My Writing Side

My Writing Side: September 2011

Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Writer's Paradise


What is the perfect setting to let your writing side loose?

As a teenager, I spent every school year in the most picturesque place on earth–okay, so I’m biased. The Kanchenjunga peaks in the Himalayas, resplendent in pristine white snow; the incomparable sunsets that illuminate the skies in many shades of red, yellow, orange and purple; and the white mist that wraps an ethereal blanket around you. Yes, the writer in me was born in those hills.

So, do your surroundings evoke the writing muse in you? I would hazard a guess that most of us write in our homes with nothing but the computer as the only inspiration. Some of the best works were probably turned out sitting before a typewriter in an attic or some similar space. I have read about authors who shut themselves in a room with no distractions, to produce their masterpiece. My girlish dreams envisioned myself scribbling feverishly on a notepad, stopping only to gaze upon postcard-like scenery. Such romantic notions!

In today’s hectic world, we’re lucky if we can take off a few times a year to unwind and to satisfy our creative side. Does it matter if the place we choose is man-made or created by Mother Nature?

So, after many life detours and nostalgic visions of the mountains still in my head, feeding much my writing endeavours, I must write–perfect setting or not.

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Sunday, September 18, 2011

Memories That Feed My Writing

Once upon a time many moons ago, I attended a boarding school in an old English castle amidst the Himalaya Mountains. Okay, so it wasn't really a castle, but it looked like one. Even now, a piece of my soul remains in those hills. Yet in those days, whenever I went to school, I always yearned to go home. I was homesick for the first few weeks of the school year, as were all the other students. But soon, the parting pains would fade, and we found joy and fun together.

A School Girl's Lament


Somber, silent, stark and beautiful
The mountains beckon me
The mind restrains me

I reach out to touch the empty white mist
Moist air speeding past my ears
Exquisite pain

Dazzling white peaks before me
Virgin snow
Distant and yet so close

Schoolgirls in saucy ponytails
Lamenting paradise on earth
Nine months of confinement

Yearning for home beyond the ranges
As the birds trill in the waning hours
Silhouettes of freedom

Radiant sky colors abound
As the sun dips
Hanging on with one last breath

And yet as years go by
Rosy are the memories
When nostalgia is queen

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Saturday, September 10, 2011

Reality Check - The 4-Hour Work Week?


When my son told me to read Timothy Ferriss’ book, The 4-Hour Work Week, I thought the title was very clever. It was an immediate hook. Who doesn’t want to work only four hours a week? If someone has a solution for helping me be ultra productive, then I’m prepared to invest some time in reading the book.

My son raved about the useful tips he was learning from Tim Ferriss. As an entrepreneur, he thought he could apply a number of suggestions shown in the book. He is now trying to avoid meetings unless they are absolutely necessary (he says). He already pays bloggers to manage and post to his company’s website, so he is not averse to the idea of outsourcing…okay, so Tim Ferriss puts a whole new meaning to the concept of outsourcing. As for gunning for mini-retirement, that’s still a pipe dream.

For my part, I found most of the pages “entertaining”, this being the key word. I was especially tickled by some of the stories served up as examples of how to outsource your life. I bookmarked them and shared some laughs with a few of my work colleagues. Alas, Tim Ferriss’ methods will never work for office lifers like me. I bet that if I adopted some of his tactics, I would be standing at the unemployment line in a heartbeat. Now, my boss trusts me…a lot, I think. But to put in face time of, say, three days a week? He’ll pay me accordingly.

For the short period that I spent flipping the pages, I could see myself on board my favourite cruise ships, living out the 4-hour work week. But, Mr. Ferriss, while I chuckled and even laughed out loud reading your book, I cannot heed your advice.

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Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Writing Journey


I am devouring words with an insatiable appetite. I let them simmer for a while in my head, culling and then absorbing what I can to create a reservoir for when I sit down before my keyboard. I always had and still have a passion for written words. How they sing, dance, cheer, sadden or bring laughter, in skillful writers’ hands when they manipulate them into artistic creations! I get goose bumps sometimes when certain paragraphs or sentences speak to me, touch me, and invoke emotions that must be released or face an inner explosion.

This writing journey is as much about what I read as what I write. There seems to be an infinite amount of online written materials to help a writer along. One thing that the writing community is good at is putting words, many of them, on any medium. As I work on my short stories and novel (the latter on temporary hiatus while I focus on the former), I have helped myself to much of the advice dished out online for free. Of course, I have to use my own critical thinking to assess what I assimilate or reject.

Then there are those words that I pay for…and I do so willingly for quality work. I am a member of the Writer’s Digest VIP Program. Robert Lee Brewer and Brian A. Klems send out interesting and helpful newsletters. I can do without some of the promotional emails, but I understand the need for them, and yes, sometimes I’m hooked. I also have a paid membership at Writing.Com. Again, lots of writing advice and activities. I’ve bought numerous books - eBooks are easy to purchase and don’t add to my iPad’s weight. They are very reasonably priced and most have given me what I went looking for. I’ve already blogged about some of my more recent purchases.

Have my reading improved my writing skills? I believe they are certainly motivating me to write more, and the more I practice what I learn, the better I should get…at least, directionally that’s how it’s supposed to work.

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