It was a toss-up between writing and a writer. One part of me wanted to write about P.G.Wodehouse, my favourite author. Another urged me to write about an old passion which is now a central part of my life, writing! Continue reading “W for Writing”
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As a thriller writer, it is perhaps inevitable that stories I have liked reading and those that I have written myself have a strong dose of vengeance in them. Many thrillers are based on this one theme. Some injustice is meted out to an individual and he/she vows to take revenge. Although this is a very old theme, it still is a winner. Continue reading “V for Vengeance”
I write of an incident that took place a good forty years ago. We lived in Madras those days ( now called Chennai) where I went to college. It was my birthday and we had invited friends and relatives over for a party that evening. Most people came around 5.30 p.m. Continue reading “U for Unusual”
Amongst the many social media networks that abound these days, one that I really enjoy is (T for) Twitter. To think that this has revolutionised the way people communicate in just five years is mind-boggling. Micro-blogging has caught everyone’s imagination or at least that of an estimated 200 million known Twitter users all over the world. Continue reading “T for Twitter”
As a thriller fan and now a writer myself, S has to be for Suspense. “Suspense” is defined as a state of mental uncertainty or excitement. This is what thrillers are about. Continue reading “S for Suspense”
If it was tough to choose what to write for Q, it was relatively very easy for R. A large number of words came tumbling into my mind. This gave me an idea. Why not do something different? Why not capture Random Reminiscences as they came in to my mind? That’s what R stands for today for me. Continue reading “R for Random Reminiscences”
Which is more difficult to write? Novel or query? No prizes for guessing! It has to be the query!! I discovered that writing a 80,000 word novel was so much easier than writing a query. I would like to share my learnings for the benefit of others who might be in a similar position – now or later. Continue reading “Q for Querying”
Psychology has been a subject which has never ceased to fascinate me. Though the human mind is so complex, distinct patterns of behavior emerge when we study why individuals act and speak in the way they do. This in spite of the unique individuality that each of us possesses. Continue reading “P for Psychology”
Today’s post is about a lesson from corporate life. Ms. ABC had the right qualifications and the personality to make an impact wherever she worked. In her organisation, she was quickly taken under the wings of a very senior executive. He recognised her potential and her obvious strengths. He soon gave her a free rein, perhaps more than he did with others. Over time, Ms. ABC came to be known as the power behind the throne even if this was an exaggerated description. It was rumoured that she had a role in important decisions and that the Big Chief consulted her more than he ought to.
Ms. ABC was riding high and there seemed to be no limits to how high she would go. Things changed in no time when the Big Chief died of a heart attack, possibly due to over work. Two things happened simultaneously. A new man came into that job and the knives were out for Ms. ABC. Before she sensed what was going on, she was turfed out as there were too many people carrying grudges against her. Without the old Big Chief around, she found it was a very different ball game.
In another case, Mr. XYZ was hired by his former boss who had joined that company only a few months earlier. In view of the regard he had for his former boss, XYZ joined that company too. In a few months time, it became clear that the business they were hired to create and grow was not going anywhere. The boss left and XYZ followed suit shortly after. You won’t believe this but XYZ followed the boss to yet another company. Here too there were problems, the boss didn’t get what he wanted and negotiated a good fat package to clear out leaving XYZ and others behind. They had no hope in hell of getting such generous terms.
I am sure by now you would have got what I am getting at. It’s important that you are not too closely identified with one individual for the right or wrong reasons. As these two examples relate, Ms ABC and Mr XYZ suffered because they allowed their careers to be too closely intertwined with two individuals. Sure they did gain from that relationship but beyond a point they lost their own identity. They thrived only as long as their mentors were around. The moment their mentors were not there, these people were devoured by the waiting wolves!
If you are over identified with one individual, you run the risk of sinking with them. You are a professional and it’s wise to spread your bets around instead of parking everything in one place. Over identification with one person can only hurt you in the end.
N, for me, has to be for NaNoWriMo– the National Novel Writing Month. The reason why is best summed up in this extract from the “acknowledgements ” I made at the start of my debut novel “It Can’t Be You”.
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 