Blogman

I have permission to post this cool badge from Eric. It was created based on an initial discussion on what does BLOG stand for, and creative responses to it. It's way cool, and so we are passing it around. As always there are rules to follow:

1. Tell us your favourite superhero and why
2. Copy the badge and post it to your blog
3. Present the badge to five other worthy bloggers
4. Post links to five people you nominate
5. Comment on their pages to let them know they have been nominated

My favourite superhero: Superman. He is just one cool dude. Not to mention one superhero who doesn't act like a tortured teenager caught in emotional drama. Ok, I am not a big fan of pants outside part, but still with all his confident personality on one side and shy, reserved side as a Clarke Kent, and his burning torch for one woman - he represents all the good stuff: a guy next door, who isn't just nice and dull. A bit of adventure, a bit of mystery, and a bit of romance.

Five people I nominate - my criteria of selection is based on regular "blogmans" who post consistently, and keep us updated:

1. Jenna - As the Plot Thickens
2. C R Ward - Random Thoughts
3. Jamie - The Variety Pages
4. Lady Glamis - The Innocent Flower
5. Jim Harrington - Quotes on Writing

Honest Scrap Award

Fellow Blogger C R Ward has given me "Honest Scrap Award" for which I am most honoured.

Rules: 10 honest comments about yourself pass the blog onto seven worthy people

1. Getting blog awards make me very happy, because it tells me that someone likes my blog enough to make that effort.
2. I don’t mind Starbucks taking over the world. Despite my love of travel and experiencing different cultures, I like the consistency of taste in my coffee
3. I am very possessive of my things and of my time.
4. If Virtual Reality technology comes to full force in my life-time, there will be trouble, because I love dreaming. Living in dream world is much easier than working to make the dreams come true.
5. I get cravings for chocolates and for spicy food. Usually not at the same time.
6. I want to see a whole shelf in a book shop, with my name on the books.
7. While essentials of my personality remain unchanged, I am still trying to figure out my values and beliefs – they have changed considerably from teenage to adult phase.
8. I hate phones. The only thing I like about a mobile phone is that I can use it for SMS.
9. I love Taco Bell’s Hot Sauce. I get my family to bring bags over every time they see me, and I always bring some back when I go to USA. I can use that sauce with practically anything. (I have run out, and won’t get more till December. L)
10. I have never tried any alcoholic drinks, and never been tempted. The control freak in me doesn’t want to weaken my mental state by drinking.

There are plenty of good blogs I follow and plenty that inspire me and teach me a lot, but as this award is for honesty, I am passing it on to three people whom I feel I have come to know because of their blogs. Their posts reflect their voice. It makes me feel that I know them as more than some blogger miles away. It makes them stand out as a person, each unique and individual. Jamie @ Variety Pages: I know she has already been nominated by C R, but she still gets my nomination. With her regular posts on updates of her goals, progresses and stumbles, and chapters of her writing, her blog is full of her honest journey as a writer, and as a person. Adam @ The Editing Hat: He writes, he screams, he babbles, he shares his joys and troubles, and he celebrates other people’s successes on his blog. There is nothing pretentious about his blog – just pure Adam. Eric @ Working My Muse: He shares his journey with the rest of us, and in the process raises interesting questions. Sometimes he knows the answers, and sometimes he doesn’t, but he still makes us think. His blog reflects the knowledge he is gathering as a writer, and the passion he has for writing.

What Will I Write This Month?

While I let the ideas gather in my head for my fantasy novel, it’s time to attempt something I have procrastinated on for a long while. I have always fancied travel writing. At least I think I have, because I haven’t actually tried it. My experience of travel writing is this:

• When I was 13, I went on a tour from school. We were invited to write an essay about it, and the best one (mine) was selected to be published in the school magazine.
• I have been keeping travel journals for last few trips.

That’s not much to go by, especially because I know my travel journals aren’t nearly as good as I would like them to be. I am improving, but not there yet. So is travel writing for me? I have no idea. I like to think so, because I love travelling, so combining my love of writing with that of travel seems like a perfect plan. I have postponed trying it for a long time, so this month, while I am bit stuck regarding my word target, I make a public proclamation that I will give it a go. So few small goals to begin with: Deadline: 13/09/09 Finish journaling Berlin trip Plan at least 2 travel articles Write at least 1 of them Wish me luck for this new venture.

Resisting the Temptation

While attempting to plan my re-vamped fantasy WIP, there are several places where I don’t know what will happen. I know what the main themes of the story are. I know how the story ends. I know all the stuff the hero has to face. I know what the villain wants. But what I don’t know is the middle bit. I don’t know how the villain and the hero are going to collide over and over again, before they can get to the final conflict. That is obviously a huge issue. Today, for several minutes, I was tempted to just start writing. I thought I should just start the draft and see what happens. I even wrote first few sentences. After a short while, I deleted them, because that attitude is precisely what made a mess of previous WIPs. If I don’t have the answers now, I am not miraculously going to have them later on. Well okay, I may have some answers later on, but that could be achieved BEFORE starting the draft with some patience. Alas, patience and I have quite a frosty relationship. But I am resisting, because I know it is purely impatience that’s pushing me. The answers to those questions will come, but sometimes it just takes time. Not all ideas are ready at moment’s notice. I need to give them time to stew. So as impatient as I am, I will give it some more time, and keep brain-storming. I don’t need to have every little detail planned out in advance, but I at least want to be able to have major points outlined before I start writing the first draft. That may mean that I won’t complete this draft in time to start a NaNo draft, but I will have to cross that bridge when I come to it. It may also cause bit of a trouble with my 30K word target this month, but hopefully, I shall find something else to write. With this story though, I am going to be patient, and I am going to try writing it in a different manner than what I have done so far. This method may or may not work, but only by trying different ways I can figure out what works best for me.

Do You Read Enough?

One of the biggest irony for most writers is that as they write more - because they love stories - there is less time to read. Majority of us aren't full time writers, so time is short as it is. Once you get into the discipline of writing, do you still make time to read enough? Earlier this year when I started to write regularly, for first few months, my reading reduced considerably. I was aware of it, and I didn't like that. I had all these piles of books waiting to be read, new worlds to be explored. So I made a conscious decision not to let that happen. That was the reason behind keeping the record here. I still update it, and it's great to see the list grow. I already read a wide variety of fiction, so my new goal is to read a little more non-fiction (other than writing craft). And for 2010, I intend to challenge myself to read 101 books. What about you? Do you devote good time to read, just for the pleasure of it? PS: This is a scheduled post, while I am having a short break in Berlin. I will reply to any comments upon my return.

Picture Writing Prompt

I love this picture. It is at once peaceful yet compelling; light and dark. Just looking at the picture raises so many questions, and from questions come stories. Hope it inspires you.

A Dose of Inspiration

This is a scheduled post, while I enjoy a little city break in Berlin. Hope this massages your muses a little:

• In most branches of human endeavor there is said to be a right and a wrong way of doing things. In writing there can only be your way, whether you pose as an aesthete, or whether you frankly admit you write for money. - Jack Woodford
• Do not hesitate to give your hero lusts of the flesh, dark passions, impulses to evil; for these dark powers, fused with their opposites - the will to good, the moral impulses, the power of the spirit - will do to your character precisely what the opposite powers of fire and water do to the sword blade. - William Foster-Harris
• Writing is very much like bricklaying. You learn to put one brick on top of another and spread the mortar so thick. - Red Smith
• The novel of a thousand pages begins with a single scene. - James Scott Bell
• When you steal from one author it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research. - Wilson Mizner
• Let your characters have their way. Let your secret life be lived. Then at your leisure, in the succeeding weeks, months or years, you let the story cool off and then, instead of rewriting, you relive it. - Ray Bradbury