As we begin a new year, I would like to wish you and yours a very happy, successful and bright New Year. May 2014 bring immense joy to you. Usually joy comes through hard work and persistence! To help you move towards achieving your goals as a writer in 2014, here are a few links I found particularly useful: Continue reading “Resources for Writers”
Tag: resources for writers
I earnestly believe that a writer gets better as he reads. It’s so important to read a lot and gain different perspectives on the huge amount of knowledge available on writing. I would like to share with you a couple of articles I read last week that I found of interest. Continue reading “A selection of articles on Writing”
I owe so much to NaNoWriMo, and all my readers know that. Sonia Rao who looks after NaNoWriMo for the India region published this interview with me in her blog recently. Yes, it was about how much NaNoWriMo means to me.
So, what’s the deal about being a writer? How does one get to be a writer in the first place? Let me try to give a quick summary of what can be a long-drawn and torturous process.
Firstly, you write a book. Yes, a complete one, duly edited, proof read and the rest of it. You then try to sell the book to a publisher. At times, and this make happen only after you are an established writer more often than not, you could be represented by a literary agent who sells your work. On publication, you get paid royalty based on the contract you sign with your publisher.
On occasion, and here’s where the glamorous image of being a writer comes in, you could sign a multi-book deal. The publisher signs you up to deliver a couple of books, without seeing what is in them. This is based on your track record and largely on what the world thinks of you, as evidenced by your book’s sales figures.
If you are good, you could be paid an advance too. Renowned writers have been paid huge advances and a few such cases inspire every writer to believe that someday, somewhere, someone might sign them up on very lucrative terms.
But the world of publishing is becoming increasingly competitive, and I am not even talking about the self-publishing world. This too churns out a huge number of books into an already crowded market place.
As the traditional publishers seek to improve their profitability, they tend to consolidate through mergers and acquisitions at times. They seek various means to improve their business results. One move can be in the matter of advances. Here’s news that the famous writer Vikram Seth has been asked to pay back an advance. It’s only for $ 1.7 million !!!
How does your novel start? Is the first line memorable? Does it grab the attention of the reader? In my debut novel, a psychological thriller, “It Can’t Be You” I wanted to start by telling the reader about an important event that had taken place in as concise and impactful manner as I could. The result:” The man was dead.” Continue reading “The First Line”
A confirmed web surfer, I am always on the hunt for things that may help me improve my writing. Here are a few things which caught my attention over the last week:
- “The Emotion Thesaurus” by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is an interesting dive into what are the giveaways when people express emotions. Designed for the writer to be factually correct when he/she captures the moods of their characters, and writes about their body language and mannerisms, this book is truly one of its kind. A must for the book shelf of every serious writer.
It has its challenges. Its moments of despair. You feel like tearing your hair apart. There is so much to be done and so little time. The ideas are there and so are the thoughts but they disappear when you settle down to capture them. And of course, there are moments of exhilaration. Of joy. Of seeing your creation take shape and ultimately emerge as a sell-able product, a book. An author’s life is fun. At the end of the day, you need the passion to keep at it, to keep going, which means to keep writing. Continue reading “On Writing”
Here’s a confession. Yes, I got to admit I am a sucker for the National Novel Writing Month, popularly called NaNoWriMo. I was initially hesitant about signing up for NaNo this year. Let me hasten to add that I have great regard for this initiative. It won’t be wrong to say that a large share for whatever little success I have enjoyed as a writer clearly goes to NaNoWriMo and all the Wrimos who I have interacted with.For the uninitiated, “Wrimos” are the folks who take part in NaNoWriMo.
I am a frequent visitor to BookRix where I enjoy reading stories put up by others. My short stories are on view too. It’s here that I came across something new to me. It’s called a drabble- which means you have to write a short ( or shall we say -very short) story in- here’s the catch- just 100 words.
If you are stuck while writing and don’t how how to get ahead, take a break and look at these wonderful quotes- which give insight and inspiration for you to get back to that writing with a new energy! Online College has put together this interesting collection of 101 tips– really words of wisdom.
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 