A foot overbridge on one of the busy roads. I was struck by the curves on the top and the slanting railings.
Posted for the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge.
The Unglamorous half of Writing
If you are on a break from writing,
consider this-
You can don your best peaked hat in dark, brooding colours that makes you look intimidating and on the front, embroidered in purple thread is the word, ‘Editor’.
Don’t feel like writing? Never mind. You can always edit your work. Rummage through your drawers for those manuscripts shoved there weeks or months back. Straighten out the pages, flip through them.
You would be surprised at the quality of work. You might of course pull your hair in frustration at the lack of clarity or be glowing in the reflected glory of a well written piece.
But stop, don’t tell yourself that the words are yours. Till the time you are wearing that cap, don’t identify yourself with the story or the narrative. Better still, think it is some low life scum who wrote that and now is the time for you to teach him a lesson.
Take out the highlighters and the coloured pens that you keep stashed away. Use them with abandon. Strike out what is even a tad bad. You are free to use cuss words to tell the writer what’s really wrong with that writing. Laugh at the plot holes. Snicker st the pacing. Write all that you feel is wrong with the manuscript.
There, you are having so much fun. Editing is the other half, the hidden half, the unglamourous half of writing and even though you did not write any words today, you were still writing.
Feeling good, eh?
Interrobang?!
Interrobang?!
Two punctuation marks used together are called the interrobang. The question mark and the exclamation mark. Really?!
But why together? For a greater impact!
They sound like friends walking hand in hand.
Also known as Interabang.(Just girlfriends maybe)
Interrobang is the combination of the interrogation mark and bang, which is the common name for the exclamation mark.
What is their correct placement? Who comes first? Should that ever be asked among friends? In friendship, all are equal.
In tune with that sentiment, I have encountered the interrobang both ways. The question mark precedes the exclamation mark or vice versa. Possibly the former is more common, as is agreed by the internet community.
How does it make me feel?
Friends. Complicit. Complimentary.
Alone they are good and effective but together their impact is so much more.
A question mark is well, questioning, curious, incredulous.
An exclamation mark is, amazement and excitement, going overboard.
Together they rock!
Technically, they are fused together, the two symbols, to show even greater solidarity. It is called the Glyph.
They can even be used as strings?!?!?!
***
(There, I just used a Dinkus)
Interrobang is also a very useful chess notation.
In Chess, the combinations “!?” and “?!” are used to express judgements of particular chess moves. “!?” denotes an “interesting” move, while “?!” denotes a “dubious” move.
Interrobang has been around for quite some time, though still not accepted for formal communication. I have seen it used in Asterix comics. And yes, Tintin too.
Interrobang is informal and fun!
Do you like the interrobang much? How do you use it? Which symbol first?
Small Stone: Clothesline
sagging clothesline
clothes flutter in the breeze
breath of life
What are small stones?
A small stone is a short piece of writing (any style) that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment for you. The process of discovering small stones is as significant as the finished creation. Searching for small stones encourages you to keep your senses on the “alive and alert” status. Involve yourself with a new set of eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fingers, feelings and mind. This is Mindful Writing at its best.
Finding my Writing Pace
My favourite grudge is over the writing advice I see plastered all over the place. Everyone has an opinion (and here I am airing mine). When to write, where to write, how much to write every single day. It all seems to boil down to discipline. Write every day. Write consciously. Write beyond your comfort zone.
I am not an adept writer. I should have put this disclaimer at the beginning. I am not published, I don’t get paid for what I write and I don’t have to manage rejection. I call myself a writer because this is something I am passionate about. I am besotted with words, etymology, nuances. I feel that words can move mountains or be the refreshing founts of peace.
But the very helpful advice that I encounter somehow makes me feel off my pace.
Write everyday. I try. But there is life. There are moods. And if I do not crank out a few hundred words at the end of a session i feel like a failure. Which makes me shrink back from the entire thing. Am I trying out others expectations as my size and disappointed that they do not fit?
Find a space that you can reclaim again and again as your writing nook. I have one of those. It doesn’t work everytime. I only need solitude. I can write on the bed, couch, floor, on the window stoop, in a crowded temple with blaring hyms. The only thing I need is solitude or a disconnection from the world around me and a connection with my own self.
Write at the same time everyday. I find that constricting. I need the expansiveness of space and time to be able to write. I want a flow and to get that I want to be unhurried, to be away from deadlines such as the one, ‘write for the next one hour and try to get down a thousand words.’
Am I creating art? With these rigid deadlines and guidelines, I am not. Do artists/writers need angst? Or do they need to sit down everyday with discipline and determination and write words?
I need discipline to grow but I also need a teeny bit of angst so that I don’t forget that writing is also a calling. With that, I find my own pace.
Which is the writing advice that you love to hate?
Introducing Dinkus
DINKUS
Is that a word? Or a sound?
It seems that there are many symbols used in the printing of a book that indicate the closure of a section.
***
Like these.
It’s not something that has been beeped out or censored because it is offensive. Yes, that too, but in a word. Like, f***ing.
But, stand alone.
Three asterisks in a row *** are the typographical symbols used to indicate a section break in writing.
I never knew they had a name!
DINKUS also feels like a sound.
I hear DINKUS in my mind as a ding that signifies the finish of something and the beginning of yet another beautiful thing.
Looking at the odd word, at the different sounding word, I feel a sense of newness. I can say it slow, savouring it, rolling the letters but it comes out quick, like the joy of a little child that is spontaneous and knows no bounds.
It tastes like sweet, sticky jelly of my childhood that was not even set properly but we still scooped it up and ate the semi liquid, smearing our faces with it.
I can smell the word, sweet and pungent at once, like cinnamon.
I can feel it slithering sinuously, leaving a trail in my mind.
I always want to use all caps, because it conveys so much joy.
The plural is DINKUSES!!
If I close my eyes, I can see a series of little pixies, marching on, in a single file. How cute they look!
***
Being a DINKUS means being idiotic, as per the online dictionary that I consult. Which is quite true of this post.
That’s how some words evoke a lot for feeling in us. Its more about their sound and feel than their meaning. Which word is it for you?
How to Get Back to Writing after a Break
Writing may be your passion but sometimes life or other commitments come in the way and writing drops off your radar. If you don’t write for a living then it is even harder to get back to it. It seems like writing is something you do for fulfilment and as a creative pursuit and heck, we do push back the me-things when other things are overwhelming.
It has happened to me time and again. One week I would be writing furiously, churning out words, ideas, dreams and then suddenly something would come up and writing would be the last thing on the agenda. These days grow into weeks and sometimes months and getting back just seems tougher.
So, what do I do? There are many ways I get back to my writing. Sometimes one approach works, sometimes the other and at times it has to be a combination.
Here they are:
Ease back into it
You know that you have to get back to writing. Pat yourself on the head (try not to be too patronising) and start small. If you are into fiction, write a 100 word story. Write a haiku if you write poetry. Flip through the pages of your WIP if you want to revise and edit. Give yourself the space and time to get back to the things you love.
I do this easing-back-in when I have had a tough time, strict deadlines and tiring commitments to catch up. I need the TLC not the discipline.
Just Do It
The exact opposite of the first approach, this involves sitting into that damned chair and not getting up till you write something substantial. You might require the assistance of finger snacks (non greasy), coffee at your elbow and some tissues (you might not cry at the unexpected beauty of your writing but you certainly need to wipe those crumbs off your fingers and blot out the coffee cup stain from the table).
This approach works for me when I have been procrastinating for too long and thinking up of silly excuses for why I am not writing. I don’t need sympathy, I need a kick in the backside.
Read and Write
Pick up your current read. If you haven’t read anything meaningful in a while, then dust off your favourite book and flip through the pages. The words would jump at you and soon you would be lost in the fictional world. The writing would impress upon your mind the sheer beauty of the written word and remind you (hopefully) of all the things that you yourself want to say. You realise that life is short (it would be good if your favourite book has a dying character in it) and you need to catch hold of all those grains of sand that have been slipping through the hourglass and write.
I am an enthusiastic reader and I generally have a book or two I can get back to (e-readers ensure that I don’t have to dust my books). But there are times when I have upto four unfinished books and at those times, I have to force myself to finish them (not off) one by one so that I can get back into the flow of the narrative and then on to my own voice.
Become a Copycat
Again, pick a book. Read a little, a couple of pages would do. Zero in to a passage you especially like. Judge it, by the choice of words, the length of the sentences, the cadence of the language, the tone of the story. Pick one dominating element and write your own passage using that element.
If you like the dreaminess of a work; write about the dreaminess of your unforgettable meal. If you are struck by the choice of short, powerful words in a passage, attempt to recreate that pace through the choice of similar words on a topic that is close to your heart. You’ll get back to your mojo in no time.
There are dog people and then there are cat people. I am neither; I scream at the merest proximity of even a beaked creature. The nearest I can come is to be a Copycat and it generally works very well to get back to my own style.
Take a Pledge
Imagine the Bible or the religious scripture you have an affinity for. Think yourself taking an oath with it being the witness. Decide now how much you are going to write and with what frequency. If you are back in the flow, stay in the flow. Don’t let this exercise at getting back be wasted.
Not overly religious? Never fear, think of foregoing your favourite pizza or the Netflix binge watching if you don’t stick to your writing goals.
I like to make a virtual promise for my writing goals. NaNoWriMo is a wonderful time and so is the Camp NaNoWriMo platform. I promise, put it into writing and post on my blog. There are a few friends who serve exclusively as my boasting boards and I make sure that I tell them of my promise so that the fear of looking small pulls me back into the writing chair.
I am collecting tips and tricks for getting back to writing after a break. Please share yours with me.
How many of the above tips resonate with you?
Read Write Live 