Semicolons, Em-dashes, and Ellipses

When it refers to real life, a Point of View is the “position from which something is viewed”. In story-telling, it translates into “who is telling the story?”Whose viewpoint is it? How much of it is biased because it is only one point of view? How much can a reader believe if it is coming from one ‘position’ only?Let me try and answer these questions.

“The Indian Prince’s Scandalous Bride” is the 4th book in Devika Fernando’s Romancing the Royals series. Here’s a funny scene from the book that you’re sure to enjoy…

Spotlight: ‘We Women Wonder’ by Inderpreet Uppal

“When a woman becomes her own best friend, life is easier.”
– Diane Von Furstenberg.
Thoughts, quotes and determination can make a woman stronger, a survivor but she is a winner regardless.
This book is the story of every woman, you might find your reflection too.
A journey into what keeps us women ticking.

Cover Reveal – The Indian Prince’s Scandalous Bride by Devika Fernando

“The Indian Prince’s Scandalous Bride” is the 4th book in the Romancing the Royals series, and I can’t wait to share it with you all. Here’s the cover and blurb. The book is due for release next month.

Midpoints that impel the story onwards

This week I’m going to talk about how to write a midpoint that keeps the reader turning the pages.As the word suggests, the midpoint of a story comes right at the center of it.How should it be written?Why should we care?Regardless of what genre we write, the first quarter of the story is invariably where the characters are introduced to the reader and where the events that complicate the main characters’ lives take place.This part is the set-up to the second quarter of the story which highlights how the characters react to the life-altering events (job offer, job loss, tragedy, natural disaster, unexpected inheritance) that beset them.Their reactions drive the story forward – if they don’t react, there will be no story.

Writing Love Scenes

When there’s a romance brewing between two characters in a story, even in genres other than romantic fiction, readers will want the characters to, at the very least, kiss.

When I’m reading, I know that I always want that to happen – and I feel let down when a story with a promising slow-sizzle ends without a physically sensual moment. I’m sure the protagonists feel cheated too.

Spotlight: ‘Someone Exactly Like You’ by Esha Pandey

The Blurb :
A beautiful young girl, drenched in rain, is being chased by a couple of goons along the narrow meandering roads of Landour, Mussoorie, when a swashbuckling stranger comes to her rescue. She faints and on waking up, realizes she is in the company of the ‘bad boy’ of Bollywood—Veer Singh Tomar.

Killing your readers – or, How NOT to write!

Have you heard of the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest?
It has been around since 1982 and it connotes a very intriguing challenge – participants must write an “atrocious opening sentence to a hypothetical bad novel” and the most atrocious entry wins a prize every year.

Jealous of other authors? Is that a bad thing?

We are at the letter J in our series on “Authors’ Tips – A to Z of Writing”

If you’ve read the previous posts on the subject, you’ll recall that the eight of us – Devika Fernando, Preethi Venugopala, Paromita Goswami, Adite Banerjie, Ruchi Singh, Sudesna Ghosh, Saiswaroopa Iyer and I – are blogging on a myriad of writing-related topics with the topic corresponding to the Alphabet of the Week.

This week I’m going to talk about jealousy as it applies to authors.

Jealousy, as per Wikipedia “refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, concern, over relative lack of possessions, status or something of great personal value, particularly in reference to a comparator, a rival, or a competitor.”

Do writers experience “insecurity, fear, concern”?
Sure they do, but it is usually over wondering if anybody is going to read their work or like their stories or come back for more.

Do writers experience “insecurity, fear, concern”…in reference to a comparator, a rival, or a competitor?
I hate to say ‘hell, yes’, but I’m afraid it is true, so…Hell, yes!

The evidence that the green-eyed monster lurks in writing circles comes from the shenanigans that accompany literary contests where winners are declared based on the number of times the book has been downloaded and the number of positive reviews they’ve garnered.

The following image is a screenshot of a facebook post by a well-respected blogger who was appalled to receive an offer of the nefarious kind.

When authors start paying for downloads and reviews of one’s own books, and then offer money to bloggers and readers for posting deeply “deeply negative reviews” of other’s books, this is a sure sign of insecurity.

Just because there are vicious and deeply insecure writers out there, does not mean that jealousy is necessarily a bad thing. If one were to think of it as ‘literary envy’ instead of as ugly, toxic, painful jealously, it can serve a useful purpose.

It can make you want to be a better writer than you are already. It can make you want to connect with others who write in your genre – thus broadening your network of support and learning.

If you do ever feel green – and you will because you’re human after all – then here’s what you could do:

Smile.
Not only because you’ve just confirmed that you’re human, but also because stretching those muscles prompts you to rearrange your emotions to match the smile.
Write something nice ‘about’ or ‘to’ the subject of your envy. Share in her success and maybe the success fairy will visit you too. Believe it! If nothing else, being generous in the face of all the greenness invading your soul will make you like yourself a lot more.
Read the work of the people you envy. You might find something about their writing style or their character development or dialogue delivery to inspire you.
Avoid negative authors who make you feel bad about yourself – even if they do this indirectly by bragging about their accomplishments (real or imagined) and their reviews (organic or paid for, who knows?).
Find a team of writer people, and non-writer people, and dogs, and cats who make you feel good and optimistic and positive and stick to them like glue. If, on the other hand, you do better alone, prefering to write in isolation, do remember to pop up once in a while to absorb the positive vibes of a supportive group.
Remind yourself that success is transient – it’s here today, gone tomorrow, so there’s little point in worrying endlessly about it. Besides, any day could be your day, so work away at making it happen.
No two writers are the same. Even if you envy another’s writing style, find your own niche through trying, and trying again. Keep at it. Hard work – and learning as you go – always pays. Be patient.

Lots of love and luck!

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