Whether you write poetry or fiction in any genre, you need this one attribute to attract readers’ engagement — Passion for writing, especially creative writing, is not what is being referred to in this article. Neither is the craving for gold (in terms of fees or royalties) and celebrity when one’s work, a book maybe, becomes a bestseller. Being passionate is, of course, a must. But the necessity of…

A budding writer can and should explore what may be a life-changing pursuit — Writing a novel is not easy, even if there are claims to the contrary. We see such claims on our social media feeds in the guise of invitations to enroll in a writing course. …

No rice recipes in this piece, just a rice-eater’s lament on quibbles over how to cook rice — More than 3.5 billion people in the world eat rice. I am one of them. My rice consumption, however, is not on a regular basis. It would not make a dent in the 504.3 million metric tons of rice which was consumed worldwide in the 2020–2021 crop year. With this…

How do we know joy? How do we see light? How do we find perfect? — A perfect life seems to be everyone’s quest full of fun, awash with ease, all the very best. An imperfect life is not to everyone’s craving jammed with hard toil, suffused with struggling. But how do we really, really know perfect is it by getting or receiving all we expect? Is it…

Holding your tongue in check is best when seething with indignation — THE power of words cannot be underestimated. I became conscious of this when someone I knew, outraged at her vice-ridden husband, wished him dead — in his face, during a loud, scandalous argument. I was there. I heard it. Some 10 years later, another one I knew wished her husband…

Is shaming one’s parents necessary to elevate one’s self? — IMAGINE a big auditorium in an exclusive school. On a festive occasion, a batch of graduates would be recognized in that year’s commencement ceremony. Jane Doe, summa cum laude, made the event more special. Not every batch of graduates in this expensive university produces a graduate with such high honors. …

Writing ideas are all around us. Whether live or stills, there will always be images out there packing a punch of emotions for creatives. — THE world is a limitless source of ideas. Your world, of course, may be different from another writer’s world in the context of space and range, or location and its purport (could be culturally or geo-politically). But we, being readers, too, are all the more rewarded when we read about…

Mate for life until one fell swoop — EVERY night, Anne sees a solitary blackbird on the apex of the neighbor’s roof. Be it a clear sky or be it wintry or misty, the bird would be there. Perched on the roof, singing melancholy songs like a virtuoso among other songbirds. The bird is calling out for its…