Pre-March Sign-up Blast for the #atozchallenge- help us reach 1000!

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, the A to Z Writing Challenge basically requires bloggers to put up 26 posts in 26 days based on 26 letters of the alphabet, one post beginning with each letter during the month of April, with Sundays off for good behavior.

As co-host, I'm asking you, my blogging audience, to help us hit 1000 sign-ups by March 1st, which is next Thursday. We have about 700 sign-ups already, so about 300 more to go! Please make an announcement on your blog to encourage your readers to join us in the A to Z Challenge!  

  

This week we're counting on all of you to boost the numbers!

Welcome to  A-Z Blogging Challenge, April 2012!

Why Discipline Matters

And this is true of writing, as of everything else.

I've been having difficulties maintaining the writing discipline, but I'm hanging in there.

Are there times when you find yourself unable to hold on to your discipline, in writing or any other aspect of your life?

What do you do in that case?





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The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, the A to Z Writing Challenge basically requires 26 posts in 26 days based on 26 letters of the alphabet, one post beginning with each letter during the month of April, with Sundays off for good behavior.

As co-host, I'm asking you, my blogging audience, to challenge me with an interesting picture that you would like me to base my fiction on, and drop me story starters, each sentence/phrase beginning with a different letter (i.e. the first word of the starter must start with a different letter, from A to Z).  You can do this in the comments on this post. I'll keep sending out this call till I have 26 pictures and 26 prompts that really challenge me! 

The Origins of Writing

This is my post for the  Origins Blogfest. Organized by the awesome team of DL, Katie, Alex and Matt, this blogfest asks us to talk about our writing origins.

(It was supposed to post yesterday while I was sleeping, but the Blogger Gods were obviously displeased, so I'm publishing this manually today.)

When I was six, I came back from school one day and told my shocked parents a helicopter had landed in the school grounds and given us kids rides. At this point, I had never watched television, (in my home country, India, televisions made a rather late entry), leave alone see a helicopter in real life or on celluloid.

But according to my father (who knew all about planes and helicopters, thanks to his youthful ambitions of joining the air force that came to naught because of his eyesight) I described the pilot, the helicopter interiors, the fan and the wind with so much conviction and accuracy that he was tempted to rush off to my school. He stopped because my mother reminded him of all the fanciful tales I was always telling them on a daily basis.

Years later when I was studying English literature, my father told me of his reaction to my story, adding as an aside: Never stop writing, one day you'll know why. Write anything, a list, a letter, an essay, a page in a diary, but make sure you write something every single day.

I did. All through my professional life before I got married, I kept dabbling at writing, and yes, I wrote something every day.

Once I was married, my husband kept at me-- you should write, he said. You wrote me such beautiful mails. He ferried me to and from classes and writers' meets and workshops, and here I am today, scribbling away, publishing a few, finally able to call myself a writer.

To me, the memory of that helicopter ride I told my parents is vivid, real (that is how reliable our childhood memories are!). Who knows, perhaps I did not make it up, and helicopters actually landed in our obscure town of hinterland India. Whatever it was, a dream, a story, my imagination, the origins of my writing lie somewhere there.

I can now lie and make up stories on a daily basis, and even be proud of it!

How did you begin your journey as a writer?

What I Don't Know Can't Hurt Me

This week, I've dedicated the blog to  I'm Hearing Voices , which  has turned out to be an awesome blogfest hosted by Cassie Mae at Reading, Writing, and Lovin' it! and Angie at Live to Write...Edit when Necessary. 

This blogfest was a series of writing exercises we had to post on the 6th, 8th and 10th of February, and since I love stretching those writing muscles, I decided to join in!

After my post on Monday and Wednesdayy, here's what the hosts want us to do today, the 10th of February: 

Emotion Flash Fiction: Emotion is the engine of a story. Pick an emotion and in a flash fiction piece of 250 words MAKE us feel it! We want to connect with your character. This will be a challenge in 250 words.
 

Here's my attempt, and the character whose voice we hear is Anjali, the one who was mentioned by Churi and Vrishchik in my last post on dialogue . Here she is wondering about Vrishchik.

What I don't know can't hurt me-- I've gone that route before. Do I want to try it again?

 Yes, his eyes are the shade of burnt caramel, that darken when I’m around. He is gorgeous, shy, ten years younger, everything I want. 

When he rubs lotion on my legs, the frissons on my skin make me want to take things further. 

Character storyboard Anjali Menon

This Delhi winter makes your skin dry, he says. Take care of your skin, it is what makes you beautiful. Beauty is not skin deep, I say, kissing his full lower lip. You never know, he says, and his lop-sided grin makes me want to drag him to the bedroom. 

I don't. We've only just met, and if he is pacing it, so should I. Boys love the chase, only I wish he’d hurry up. And marrying a chef is exactly the sort of thing I would advice me, if I were my own therapist. I need nurturing. This is what they warn us against in my profession-- psychiatrists analyse everyone, themselves, most of all. So stop it already, Ms Anjali Menon. 

But why do I sometimes feel his smile switches on a milli-second too late, that his kiss seems like he taught it to himself, that his face is sometimes a mask that moves? And when I catch him staring at me, I step back as if blown back by an autumn gust of wind? 

Sometimes the quietness of his gaze frightens me. There, I said it.

I'm Hearing Voices-Day 2-Dialogue

This week, I'm dedicating the blog to  I'm Hearing Voices , which is an awesome blogfest hosted by Cassie Mae at Reading, Writing, and Lovin' it! and Angie at Live to Write...Edit when Necessary. 

This blogfest is a series of writing exercises we have to post on the 6th, 8th and 10th of February, and since I love stretching those writing muscles, I decided to join in!

After my post on Monday, here's what the hosts want us to do today, the 8th of February:

Character storyboard: Churi

Dialogue Introduction: Have two characters introduce each other using only dialogue—no backstory, no internalization, just dialogue between the two. Max 250 words.

Here is my attempt, where Vrishcik, the character I interviewed on 6th February is in conversation with the character Churi he mentioned then.

 "Don't you dare let her call you 'Vish'!" said Churi, eyes blazing.

"You weren’t the first to give me that nickname. My Mum called me Vish first-- Anjali can call me Vish if she wants to!" Vrishchik crossed his arms, turning away.

"Who the hell is Anjali? What does she mean to you?"Churi walked around to face him, looking up, the kohl in her eyes underlining their intensity.

"Oh do shut up. She's just another woman, and you know that," said Vrishchik, his expression a study in boredom.

"So why haven't I met her? Why are you keeping her all to yourself?"

"I'm doing nothing of the kind. It is just too early for you to meet."

"Why? Don't you want her? Why are you with her then?" said Churi, genuinely curious now.

“I’m not running low on canvases, Churi,  and canvases keep better on bodies,” said Vrishchik, turning away to the wall, which took him to his last painting.

“Doesn’t this one look beautiful?” said Churi, running her fingertips over the lines on the life-sized canvas that the brush had followed with such a sure, skilled touch. “But your best is yet to come, I think, all you need is a good canvas and the right mix of wrinkles and smoothness.”

Character storyboard: Vrishchik

“Maybe,” said Vrishchik.”You’re not steel as you claim, Churi. You have emotions.”

“She’s the One isn’t she?”said Churi.

“Yes,”said Vrishchik, blood welling up on his finger as he touched Churi to make sure she hadn’t lost her edge.

I'm Hearing Voices Blogfest: Characters on the Couch

I'm Hearing Voices is an awesome blogfest hosted by Cassie Mae at Reading, Writing, and Lovin' it! and Angie at Live to Write...Edit when Necessary. 

This blogfest is a series of writing exercises we have to post on the 6th, 8th and 10th of February, and since I love stretching those writing muscles, I decided to join in!

This is what the hosts want us to do today, the 6th of February: 

Have one of your characters answer the following questions (to make this work to your benefit, choose a character who is the hardest for you to write :) Max 250 words (Not including the questions—only the answers).

Character storyboard: Vrishchik Chaturvedi

(I have chosen the antagonist of one of the stories, I've been writing for a while. His name is Vrishchik Chaturvedi, and I hope you find his answers interesting.)

 

1.  What is your biggest vulnerability? Do others know this or is it a secret?

    I don't know that I'm vulnerable. I have one secret. Well, maybe a few, but all of them stem from that one secret. And why am I telling you this anyway? Never mind. Her name is Churi, and she's made of very good steel.

2.  What do people believe about you that is false?

    Well. Most people believe I like them, that I'm sweet. That I'm only a sushi sous-chef with no other interests, who has never cut through anything more remarkable than bits and pieces of seafood.

3.  What would your best friend say is your fatal flaw? Why?

     I don't have any friends on the outside, so a best friend is out of the question. I do have a very good friend on the inside, though. Churi thinks I'm a bit of a wimp, but I don't think she'd say it is fatal.

4.   What would the same friend say is your one redeeming quality? Why?

    My ability to paint, my unrelenting powers of observation. She likes my paintings. Which is why she is always so keen to find me new canvases.

5.  What do you want most? What will you do to get it?

     You know, I wonder about that myself. Sometimes I feel it is my canvases, both those that have paint on them and those getting ready for the paint. I don't have to do much to get them, though. Churi does it for me.

I always ask questions of my characters, and sometimes (most times, actually) they become very real. Vrishchik has been haunting me for a while, and though his story is not done yet, I already think he is a power to reckon with. Let's see what he comes up with on Wednesday, because that is the day he takes over this blog to talk to another character in the 2nd part of the I'm Hearing Voices Blogfest!
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If You Would Not Be Forgotten As Soon As You're Dead and Rotten

I don't know if Benjamin Franklin had it right when it comes to fiction writing.

Does writing something 'worth reading' prolong life and memory beyond the years of our physical lives? Yes, we know of Shakespeare today, but what about a thousand years from now? Would he still be remembered? Besides, did he really write because he wanted to get as close to immortality as possible? What were his motivations for writing?

To do something 'worth writing about' is again a dubious thing. What is worth writing about? Do writers write only of great adventures, achievements, of lives lived in the limelight?

According to me, everything we do is worth writing about...all our gestures, eccentricities, deformities, sins, ugliness, just as much as our joys, our triumphs, and all the beauties of human nature and existence. No matter how big or small, human lives deserve to be written about in all their glorious and humiliating detail---because that is what gives us life beyond life--a celebration of our existence upon this earth each moment of the finite time we're given.


So, I'd rather write not to make myself immortal, but to make the life of my times live beyond me--to celebrate life as it is around me today, in all its positive and negative aspects, across the entire spectrum of society, see it for what it really is and mirror its reality for the coming generations. (Perhaps, this is why when I go to museums I'm as impressed by a humble brass tobacco grinder as a beautifully worked jade bracelet-- both transport me to the times their owners lived. I do think Fiction is a different, and somewhat more authentic, telling of History.)

Besides, when I write fiction, I'm not aware of reasons and motives beyond the immediate one: I want to say something, and will keep trying to say it in the best way I can, mostly because the voices in my head won't shut up. Once my work is out of my hands, it is on its own, and its readers would decide its life and death, quite irrespective of me, or my longevity beyond my death.

What is your take on this? Do you write to live beyond your natural span, so you aren't forgotten? And if you're not a writer, do you strive to live in such a way that you're written about? Any other views on what Mr. Franklin had to say?

Sign up for some #AtoZChallenge Blogging this April!

 Declaring the April 2012 A to Z Blogging Challenge Sign-ups now open!

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, this challenge basically requires 26 posts in 26 days based on 26 letters of the alphabet, one post beginning with each letter during the month of April, with Sundays off for good behavior. 

Since April 1 falls on a Sunday this year, that will be the day we start with A. Whether you go with a theme or freestyle, your post must match the letter of the alphabet for that day. Add your name to the list, grab the badge in the right sidebar, and when the Challenge begins, start by visiting the blog immediately after your own. Set a goal – we recommend ten blogs a day, more if you like!

For more information and to stay on top of developments, we recommend you follow the  

A to Z Challenge Blog and the hosts

Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out, 

Alex J. Cavanaugh, 

Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs, 

Jenny Pearson at Pearson Report, 

Matthew McNish at The QQQE, 

Tina Downey atLife is Good, 

Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie, 

DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude, 

Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse, 

Elizabeth Mueller, 

Karen Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain 

Konstanz Silverbow at No Thought 2 Small .  

For any queries, check out the following resources:

Resources:

Official A-to-Z Blog
Contact Us
FAQ
A-to-Z Facebook Community
Twitter hash tag: #AtoZChallenge
Team Email Address: 2012azinfo@gmail.com

Since I'll have hosting duties, I'll pre-schedule at least some of the posts this year. 

So I'm asking you, my blogging audience, to challenge me with an interesting picture that you would like me to write on, and drop me story starters, each sentence/phrase beginning with a different letter (i.e. the first word of the starter must start with a different letter, from A to Z).  You can do this in the comments on this post. I'll keep sending out this call till I have 26 pictures and 26 prompts that really challenge me!  

Of course, when I post each prompt during April, I'll link to you and explain why I chose it. You may also mail me the pictures and story prompts at atozstories at gmail dot com. You need not be participating in the A to Z Challenge to challenge me with either a story starter, or a picture, or both. The more the merrier! Last year I had asked for word prompts, and I got loads to choose from! This year, I'm taking it a step further.

 

This challenge is a great opportunity to discipline yourself and grow as a blogger, and make new friends – come join us by signing on the linky list below:

 
   

You don't start out writing good stuff

Butler had it right, I think. I can't teach myself creativity, or give myself talent--but I can teach myself craft, hope I have talent, and enjoy the process of writing.


My only hope is persistence, so here I go for a day of wrestling with the Muse.


If you're looking for some writing practice, and some feedback, sign up for the I'm Hearing Voices Blogfest..or look up the A to Z Blogging Challenge!

Happy writing, folks!

Oracle by J.C. Martin--#Book-Cover Reveal Tour!

J.C. Martin is an awesome blog-friend and an extremely talented and entertaining writer. So when she said she had a book coming out, I had to step up for Oracle's book cover reveal tour!

I have to say I love the cover (below), and can't wait to read what's inside.  But true to Oracle's genre, which is mystery, we the readers must solve a mystery in order to win a $20 Amazon Voucher! For more details visit J.C. Martin's blog!

Official Blurb for Oracle

As the countdown begins, the body count rises.

With London gearing up to host the Olympics, the city doesn’t need a serial killer stalking the streets. They’ve got one anyway.

Leaving a trail of brutal and bizarre murders, the police are no closer to finding their latest murderer than Detective Inspector Kurt Lancer is in finding a solution for his daughter’s disability.

Thrust into the pressure cooker of a high profile case, the struggling single parent is wound tight as he tries to balance care of his own family with the safety of a growing population of potential next victims.

One of whom could be his own daughter.

Fingers point in every direction as the public relations nightmare grows, and Lancer’s only answer comes in the form of a single oak leaf left at each crime scene.

Once the book is released, I'm going to go grab it, and I suggest you do the same. From what I've read of Martin's writing, here's one book you ought not to miss!
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As many of you know, I'm co-hosting the A to Z Challenge in April this year, which basically requires 26 posts in 26 days based on 26 letters of the alphabet, one post beginning with each letter. Please drop me picture prompts or story starters so I can write a piece of fiction for each day in April (and credit you and the photographer as well as link to you), either as comment to this post or at atozstories at gmail dot com. Thanks to everyone who have sent in pictures and story prompts so far.