Adventures of a Writer

Welcome to Week G of Authors' Tips: A to Z of Writing. If this is the first time you are visiting this series, here's a quick recap. Authors share their tips on writing fiction - and each week we talk about various aspects of writing. This week it's time to take a closer look at Genre When we talk about fiction, we automatically think of the story in terms of genre. So, if someone were to ask you what is your book about, your first response would be to define it in terms of its genre - such as romance, thriller, mystery, comedy, drama, horror, etc. It's a quick and easy way of classifying the kind of fiction your book falls into -- and thus helps in its marketing. But genre is much more than a system of categorising your novel. It signifies to the reader the artistic style of your story and feeds into his/her expectations of the book. As a writer you need to understand the conventions of the genre that you are writing in, so as to not disappoint your re...

Welcome to Week F of Authors' Tips: A to Z of Writing. If this is the first time you are visiting this blog, here's a quick recap. In this series authors share their tips on writing fiction - and each week we share our insights on various aspects of writing. So for Alphabet F, let's talk about Flaws.  Have you met the Perfect Human who doesn't have a single flaw -- no matter how small? And I'm not talking about 'looks' here, but traits. Well, that would be well-nigh impossible. Likewise, in fiction too, we can't get away by creating the Perfect Protagonist. Why? a) Because a man/woman who doesn't have any flaws or imperfections is simply too good to be true. And fiction has to be believable. b) It would be extremely boring for a reader to read about a man/woman who is well, just too perfect! As they say, there's no such thing as a perfect diamond. So too, with your characters. The 'flaw' is what makes your character reac...

By Jaideep Sen November was a month of celebrations. Salim Saab’s birthday fell on the 24 th  It’s only in the fitness of things that such a wonderful human being should also be acknowledged for his contributions to the world of scriptwriting by the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2018 with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema in the same month.  Arbaaz accepting the IFFI Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Salim Khan Salim Saab’s innate humanity was evident through his acceptance speech which was read out by his son who received the award in Goa on his behalf. Salim Saab, also later tweeted about it, and dedicated the award to his janmabhoomi , Indore, his karmabhoomi Mumbai and the film industry and his erstwhile writing partner Mr. Javed Akhtar. He mentioned that without Javed Saab’s contribution in his career, this achievement would not have been possible. On hearing these words at ...