The Writing Room

First published on LinkedIn. Here are four comments that well-wishers/naysayers make to writers which writers would prefer not to hear. 1. Stop wasting your time. The writer’s job is one of struggle. The first struggle that she has to overcome is her struggle with a blank page. There are many times when the writer knows what she wants to write. But no matter how hard she tries, the right words refuse to show themselves. This happens more times than the writer likes to admit. But, eventually, the words start writing themselves. Not the best words, the ones that capture exactly what she wants to say, but adequate words that capture the essence of the story she wishes to tell — words that will be pruned by her editor’s pen over and over and over again before she is comfortable with sharing her work with the world. Completing a writing project is one of the writer’s greatest achievements. So, she enjoys wasting time writing. She enjoys writing and believes John Lennon who is reputed to ...

This Christmas will be one unlike any other for many people. With COVID-19 restrictions in place in many parts of the world, the traditional Christmas gatherings of friends and loved ones to affirm their love for each other, will be postponed until a time when such gatherings may not be harbingers of severe illness and death for vulnerable family members. But all is not lost. Instead of ruing the good old days of Christmases past, why not create a new Christmas tradition? How do you do this? Reach out to your community. Remember that Christmas is many acts of love rolled into one big celebration, so share one of these small acts of love with your neighbours and yourself. Go carolling this Christmas. If you are not in full lock-down and restricted to staying on your property, revive that age old Christmas tradition of carolling. As a family, whether you have the best singing voices or not, get up really early in the morning, don those face coverings, get the dog and spend at l...

  Have you been wracking your brain to come up with ways to promote your book? You have written your masterpiece, if only in your eyes, and you’ll be happy if a few hundred readers get access to your story, taking into account the fact that while  over 2 million books  are published in the world each year, only a small percent go on to impact the majority of the reading public.  As an indie author, you will have realised that it is challenging at best to get readers to pick up your book – at least the paying ones. However, to build a readership is a process and the strategies that I'll share with you will help you to further this process, while not necessarily bringing in the dollars right away. But don’t lose hope. You have embarked on a marathon, not a sprint when you go solo in this business. Here are three strategies to promote your book and I guarantee that you will get some positive feedback and, no doubt, some negative ones too.. Use them and see what happ...

It is the season of giving and what better gift to give than the gift of reading, whether to yourself or to friends and relatives! In this post, I explain the two genres of books and showcase the types of books under these genres. I also suggest books from each genre that have had international or national acclaim and would make great holiday gifts. Book Genres Books are divided into two genres - fiction and non-fiction.  The Encyclopedia Britannica defines fiction as follows: ... literature created from the imagination , not presented as fact, though it may be based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the fiction genre include the novel, short story and novella. The word is from the Latin  fictiō,  “the act of making, fashioning, or molding. While “ [n]onfictional prose , is any literary work that is based mainly on fact, even though it may contain fictional elements. Examples are the essay and biography.” So you have a choice of books from w...