Писатель 2.0

I must confess, I was frustrated with Medium, when I started a few months back. I was like any other novice writer, filled with ideas, and having dazzling plans to make it big in Medium. I loved the clean, chiseled interface and the potpourri of posts that splashed their vibrant colors all over its interactive whiteboard. I started with a bang. I wrote every day, left right and center. My every idea, found its way on to the publishing dashboard of Medium. I made it a mission in life, to at least publish one post every day...

Every so often, I run into these long lists of writing tips and quotes from famous authors on sites like Thought Catalog, Buzzfeed, and others. And they’re wonderful and no doubt very motivating. Always interesting to read advice from the greats. But then I wonder… what’s the point? Most of these tips are either too “personal” from the author’s point of view or way too generic to be used as it is. How can I really put them in use, for my unique journey as a writer? How can I use these marvelous tidbits of advises, to improve myself every single day? Let us see-: “Write drunk, edit sober...

Last week, two good things happened, which inspired me immensely-: • I crossed 1.1 K followers in Medium • I crossed 1.3 K connections in LinkedIn. That set me Thinking. I had recently completed 7 months in Medium. This period had seen a slow but steady growth trajectory during my journey as a writer. I had also recently completed 2 years in LinkedIn. This period had been a see-saw of sorts with intermittent peaks punctuating through a dreary plateau of low to no responses during my writing journey...

Let me start by asking a simple question. How do you brush your teeth every day? Come on!!! Think. Don’t be shy! Do you brush your teeth by hanging upside down? Do you brush your teeth by standing on one leg under an icy cold waterfall? Do you eat your breakfast and brush at the same time? Or do you simply vacuum clean your teeth with a high-velocity spray of water (you can even try with whiskey or rum)? If you are doing none of these things, then you are like me; getting up half-asleep from the...

Great writing ideas need even greater inspiration and inspiration doesn’t usually come like lightning. For inspiration to hit you, you have to find yourself in the right circumstances at the right time so that the mind can churn out masterpieces there and then. In fact, great ideas are akin to ghosts: they’re somewhat formed and floating around you, but it takes a certain state of mind to be able to see them. Getting into that mentality isn’t always easy, so finding places that shake up your emotions and shift your perspective can make a world of difference...

They threatened him with dire consequences, Ruffians roughed up his loved ones, Unruly mobs demolished his publication equipment, Terror squads squashed his passionate followers, Hoodlums closed down his fledgling newspaper. Acrid allegations were leveled against him, Liars conspired to hasten his downfall, Witnesses were purchased; the jury was bribed, Accounts were frozen; political games were played. Yet, he braved on, continuing his unequal struggle, Suffering unimaginable horrors, he exposed the corrupt system...

Some time back, I was in the throes of a miserable writer’s block. My ideas just seemed to have dried away. No amount of coaxing the little grey cells of my mind, even brought an iota of idea to write. Nothing all around me gave me even a glimmer of inspiration to ink my blank sheets of paper. Needless to say, I was frustrated and unhappy with myself till no end. Then one evening, as I was sitting in my courtyard, glumly staring at the disappearing sun, I received some “great” advice from my esteemed neighbor...

I have always advocated writing, as one of the best therapeutic treatments available to us, for curing the “ills” of our lives and adding more meaning and value to it. I sincerely believe that, writing is the food for our soul and the balm for our stressed senses. We should all strive to write (in whatever way we can !!!) every single day, every single weekend. But What if we are unable to write? What if we get stuck, into the dreaded writer’s block? The writer’s block, is no doubt every writer’s worst nightmare...

“I am sorry; your story is not the right fit for our publication “. “Powerfully written, but not fit for me.” “I am going to pass on this for now. Please feel free to submit again.” REJECTIONS are every writer’s worst nightmare. You put in all the effort and craft a great masterpiece and then when its gets rejected, you feel as if you have lost a new born baby! So What do you do after getting a Rejection mail? Do you absorb your disappointment, TRASH your rejected work and start a new work again? I don’t do that!!! I love REWORKING on my rejected story again and again...

I consider myself a successful person today, having achieved most of my dreams in life. But 10 years back, I would not have even dreamed of reaching this far!!! I also had my fair share of failures, disappointments, endless struggles laced with welcome wins, far and few in between; like any other successful person of today’s era. But in addition to all that, I had to surmount one more problem, one which was ingrained within my DNA. I was born with a speech disorder. I stammered incessantly, mostly in every syllable...

As writers, I am sure, all of us are improving ourselves, every single day. We follow great writers, imbibe great tips from amazing success stories and also take pains to polish our Writing in every way possible...

I remember as a child, I was obese and very lazy. I hated any form of physical activity that will create even a ripple of “strain” within my body. But my father, the strict disciplinarian he was, would never tolerate any of this nonsense. Every morning I would be forcefully dragged out of bed at an ungodly hour and made to run 5 miles on a cold, rainy beach. My pleadings, curses and excuses never seemed to bring any effect to his rock hard exterior. But I was also quite smart I had conveniently found...