Mira Prabhu's Blog, page 71

From Newbie to Master—Understanding the Writer’s Journey

Mira Prabhu:

“The mark of a pro is they make whatever we want to do look easy. From running a business to playing guitar to wicked cool Kung Fu moves, masters rarely seem to even break a sweat. Same with authors. With the pros? The story flows, pulls us in, and appears seamless and effortless.” Check out Kristen Lamb’s great new post on the journey from newbie to master writer…

Originally posted on Kristen Lamb's Blog:

[image error] Pirate Code=Writing Rules. Clearer now? :)

The mark of a pro is they make whatever we want to do look easy. From running a business to playing guitar to wicked cool Kung Fu moves, masters rarely seem to even break a sweat. Same with authors. With the pros? The story flows, pulls us in, and appears seamless and effortless.

Many of us decided to become writers because we grew up loving books. Because good storytellers are masters of what they do, we can easily fall into a misguided notion that ���writing is easy.��� Granted there are a rare few exceptions, but most of us will go through three acts (stages) in this career if we stick it through.

Act One���The Neophyte

This is when we are brand new. We���ve never read a craft book and the words flow. We never run out of words to put on a page because���

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Monday Funnies

Mira Prabhu:

Monday Funnies courtesy the Story Reading Ape – enjoy!

Originally posted on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog:

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A man has reached old age when he is cautioned��to slow down

by his Doctor instead of by the police.

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Don���t worry about avoiding temptation.��

As you grow older, it will avoid you.

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You���re getting old when you don���t care where your spouse goes,

just as long as you don���t have to go along.

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Old age is when it takes longer to rest than to get tired.

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We are lonesome animals – John Steinbeck on why writers write: Quotes for writers (and people who like quotes)

Mira Prabhu:

We are lonesome animals ��� John Steinbeck on why writers write…thank you, Bridget Whelan!

Originally posted on BRIDGET WHELAN writer:

[image error] A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn���t telling or teaching or ordering. Rather he seeks to establish a relationship of meaning, of feeling, of observing. We are lonesome animals. We spend all life trying to be less lonesome.

John Steinbeck

photo credit: The stars do not know that they are stars via photopin(license)

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Stephen King���s Top 20 Rules for Writers

Mira Prabhu:

Stephen King���s Top 20 Rules for Writers…check ‘em out here! And thanks very much, Jen!

Originally posted on Jen's Thoughts:

[image error]Want to know what Stephen King says about writing?

1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. ���When you write a story, you���re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.���

2. Don���t use passive voice. ���Timid writers like passive verbs for the same reason that timid lovers like passive partners. The passive voice is safe.���

3. Avoid adverbs. ���The adverb is not your friend.���

4. Avoid adverbs, especially after ���he said��� and ���she said.���

5. But don���t obsess over perfect grammar. ���The object of fiction isn���t grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.���

6. The magic is in you. ���I���m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing.���

7. Read, read, read. ���If you don���t have time to read, you don���t have the time���

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The Doctrine of the Doers—5 Principles of Achievement

Mira Prabhu:

Doctrine of the Doers – 5 Principles of Achievement – Kristen Lamb’s great post on how to get things done…

Originally posted on Kristen Lamb's Blog:

[image error] Same can be said about writing a book���

Success has a LOT of common denominators. Whether we want to be an excellent parent, run a thriving business, earn a promotion, have great friendships, become published, lose weight, one day have enough money to build a secret lab in the side of a mountain���? There are fundamentals we are wise to understand and apply.

Thus today, we are going to talk about 5 Principles of Achievement or The Doctrine of the Doers��because I dig alliteration :D .

Principle #1���Understand What We are Doing is HARD

Pros make stuff look easy. I can listen to Donald Trump ten minutes and believe I, too, could be a financial genius. When I was four, I recall being allowed to watch Wonder Woman and she did these amazing handsprings. Well, pshaw! I totally could do that���or not.

And my cousin found me semi-conscious and���

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Fun With Word Counts

Mira Prabhu:

It always boggles my writer’s mind to think of Leo Tolstoy producing (ink quill in hand) War and Peace (561,304 words). Wow! Now read this post by Robert for more on an interesting facet of the writer’s world…in the end, we have to make every word count!

Originally posted on 101 Books:

This blog post is 133��words.

The average article I write for my day job is around 600 words.

The estimated word count on the book I���m pitching to agents is 50,000 words.

All that to say some of the word counts in the following infographic from Electric Literature blow my mind.

Some examples:

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Does Everyone Deserve Compassion?

Mira Prabhu:

Does everyone deserve our compassion? Interesting question and challenging for many of us on the path to the heart…for me, compassion does not necessarily mean being soft and gentle…it can be a hard kick in the butt or worse…tough love is compassion too…read what Jo Robinson has to say on this intriguing subject…

Originally posted on Jo Robinson:

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Individually we can���t fix the whole world, and seeing the awful things going on all over I���m sure that a lot of us would rather look away, so it���s wonderful to see so many people out there trying to help in any way that they can. Humans are strange beings. Most are instinctively compassionate. Not all though. We���re powerful creatures in our ability to hurt. Lately with all the barbaric killings of innocents, committed in ways premeditated to be both painful and terrifying both for those who are being so brutally murdered, and for those who see these things, I���ve been wondering what goes on the minds of those killers as they execute that final act. What would happen to them if in that final minute they found that they couldn���t do it? Probably their compassion lies elsewhere, and all they feel is hatred for their victims, so that���s not���

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Does Fiction Matter? Fiction, Fantasy & Social Change

Mira Prabhu:

More on “50 Shades of Grey” courtesy Kristin Lamb…”To assert that any book that���s sold that many copies is just a story is naive and ignores almost all of human history. Societies have always been defined and redefined by its stories. Fiction IS NOT INERT. Why do you think dictators shoot the writers and burn the books first?

To claim that fiction is mere fantasy is to ignore the impact of every transformative work ever written. ���A Christmas Carol��� was not merely a sweet tale of a redeemed miser at Christmas.

It was a scathing piece of literature that eventually led to the establishment of children���s rights advocacy organizations and protection for children in the legal system (and also impacted the treatment of the poor and infirm). During the time Dickens wrote this, children were considered property. The government regularly imprisoned and hanged small children, many of whom were orphans, for relatively small offenses from vagrancy to begging to petty theft.” Read on…this is an intelligent and incisive commentary…

Originally posted on Kristen Lamb's Blog:

We had a very lively and interesting debate over the 50 Shades cultural ���phenomena��� on Friday. I���m deeply grateful for all those commenters who posted such thoughtful opinions, even those who didn���t agree with me. I actually am not afraid of people disagreeing with me and I��have zero interest in my blog simply being an ideological echo chamber.

Yet, there are a few things I���ve ���heard��� in the comments or even on Facebook which leave me flummoxed and I believe these assertions call for a closer examination.

It���s ONLY a Story. It is FICTION. JUST a FANTASY.

One argument that baffled me was this idea that 50 Shades is just a book and only fantasy. I do not begrudge James her success nor am I lambasting anyone who likes the books. To each, his or her own. I never called for banning, burning or censoring.

Since I never read���

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Fifty Shades of Grey: It’s Fess Up Time!

Mira Prabhu:

More on Fifty Shades of Grey: don’t forget to read the reviews…thanks Robert!

Originally posted on 101 Books:

Everyone���s talking about it because the movie just came out, so I give in.

I haven���t read it and have no desire to read it. But have you?

I���ve seen an excerpt, and the writing looks a little���how do I say it?���bad. But I���ll leave real judgment to those who have read (endured?) the whole book.

So go ahead and fess up���have you read Fifty Shades of Grey? Give us your short review!

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Avoid These Foods & Improve Your Mood!

Mira Prabhu:

Elevating your mood with the right foods: courtesy Julie Montagu…read on…

Originally posted on The Flexi Foodie:

[image error]Diet and nutrition often appears to be such a complex topic. Knowing the right things to eat in order to maintain the optimum health of our bodies, both inside and out, can take a while to get to grips with. However, once you get there and you understand what���s good, what���s bad, what you need and what you don���t, then there are no limits to how great you can feel physically. However, the same thing also applies when considering your mental and emotional wellbeing.

The foods that you eat will have a great impact on your mood, making it all the more important that you choose wisely. Several ingredients found in common food items can have a serious impact on the nervous system which will not only affect energy levels but can also leave you feeling anxious and depressed. When considering this, one of the biggest problems is that even���

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