Over 2000 people from 44 countries participated in the recent 2010 Commonwealth Foundation’s Short Story competition. I am delighted to share that Anuradha Kumar won the prize in the category of Science, Technology & Society. Her short story titled ” The First Hello” is worth a read.
Thanks to a tweet by Jon Winokur’s Writers Digest, I got directed to Janet Fitch’s 10 Rules for Writing. I loved the point about sentences. I have found myself guilty of writing in almost the same way- most of the time. The need to vary sentence length has made an impact. I hope to improve. From now! Continue reading “Janet Fitch’s Rules for Writing”
“The note looked up almost accusingly at the group staring at it in shock. The Colonel’s first few words appeared to have been written in haste. Not in his clinically clean stylized handwriting. The last few words fell into an almost undecipherable scrawl which they could barely make out. It was almost illegible but it did look like the Colonel had written: “It can’t be you…”
Here’s some great advice from someone who has been there and done all that- long ago. Seth Godin. The author of many best sellers, Seth gives his advice to authors in a 2006 blog post which is worth reading/re-reading, as the case may be.
Many a saying has inspired people over generations. In the Indian Army, one of the most inspirational has been The Chetwode Motto. “The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, comfort and welfare of the men you command comes next. Your own ease, comfort and safety, come last always and every time”.
It’s unfortunate but many of us civilians do not have much idea of ranks in the Defence Services. This leads to awkward – and often amusing – situations. Many years ago, someone from our organisation wrote to a retired Major General of the Indian Army who was the Chief Executive of a large industrial undertaking. Unfortunately, the letter was addressed to ” Major B…” Continue reading “” Call me General, dammit!””
Writers dream of having their work published. Bingo!! The book deal has been struck. I am delighted to say that It Can’t Be You will be published by Cedar Books, imprint of Pustak Mahal, New Delhi, one of India’s largest publishers. Continue reading “Publishing Contract With Cedar Books”
Every writer faces the challenge of writing engaging dialogue. Conversations in your story take it forward, explain many facts , bring out the speakers’ emotions and in general determine the pace of the story. Long winded conversations can put off the reader. Very cryptic ones can confuse them. How does one then write a great dialogue?
“Terrorists trying hard to infiltrate into J&K: Army
Army has noted terrorists have made many attempts to infiltrate into India along the international border in J&K, Northern Command chief, Lt Gen BS Jaswal said.”Page 9 -DNA Daily News & Analysis- Bangalore, Wednesday, September 8, 2010 Continue reading “Nothing Has Changed”
If you thought writing your book was tough, you don’t know what editing can be like! It’s tough too- because there is always so much scope for improvement in our writing. Editing helps make our writing more interesting- and readable! Continue reading “Editing Your Book”
