Tag: Blogs

Uncategorized

Reconfiguring The Blog

I am sorry. I haven’t given this blog the attention it deserves. I have now decided to reconfigure the blog.

I would have loved to have separate Pages for each of my books and writing projects. I started this blog with this objective in mind. Sadly, it didn’t work that way. I found that all I could do was to add “comments” and not “posts” on each of these Pages.  Not being tech savvy, I couldn’t lick this problem and perhaps this was the main reason why the blog was neglected, in a manner of speaking.

I have now chosen to be more creative to fix the issue. I will settle for the easier option of creating distinct “Categories” for each of my books and writing projects. Hopefully, all the posts will now come on the blog with posts relating to any one book/project being accessible by checking under that particular category.

Let’s see how this works and take it from there.

Uncategorized

Writing the synopsis

I have always maintained that writing a synopsis was far more difficult than writing the entire story. Yet it is undisputed that without a snappy synopsis, you are unlikely to go anywhere with that book you have painstakingly written for months or years. Is there a formula for success? Can this difficult task be made any easier?

Continue reading “Writing the synopsis” →

Uncategorized

A Treasure Trove of Writing Tips

There really is no end to learning. If you seek what you want to learn, there are many places, thanks to the power of internet, where you can get enough and more. I have followed  many blogs and websites over the years, and continue to track them. I have gained considerably from reading different points of view on writing. I go in more for those which are practical and straight forward , rather than those which are highly technical. In today’s post, I put together some of these resources for writers: Continue reading “A Treasure Trove of Writing Tips” →

Uncategorized

“Practical Tips On Writing A Book”

If you or someone you know has this dream of writing a book some day, here’s one place where you get the collective wisdom of many famous writers. I speak of an old post by Steve Silberman in his blog “NeuroTribes.” In this post 23 brilliant authors share their thoughts and experiences in writing a book. These authors have written about a wide variety of subjects. Their thoughts and views are often as varied as the subjects they write on. Continue reading ““Practical Tips On Writing A Book”” →

Uncategorized

Blog Crawling- 2

The sheer diversity of blogs never ceases to amaze me. Be it in terms of content, writing style, the visual appeal or almost anything else, you will find a delightful range of blogs on writing, on books and on matters literary. Today, I invite you to join me as I point you to a few blogs that have recently caught my attention. Continue reading “Blog Crawling- 2” →

Uncategorized

A Wealth of Knowledge for Writers

I am excited because I have just downloaded something which I keenly look forward to reading. No, it’s not a novel but a booklet about creating characters that bring greater interest in your novel. I am speaking of “Crafting Unforgettable Characters” a free e-book that you can get, courtesy K. M. Weiland. Her blog called Wordplay has great content and lots of it. No wonder her by line reads ” Helping Writers Become Authors.” Continue reading “A Wealth of Knowledge for Writers” →

Uncategorized

No Promotion, No Sales!

If you want your book to do well, there’s a lot you need to do. Bob Mayer has brought out some powerful points in this article. I must thank Guy for his tweet pointing out this link. The first sentence says it all. According to Mayer, ” Ninety percent of books fail, because authors fail to promote it.” The post goes on to talk of those three key elements: Platform, Product and Promotion.

I learnt this early in my career as a writer. In November 2010, when my debut novel was launched, I wrote this blog post, motivated by John Shore.

If you have published your own book, the challenge is that much harder. Here’s what best-selling author of crime thrillers, Adam Croft has to say about building your own brand as an author.

If you thought making a career as a writer was all about writing, I think this may make you think again. Yes, it’s true. No promotion, no sales!

 

Uncategorized

About Great Starts and Editors

My debut novel “It Can’t Be You” started with “The man was dead.” I then went on to develop the opening scene where a body is found. At that stage those who find the body do not know whether the man was killed or killed himself. Many who read the book have commented that it set the tone for what became an absorbing psychological thriller. Continue reading “About Great Starts and Editors” →

Uncategorized

Proof Speaking & Other Tips

I remember the time I was editing my second thriller ” Lucky For Some, Thirteen” before it was sent off to the publishers. Each time I went through the manuscript, I would find either an error or a clear opportunity to make the sentence “sound” better. That’s when I decided to “proof speak” rather than proof read.

This blog post in Ballpoint.com tells you why it’s a smart thing to proof speak your work. I found it very useful. The biggest gain is a better understanding of how it would sound to the reader.

Most description should come through dialogue but there are times when you need to find the right words to express the feelings of your characters as seen by others. I came across this list from author Kimberly T. Matthews. Your choice of the right word makes a big difference in your description. Kimberly’ s list should prompt you, as it did me, to add-on to our vocabularies. If we don’t, we could end up using the same old words all the time, novel after novel.

The best way to improve your writing is to actively seek ways of improving it and put them into practice. I believe proof speaking and using the right word to depict expressions are useful tips to any writer.