance to meet face to face.This last weekend I attended my 2nd conference and I was very excited about this one as the keynote speakers and workshops were run by and geared towards the dystopian genres and thriller/suspense genres which are the genres that I write. I also pitched my novel for the first time, The Raven's Court, successfully to one of my favourite agents from the

and got a full manuscript request as well as interest in my future projects. I connected with one of my favourite authors too which was a real pleasure. It was an amazing weekend and the joy and excitement was doubled because I shared/roomed with one of my writing partners. (This meant we both got little to no sleep but it was worth it.) So now I can definitely answer that; yes, conferences do help you get noticed by agents and editors.

Q. Do you follow any daily writing goals?

A Yes I do. I write 3 foolscap Morning Pages with pen and paper every day. I was inspired to do this through reading “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. She advises one to write, longhand, 3 foolscap pages of streamlined consciousness which basically means whatever is in your brain. It is a great tool to start your day off writing and to unlock the creative elements in your mind. It also gets you into the habit of daily writing. I also have daily word count goals which I try to stick to. At the moment that is between 2000 - 4000 words daily. I tend to write in bursts of 1 - 2 hours before taking 30-45minutes break. I also try to limit my time on social networking otherwise huge chunks of my time can lead to procrastination. I have been writing full time since the middle of May this year and actually find that if I don’t set myself goals, the day can while away before I know it. I give myself 2 days off a week - usually Sundays and Mondays. When I was working in a daytime job these were my days off. I like spending Sundays with my family. I like having Mondays off because who after all enjoys working on a Monday. So I think that as important as it is to focus on your writing, you also need to give yourself some days off or you could burn out. I use those days off to relax my mind and refresh my inspiration. Also for me writing is now my job so I treat it like that and make sure I also have time off from it.

Q. Do you have a favourite writing craft book?

A. I have read many good books on the craft of writing and creativity but my favourites would be:(1)“The Artist’s Way” - Julia Cameron. This book is a great tool for any creative individual not just writers. (2)“On Writing” by Stephen King would be my favourite purely writing-craft book. Stephen King is a master in the story telling realm and to this day there are very few authors who can scare/fascinate readers like he can. I love this book most of all because it is completely honest and cuts all the “niceties” you often find in other writing-craft books.

Q. Any writing tip you would like to share with my readers?

A. Write the story you need to write irregardless of whether it fits a

specific niche or genre. Don’t get hung up on rules like genre or

market. The best stories sometimes break all the rules. Worry about

the rules when you get to the editing stage. Put your editor’s hat

away while writing the first draft. Have at least 2 people, 1 a writer

friend and 1 a non-writer who you trust. Let them travel with you on

your writing journey. They will be able to give you fresh insight,

support you when you need it, encourage you when you’re lagging

or feeling uninspired, prod you when you need a good butt-kicking

and most of all they will be able to give you a truthful reaction of

your story. Get out there and taste of everything life is by exploring

new cultures and new relationships. Our writing is about life,

emotion and relationships; you need to live life fully to be able to

write about it convincingly. But the most important tip is: Read,

read, read anything and everything you can get your hands on.

Reading is the best tool to hone your writing skills. It is the knife

sharpener for your “writing knife”. A writer who does not read is

like a cook who has no taste buds.

You can find Kim online in various places:

website: http://kimkoning.com/wp

writing blog: http://kimkoning.wordpress.com

creativity blog: http://dragonflyscrolls.wordpress.com

tumblr: http://dragonflyscrolls.tumblr.com

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/AuthorKimKoning

facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKimKoning

facebook fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/Kim.M.Koning

google+ : https://plus.google.com/106769198036665517108/postshttp://rachnachhabria.blogspot.com/2011/08/interview-with-new-zealand-writer-kim.htmlhttp://rachnachhabria.blogspot.com/2011/08/interview-with-new-zealand-writer-kim.html

Interview with New Zealand Writer Kim Koning

2011-08-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the first part of my interview with Kim.

Q. Tell us a little about the books you are writing?

A. Well my current WIP is a Paranormal Historical. It is the first book in a 2 part series. This first book is called: The Raven’s Court. The second book will be called: The Black Prince. This series deals with mythology, life and death, family secrets, curses and promises, love and hate, scorn and revenge. It also deals with facing your own strengths and weaknesses to become a more complete version of yourself. I have a number of other works in progress that are either dystopian in genre or have elements of thriller/suspense with a touch of the supernatural/paranormal. Most of my stories are on the darker side of fiction because I believe our true nature comes shining through in times of tragedy, tension, trials and tribulations.

Q. In one of our conversations you mentioned that you are working on several manuscripts. How do you manage that?

A. Well I find that ideas for new stories hit me while I am working on a story already. Often times I tend to write down the idea and then put it aside for later. But some stories will not allow me to put them aside and demand my attention immediately. So I am usually working on at least 3 different stories at the same time. I find that switching between stories gives me a fresh perspective when I go back to stories I have worked on.

I have a very active mind and imagination and find that I prefer working on a couple of stories rather than just 1 at a time. However when I get to the climax of one story I tend to focus on that story until I finish.

Q. Where does inspiration for your characters come from?

A. Oh everywhere and anywhere. A lot of my stories / characters have come to me in dreams. I do not dream often so when I do dream I tend to take notice. But anyone can really be an inspiration for my characters. I like using real life people that I know as inspiration. People Watching is another favourite form of inspiration for characters. I have always found watching people and their actions and reactions to be fascinating. I never fail to be surprised and entertained. I also listen carefully to people’s own experiences. Sometimes I have gleaned pure nuggets of story gold from listening to conversations. I read once that one should be careful of talking to a writer because they cannot resist using part of what they hear to create new story ideas. I would definitely agree with the warning. Any conversation/experience is fodder for this

writer's imagination.

Q. What is your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

A. For me the process starts usually with a character. Usually I “meet” the character in a dream and the dream is so vivid that many a time I have woken up at 4am in the morning to write down what I saw and heard in the dream. I keep notebooks by my bedside for this specific reason. Sometimes while writing it down I can glimpse the character’s story but not every character is so forthcoming. Some characters need to be coaxed, cajoled and yes, even threatened to get their story. I have a series of questions that I ask the character to get their story.

To answer the second part of the question: I am a bit of both depending on the story. I tend to be more of a pantser at the beginning of a story and then as the story goes on, I start plotting it out. I love researching story themes and ideas so a lot of that goes on the plotting side. Do I plot the whole story out? No, because I find that my characters are all rebels and never like “colouring” in the lines. I am often hit by epiphanies during the writing of a story that can often change how I initially thought the ending would go. My current WIP, The Raven’s Court is a perfect example of this. So I do loosely plot to an extent but it is more in outlines. I think that a writer needs to be like a driver at night, you need to at least have your headlights on for safety's sake and to see where the next corner is. But you can take different routes on the same map that will get you to the same place. It just depends on how adventurous you feel. For me a loose outline at the beginning is enough light to get me to the first corner. But for me a story is like a Rubik’s Cube. Any number of combinations could get you to the solution or in the story’s case: the resolution.

Q. Can you tell us about the publishing scene in

New Zealand

A. This is something that I am learning more of with each passing month. Most of what I have gleaned is from talking to other New Zealand writers as well as organizations like RWNZ (Romance Writers New Zealand) that I belong to. The NZ publishing industry is slightly different from large markets like the UK or USA. Here it is not necessary to have an agent but because the publishing industry here is limited by its small size, it can often be quite difficult to be published in New Zealand if you are an unpublished author or even if you are a published author. For example a well known New Zealand author who has been writing and been published many times over in the USA and Europe only just recently this year got published here in New Zealand for the first time. So even though she is very well known overseas, kiwi readers are only getting to know her this year. I think the focus for a lot of writers in smaller countries is to look at pitching for the bigger markets, like the USA and UK.

Kim can be found online in various places:

website: http://kimkoning.com/wp

writing blog: http://kimkoning.wordpress.com

creativity blog: http://dragonflyscrolls.wordpress.com

tumblr: http://dragonflyscrolls.tumblr.com

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/AuthorKimKoning

facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKimKoning

facebook fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/Kim.M.Koning

google+ : https://plus.google.com/106769198036665517108/posts

Tackling Title Trouble

2011-08-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

I am one of those lucky ones for whom the titles are not a trouble at all. I can happily say that the titles just jump into my head fully formed. Till date, I have never had a working title, the title that I originally conceive are the ones that ultimately sees the light of the day.

But, it wasn’t like that when I started out. My Journalism teacher in college constantly lectured me on the importance of suitable and eye-catching titles. According to her, my decent features lost out because of boring and dull titles. The titles of the first few articles and stories I wrote for newspapers were changed by the editors. I have to admit, that their titles were far better than mine. Even these lousy titles that I came up with just popped into my head.

I use to be extremely jealous of writers who came up with awesome titles. To get the tag of title savvy, I plunged headlong into the world of titles. If other writers could emerge with shiny, interesting and amazing titles, then so could I. In my case it would require extra effort. But, so what?

It couldn’t be that hard, I thought. If few writers could achieve wonders with it, so could I. After that whenever I read any story/book/feature, I pondered over the title. Did it suit the story? Was it eye-catching? What made the title stand out? Slowly I transferred this detailed attention onto my work. What was I trying to tell my readers? What was the article/book all about? How could I sum up the work in few words? What was the best way to convey what I had written? Which words correctly described my story? Had the title caught the gist of my story?

It was a tedious task, but eventually I got the hang of it. Nowadays the title trauma no longer affects me. For the past several years, the editors have thankfully retained most of my titles. In my title quest, I have learnt several things about them.

1. A title should be like a Teaser. It should arouse curiousity. Based on the titles, readers pick up books, or, read the articles and stories in newspapers.

2. Diving into the heart of the story to emerge with a suitable title is a great idea.

3. Short and Snappy titles have immediate attraction.

4. Popular and catchy phrases work better than long and boring ones.

5. Titles that have Instant Recall are seldom forgotten.

6. A title should make a connection with the reader.

What about you all? Do Titles Trouble and Torment you? Do you write with working titles and come up with the final one later. Or, are you the lucky ones who come up with winners right in the begining? Do you have any title tips that you would like to share with us?

My Earliest Writing Influence

2011-08-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

The other day, someone asked me that coming from a business family, how did I end up pursuing writing. I often wonder about this. How did I climb the writing bandwagon? What prompted me to start this amazing journey called writing?

I told the man that it was my grandmother (my dad’s mother). Yes, one of the earliest influences on my writing was my grandmother. Every night, while making me eat my dinner, when I was around 4 to 5 years, old she would tell me stories. These were all folktales or stories that revolved around Hindu Gods and Goddesses and the great Saints. Granny’s tales of the various Gods’ childhood pranks brought each God to life.

The voracious reader that I am now has its roots in my childhood. I was a voracious listener then, never tiring of granny’s stories, craving them long after the dinner plates had been washed. Long after she gave up the practice of making me eat my dinner, I continued to badger her for stories. Granny, I am sure exhausted her well of stories, but not one to admit defeat she made up stories just for me.

For an entire week she told me the same story giving it different endings. I asked her why she was telling me the same story with different endings, she laughed and said,“I am running out of stories, child.”

Each ending changed the entire story. From humorous it turned into suspense, and then moved to the battle of good over evil. Each story was embedded with a moral, to make us (her grandchildren imbibe good qualities and emulate the noble characters who peopled her story). I was fascinated by Granny’s quick thinking. My love for stories: listening, reading and writing started then. One of my first few published articles was the story she had narrated to me during my childhood.

Yes, my grandmother was a truly gifted storyteller. To make several fidgety grandchildren sit through a repeat story with only the lure of how she would finish it this time was no small task. And she accomplished this beautifully. Though the stories were repeated she never bored us, as she embellished the story with each narration. Sometimes adding few characters, at times dropping few.

This habit of hers has inculcated in me the practical experience of finding out how the same story can end in many different ways. Yes, at times I toy with different endings and finally zero in on the one I think works the best for my stories and books.

What has been your earliest writing influence? Did someone prompt you to start your creative journey? Who or what was it? We would love to know.

The 3 S's Readers Love

2011-08-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

Lets discuss books from the point of readers and not writers today. Readers are an important part of the process of writing. Books are written only for them. We were readers: die hard readers, long before we plunged into the world of writing.

I have noticed that readers love the 3 S’s. They loved to be Surprised. They love to be Shocked. And, they love to be Spooked.

Sudden surprises that makes them shake their heads in amazement.

Swift shocks that renders them into a state of momentary silence.

Steady spooks that turn them into a mass of quivering jelly.

Pleasant surprises are welcomed by everyone in their day to day life. And readers are no different. The element of surprise works wonders for the readership of books. The strange twists and turns the plot takes keeps the readers glued to the book. New revelations of the main character, new entrants that propel the plot forward, the unceremonious exits of old characters, stubborn obstacles that crop up, hook the readers big time. By constantly surprising readers in every chapter the book starts to become a page turner. Lets flash back to Harry Potter. Mrs Figg turning out to be a squib was just one of the many pleasant surprises the readers enjoyed! Frequent surprises sweep away the boredom that tends to creep in. It brings a certain freshness, like the opening of a window that dissipates the musty air.

Though in our personal lives there is no room for shock: we actually detest it, but when we read, shock appeals. We love it when our favourite authors shock us, when dirty character secrets are revealed slowly, chapter by chapter. Book by book. When skeletons tumble out thick and fast from locked cupboards. When the underbelly of a character is exposed. A case being J.K.Rowling. Every Potter book had plenty of the 3 S’s thrown in. I could never have guessed that Snape had been secretly in love with Lily ( Harry Potter’s mother). I am sure that none of us actually imagined Snape being in love with anyone! Albus Dumbledore’s tumultuous past too was a bolt from the blue. For me he was a paragon of virtue. And that he could have a chink in his armour was a major shock.

Another emotion we love in our books is being Spooked. This works more in favour of thrillers, suspense and murder mysteries. The spook factor intensifies the movement of the plot, increases the pace, heart beats accelerate, nails are chewed as we enter into the thicket of fear. Harry’s connection with Voldemort because of the scar on his head was a tad spooky. Anything that raises our anxiety, heightens our tension has us hooked emotionally to that object. What will happen next? Will the main character escape, will he/she be saved?? Who will emerge victorious? Will the world be saved? Questions that peck at our mind with the persistence of a woodpecker need their answers, which only the turn of a page will provide.

When the three S’s join together in a book, that has oodles of style, as well as a strong storyline, the reader is frantically racing over the lines. It’s getting quite alliterative: surprise, shock, spook, style and story.

Which element appeals to you the most? As a reader.

P.S. This post too is one of my earlier ones. Next week I promise to write a new one. So, please bear with me for now.

Bonding with a Literary Character

2011-08-12T02:41:00.000-07:00

Though writing is largely a solitary activity, the writer literally lives on an island, scrawling away on sheets, or, typing furiously, isolated from family and friends for long and painful stretches of time, it’s also one activity that connects with a vast number of people (readers) instantly.

Our books act as the bridge that links us to people who bring their unique sensibilities to our work. I agree with another writer who said, “books like water will find their own level.” Books are open to interpretations any which way. The characters that we have nurtured inside our feverish minds find other dimensions when they meet the readers.

Different readers glean different nuggets of wisdom from a literary character/book, depending on their personal perception. Whatever the reason for the bond between book\protagonist and the reader, the important aspect is that an emotional connection has been forged. A literary kindred spirit discovered. A relationship formed. These connections between reader and character are the barometers of the real success of a book. Not the number of copies sold, nor the clutch of awards won. Readers afterall are the best critics, and their appreciation, the real award.

To create a literary character that firmly entrenches itself into a reader’s mind is an extremely difficult task. A memorable literary character must appeal to each and every sense of the reader, not just tug, but play with their heartstrings, seduce them away from the million and one things clamouring for their attention, entice them into the world woven by the writer. Memorable literary characters leave strong traces of their presence inside a reader’s mind long after the book has been devoured. In the history of books there have been several such characters: Anna Karenina, Jane Eyre, Lata Mehra from Vikram Seth’s ‘A Suitable Boy,’ to name just a few.

A character can achieve literary immortality if there is a strong sense of Empathy and Sympathy between the reader and the literary character. Because, when we empathize, or, sympathize with someone, albeit a literary character, concern for their well being creeps in, a reluctant love develops. The warp and the weft of the reader’s life then entwines with the character’s. This ability of a character to attract the twin emotions mentioned earlier encourages the readers to be quasi participants rather than distant indifferent observers.

The character must invoke the feeling of oneness, there has to be a sense of similarity of experiences, similarity of emotions, of choices made, paths chosen, sacrifices done between the reader and character. These aspects further cement the reader-character bond.

To create such characters is every writer’s dream. The character then becomes the voice of that generation of readers, a kind of a role model. There is a complete sense of identity between the reader and the literary character. “Hey that could be me, it’s is the story of my life,” the delighted reader nods his/her head. These characters are not only inspirational, they gently urge the readers to aspire for greater glories by acting as catalysts of change in the readers’ lives, and also, silently beckon the readers to visit them again and again.

Isn’t this a measure of a successfully created character? What makes you all bond with a literary character?

P.S. Due to a hectic schedule (festival, assignments and critique sessions and few other personal commitments I am reposting my first blog post. I had just 2 followers then and the post was read by just 2 people.

Some Age Old Plots

2011-08-09T00:50:00.000-07:00

It has been frequently said that there are just a fixed number of archetypal or typical plots (some people have even gone as far as saying that there are basically just three types of plots: a Love Story, the Battle of Good over Evil, and the last one, the Quest) and that every other plot is a variant or a spin-off, of the above three.

I feel there are certain motifs or patterns that tend to recur in one form or another throughout world literature. Below, I have listed a number of most identifiable ones.

The Battle with the Monster.

The Quest.

The Voyage and the Return Home.

The Hero hidden as the Monster.

The Divided Self.

The Engagement with the Dark Power

The Fatal Flaw.

The Journey from Rags to Riches.

The Voyage to the Underworld.

The Battle between Good and Evil.

A Love Story.

The Revenge Drama.

Adventure Stories.

Weakling turned into Superhero.

The Chase.

Entry into a New World.

Encounter with a Strange Creature.

One Man Against Society.

One Apart

Many writers combine several types of plots and create a new plot. This is one idea I try to follow: combining bits from different plots and trying to make it unique by giving it my own individualistic touch. Can you think of more plot patterns? What kind of a plot pattern does your book fall into?

How Well do you Know your Characters?

2011-08-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

When Istart writing, I don’t know mycharacters very well, though the story has been frothing in my mind for quitesome time. I just have the basic idea about my characters. Many times I am stuck at different parts of theplot, clueless about my characters’ motive.

I have tried to read as much as I can on how toget into the mind of my characters. The risk taker that I am, I love the idea of not knowing whatis going to happen next. At other times my analytical mind wants every teenieweenie detail down on paper.

I amcurrently in the plotting stage of my new WIP. My Beta Reader cum Crit Partneris going over my completed manuscript with an extremely fine tooth comb.

For mycurrent WIP, I have decided to get to know all my characters, not just theprotagonist and the antagonist, but also characters who have smaller roles to playin the story.

I am goingto pretend that I am a journalist and interview all my characters by asking them about their family background, workinterest, relationships, religious beliefs, politics, favourite leisurepursuits, hobbies, dreams, ambition in life, relationship with parents andsiblings, educational qualification, any fears that they have, friends,favourite childhood memories, pets, people they loved and lost, people that inspire them, things thattouches them the most and things thatturn them off.

I am also planning to throw in a few questions like what they woulddo in case they win a million dollar lottery, if they are stranded alone on anisland with their enemy, if they meet an alien and what happens if theysuddenly develop a super power: the ability to interpret dreams, to readpeople’s minds, to see the future and the ability to change something.

Theresponses I imagine my characters giving me will be kept short; these responses I am sure will help me know my characters better. It will also be anuseful way of catching each character’s voice,personality and individual style ofspeaking.

As I amcurrently in the brainstorming mood, it will be a fun exercise to do. What doyou all do to get to know your characters better? Do you have a method thathelps you get into the skin of your characters? Please share with us.

Several Ways to Hook Readers

2011-08-02T00:56:00.000-07:00

Every writer would love to make a reader not just pick uptheir book, but also beintrigued/curious/ and interested enoughto read the first page and after that keep on reading till the last page.

To dothat, we writers have to ensure that ourreaders are entertained by our stories,absorbed by the way the story unfolds, and transported into the world we have created with our words.

To hookreaders we have to come up with plot ideas that have the following effect onour readers.

Educated. Our stories should educateour readers in some way. After they put our books down, they should be armedwith more information and knowledge.

Intrigued. Something about the plot andcharacter should arouse the reader’sinterest. What will happen next should be the thought buzzing in their mind.

Saddened. Stories that play havoc with our sad emotions, tug atour emotional heartstrings are seldom dropped halfway down.

Angered.Stories that raise our shackles, stories that make us angry enough to join the cause the writer is espousing, win over stories that are tepid andevoke no reactions from us.

Frightened. Most readers love to bespooked out of their placidity. No wonder thrillers and murder mysteries enjoya great readership.

Reassured. Happy endings have thateffect: of reassuring readers. Stories that reassure us that in the endeverything will work out, work the best. They bring a comfort level in ourstressed lives. Everyone likes reassurance.

Changed. Stories that change us in someway, work wonders. At some level the journey of reading a book should changeus; in some way, maybe we start looking at things differently after reading abook. Maybe our beliefs undergo a shift.Maybe it works on our faith.

Do you feel that stories that evoke all thesereactions work better? What is your personal belief where stories and plots areconcerned?We would love to know what works for you?.

Irresistibly Sweet and Seriously Cute Blog Awards

2011-07-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

Last month I received few Blog Awards, this time I am not going to be a hoarder, so without dawdling I will pass it on to few Blog Buddies who have joined me recently.

I received The Irresistibly Sweet Award From Elizabeth Varadan

My Awardees for this award are

1. Dave King at Pics and Poems

2. D.U Okonkwo

3. Langa Tenzin at As Life Goes On

4. Mark Noce Stories

5. S.B Jones Publishing

6. Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs

Madeleine Maddocks passed me the Seriously Cute Blogger Award. I pass this award to

1. Anusha at In Disarray

2. Cherie at Ready, Write, Go

3. Donna Hole

4. J.L Campbell at The Reader's Suite

5. Khushi at Whispering Leaves

6. Michelle Fayard

7. Naina Gupta

I am grateful to both Elizabeth and Madeleine, because till date no one (not even my mom) has called me either Seriously Cute or Irresistibly Sweet.Only my grandmother called me sweet and cute, that too just once or twice. Ladies, you two rock.

P.S. Did anyone realize that only my male blog buddies have been given the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award and the Girlie Gang has been passed the Seriously Cute Blog Award. Enjoy the award lovely people. You all rock my writing world.

The Difference Between Story and Plot

2011-07-26T05:28:00.000-07:00

When Istarted writing, I would often wonder about the difference between Plot andStory. I initially thought they were one and the same thing. As I waded deeper and deeperinto writing, I researched about story and plot and the explanation, thoughsimple, made a lot of sense and entrenched itself in mymind.

Very often, I hear people discuss books as ‘the story was good,but there was no plot’. I am guilty of that judgement. I have often told myfriends ‘I could not find the plot in this book. This book is just a collectionof scenes’. And my non-writing friends have that glazed look on their faceswhen I discuss story and plot.

‘Isn’t story and plot the same thing?’ one friendasked me. Most non-writers echo thatthought.

I will usenovelist E. M Forster’s words; in his classic work Aspects of the Novel,Forster made the important and useful distinction between story and plot and stressed thecausality of plot.

The storyForster says, consists of merely theevents as they happened in chronological order; the plot is the portrayal of those events in such a way as to showtheir causality, how one gives rise to another (rather than simply happeningprior to it).

Forster gives an example.The king diedand then the queen died is a story. But the king died and then the queen diedof grief is a plot.

Anotherexample is girl and boy fall in love isa story. Girl meets boy, boy saves girl, girl is charmed by his bravery andfalls in love is a plot. There is a series of events, one leading to another ina logical way. This is what a plot is all about.

I lovedForster’s simple explanation. Wish I had stumbled upon all this when I started writingand my head was full of confusion about story and plot. But, better later thannever.

When youstarted writing did you all wonder what was this thing called plot? Did youhope (like me) that as you startedwriting, the plot would magically reveal itself? Or were you all aware of what a plot is, right in the beginning. Please share your plot confusions with us.

Giveaway Winner: The lucky winner of Rahma's Ebook copy of the Guardian Cats is Mark Noce. Mark, you can email me for your prize.

Guest Interview with Author Rahma Krambo

2011-07-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

Rahma Krambo is Marketing Director for a familyowned solar business in Northern CA. She is active in the localarts and literary community as a member of an SCBWI writersgroup, and board member of the Yuba Sutter Arts Council and Friends of thePackard Library. She is passionate about reading, writing, cats and libraries.Guardian Cats and the Lost Books of Alexandria is her first book; it blends magical realism withlegendary historical events.

Q: Tell us alittle about your book Guardian Cats and the Lost Book ofAlexandria.

A: It's a children's book, written for middlegrades and up, but it has a lot of elements that make it interesting to olderreaders. Some of the Guardian Cats' best fans so far are adults.

What kind of elements?

The back story is drawn fromhistory, the burning of the legendary Library of Alexandria and is spiced witha flavor of Fahrenheit 451, one of my favorite books. Saving libraries is apassion of mine and the theme runs through the book.

The main characters are two felines with a noble purpose, butthere's no shortage of fun creatures with dubious intents – gangster raccoons,an undead Queen, a hellhound, and an evil professor who believes possessing themystical book would give him unlimited power, like Hitler's 'spear of destiny'.

Q: Your bookhas magical realism blended withhistorical events. How did you go about researching for your book?

A: Actually, the historical event didn't enterthe picture until the fourth major rewrite. The idea came while my husband andI were on a car trip. He's one of my best critics and when I have him captivewith hours of uninterrupted time, I love to bounce my ideas off him.

He's an inveterate story andhistory buff and I felt like the plot was missing something; that it needed abroad event or larger story to draw from. During our brainstorming session, theidea of the burning of the Library of Alexandria popped up. The fact that itoccurred so long ago and there are three conflicting accounts of how ithappened provided the perfect 'jumping off' point for my story. After that, itwas just a matter of googling the historical stuff.

The ideas though come fromanother place; those you can't get from the internet.

The magical elements, to betruthful, came after I read the first Harry Potter book. I had been resistingreading them at first, because I didn't want my book to have any hint of fanfiction in them. You know, I didn't want Marco to resemble some kind of felineHarry Potter.

But a copy of the first Potterbook just appeared on my desk one day and as I was reading it, I saw how fun itwas to have characters go through portals. This was an element I could easilyadd I thought, and so when the elder Guardian has to explain to our young heroabout the importance of the book they are guarding, he takes him time travelingback to Alexandria.Alaniah, their angelic guide came into being, as well as supernatural creaturesfrom the dark side. The magical elementsdidn't require much research. They just seemed to appear, like magic.

Q: Youmentioned in a conversation that you like using the archetypes technique in your writing? What do you think about incorporating the archetypes method?

A: This is a favorite subject of mine and it wasone of the first things I studied when I started my book. Archetypes are notstereotypes. I think of them like the 'bones' of a character which I can thendress up in whatever clothes I choose.

I knew about Protagonists andAntagonists of course, but I learned how the other archetypes are likeassistants to the MC; how each one has a part to play in the development of theProtagonist's growth.

The Threshold Guardian isparticularly interesting because he/she creates trouble for the MC and may seemlike the Antagonist. However, their realpurpose is to test the MC to see if he or she is ready for the next level. Youcan disguise the Threshold Guardian so the reader isn't quite sure what he's upto, thus adding an element of mystery and surprise to the story.

Then there's the Mentor who offers much needed advice to theProtag. One of my favorites is the Trickster, who appears appear clownish andsilly, and can be used to lighten a somber mood. But the Trickster can have a moreserious role, much like the court jester, who appeared to be a fool, but wasoften seen as divinely inspired and given large leeway to criticize the royaltyfor their own benefit.

Actually,each of the archetypes represent an element of the Protagonist and have a definite role to play, but they aren't just props. They can alsohave their own character arc.

Archetypesare also a wonderful way to examine the different elements of our own humannature and life experience.

Q: You also mentioned getting an external editorto edit your book. Did you find working with an external editor easy? Do you think it’s important to get an external editorbefore a writer submits a book?

A: In answer to the first part of your question,I found my editor, Jennifer Baum of Scribe- Consulting great to work with. She was professional and easy tocommunicate with. Her editing was top-notch and exactly what I'd asked for,which was a line-by-line edit.

When I got my manuscript backfrom her, at first glance I figured it might take a month to go through all thechanges. In the end, it was more like four months. I wanted to share that sowriters know that if they want a good 'end product' they have to be in it forthe long haul. And take time with each part of the process. Some of those canbe really, really tedious. I thought so many times I was done, because I wantedto be done, not because I was completely at peace with it. That's why it tookfour years, countless revisions and a patient husband who quit asking me when Iwas going to be finished with my book.

I made the edit changes Jennifersuggested and I sent it back to her for another go around. I knew what I wasdoing, that it would extend my 'due date' out further. The birth of my bookwould have to wait, but I believe it was worth it. If you want your book to beas professional as possible, having an external editor is critical. As much ofa skin flint as I am, I had figured there would be some costs involved inpublishing and I knew this was not the place to cut corners.

Q: You created a publisher imprint- Reflected LightBooks to publish your book. Anyparticular reason behind creating the publisher imprint?

A: Yes. Getting a publisher's imprint is fairlyeasy, it means you are thinking like a professional. It's so easy toself-publish these days, but it's not easy to be professional. It means takingyourself seriously as a writer and seeing that you have a future you want todevelop. Without it, your books appear as being published under your own name,which a lot of authors do and is perfectly fine. But kicking it up a notch wassomething I wanted to do. I came up with a name I liked and thought wouldencompass the type of books I might write in the future. I bought the domainname and used it to buy a block of ISBN numbers.

Q: What is your writing process like? Are you aplotter or a panster?

A: [laughing]I love the image these wordsinvoke. I think I'm a bit of both now, but in the beginning I was definitely apanster. I had no idea where I was going when I decided to write a book, but Igradually developed a way of structuring that kept me from veering too far offthe plotline. Then regularly I would stop and analyze it, and see where itwasn't working or the weak spots were.

I used index cards extensively,so I'd throw them up in the air, let them land and see if the new order worked.Just kidding.

Actually what helped most wasputting a large storyboard on my wall and pinning the index cards on it. Havingit visible in this physical way, instead working completely on the computer,helped immensely, because it's really easy to get lost when there's so manythings going on.

Q: Is Guardian Cats going to be a part of aseries? Is a sequel in the pipeline?

A: Yes! It's not exactly a sequel in the normalway. The second book has the same setting, and some of the characters get toappear again. But I really wanted to write from a human perspective this timeand so the second book is seen through the eyes of a young boy. I can't wait toget back to a normal writing schedule.

Q: Do you have a favourite writing craft book?

A: Books I keep chained to my desk when I'm writing are: The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler, Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne & King.

Q: Any writing tip you would like to share withmy readers?

A: Write every day. Write gibberish until realwords emerge.Write with the love of saying something old in a whole new way.

Thankyou, Rahma, for the interview. We wish you lotsof success with your book. One lucky commenter will win a Ebook copy ofGuardian Cats.

Rahma’s Blog: Mystic Coffee: http://www.rahmakrambo.com

An Exercise for Character Study

2011-07-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

I am sure, every writer desires, yearns and craves to create believable, rounded, and three dimensional characters that readersnot just believe in, but also identify and follow through the pages of the book.Any exercise that helps us to develop characters is embraced by us.

I cameacross this exercise for Character Study in Writing Fiction. When we are tryingto introduce depth into a character, we can use the following exercise.

1. Write a sketch of the characters as you see them: theirphysical attributes, their mental make up, their emotional needs and how theyhandle relationships and other problems.

2. Write a sketch of the characters as they would seethemselves. What is the character’s opinion of himself/herself? How does he/shesee themselves?

3. Describe a character that is opposite of the one youdescribed in point 1.

4. Describe a character that is the opposite of the one youdescribed in point 2.

5. Look at the four descriptions and underline the parts youfind interesting. Amalgamate

them.

Thisexercise is a wonderful way to analyze how our characters see themselves. It made me realize that the way I perceivedmy character/s is different from the way they see themselves. It’s so true oflife and people. We seldom see people as the way they see themselves. Once weknow how our characters really see themselves, it makes it easy for us totackle their core beliefs and targettheir insecurities. We can add inner tension with more ease as we are privy toall the inner demons our character faces and tackles.

Thisexercise is also a wonderful way to give our characters plenty of traits that can make them more rounded, unique andindividualistic at the same time.

Doyou write a sketch of your characters,about their physical, mental andemotional traits? Have you ever triedany technique to get to know your characters better. Please share your methodswith us.

The Eight People You Meet in Your Manuscripts

2011-07-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Everybook has a certain number of characters that take the story forward. Thesecharacters have various roles to play.Its these characters that make a story interesting by adding their own drama.Themain character’s interaction with these archetypes brings with it a host of emotions, clashes and scenes.

I reada book 'Writing Fiction'. The book talks about there being universalpatterns and archetypes in books andstories. The book says that understanding the function of each character within the story can help a writer utilize these characters fully and determinewhether these characters are pulling their weight in the story.

Themain character can gather aspects from each archetype and learn from them onhis/ her journey. The author of the bookhas listed 8 archetypes. Once we decide on a character in our story who willfit a particular archetype, then it will be easy to decide on the psychologicalrole they would play and each archetype's dramatic function in our story.

Theeight archetypes are:

1. Hero

2. Mentor

3. Shapeshifter

4. Trickster

5. Herald

6. Allies

7. Shadow

8. ThresholdGuardian

Ihave realized that not every story will have all of these archetypes. Some may have just few of them. We can consider some of our favourite novels and see how many archetypes we can identify in them. I tried it with thePotter books. It was quite an eye opener. It made me see the purpose of the characters and their roles were easy to visualize. We can also write down our own descriptionsof characters who might fulfill eachrole in our stories.

Whatdo you think of this archetype method? Do you think it can help a writer? Doyou think it helps in giving each character their unique role to play in ourstories. Do you think it is helpful?