Category: Blogging

Posted in Blogging, Writing Tips

Of Human Sacrifices and Other Cliché

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

My daughter was memorising an application to Principal in Hindi today about reduction in school fee–something her school teacher had them copy from the board but did not explain. By the time she reached the part where she would eternally sacrifice her Principal (Aapki sada Aahuti karungi), I was in fits of laughter. 🤣🤣🤣

I assured her it would not be a pretty sight–a grown up school Principal being thrown into sacrificial fire 🔥 by a nine-year-old girl to save a pretty penny; and that it would suffice if she is eternally grateful 🙏(Aapki sada Aabhari rahungi).

Thankfully, she gave up her plans about roasting her Principal crisp, and decided to be grateful instead. Whew! I think I just saved a life!

It is a common problem with unsuccessful writing–using archaic words without understanding them first. In our job as Instructional Designer, we are taught to write so it would make sense to a 13-year-old, which means no obsolete words, no sentence longer than 10-15 words, no page to hold more than 8-10 lines (preferably 5-6 lines).

We write to be understood.

I am sure you will argue that some situations require archaic words, like royal scenes and fantasy. I would like to disagree because I have just read an amazing novel–Thief in the Castle–which used every day language with a bit of formality where royals were concerned and still managed to create a perfectly believable royal scenario.

However, if you feel your audience is well-read enough to know those words, I would suggest understanding the correct usage first–don’t be my nine-year-old.

It also includes understanding the difference between a Worcestershire sauce and a Barbeque sauce (Is there a difference?); and the difference between severe and sewer 🤣.

Remember, your audience is holding a smartphone. It takes 10 seconds to search a word and even less to write a scathing review and post it on Instagram, X and Facebook in a single click.

So, if you are really that smart, or faking to be, ensure you cross your T’s and dot your I’s well. Don’t resort to human sacrifice–it doesn’t look pretty on Instagram! 🤣🤣🤣

Posted in Reblog

Reblog: The Analogue Kids #1

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal
The Analogue Kids #1 – Anybody’s Seat

I recently read this short story by Colin McQueen, which I truly loved. It is about first meeting between two loners–intriguing and full of promise. It leaves me wondering if good stories really need a drama? Good, relatable dialogues can create a great story.

Posted in Blogging, Book Review

Rewriting Book’s Ending: The Lord of Rings

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal
Daily writing prompt
If you could rewrite any book’s ending, which one would you choose?
View all responses

A story’s ending is usually the writer’s biggest challenge. To roll it all together, tie all the loose ends and make it memorable, yet acceptable is a monumental task. Most classics are memorable because of it. However, The Lord of Rings is an exception for me. The loved the entire book start to end, but the last part of the ending left me feeling like something was amiss. Everyone else was happy but Frodo had to leave Middle Earth for the New World to be rid of his pain.

I understand the writer’s reasoning–when you have carried such a terrible power for as long as he had, it was near-impossible to come back unscathed. So, I know the writer the was right and often wonder whether he lived Frodo’s pain during the war he had to join against his better judgement.

I would say it is so amazing the way Tolkien has build this character–Frodo–his simplicity; his everyday way of life; the way he is pushed in a war that he never knew existed to carry a burden his superiors failed at; the way the rings power allures him and he resists; the way he gradually falls under its spell until he is on the brink of suicide alongside the ring…

I felt Frodo’s endless pain and cannot help but wish for a better future for him. I wish there was a resolution for Frodo–a happy ending like everyone else. I had come to love his character and to see him leave because there was no hope of happiness for him felt wrong…Painful even!

I guess that is why war is wrong–soldiers never win no matter which side they are on. They may come back physically fine but the wounds to their hearts are forever.

I wish I could change that!

Posted in Blogging, Book Review, Random Thoughts

Dinner with Wizard Howl

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal
Daily writing prompt
If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would it be?
View all responses

Wizard Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (The book version)

It would be a dream to have dinner with Wizard Howl, more so because he is impossible to catch.

His Moving Castle ensures he is never in the same place. Also, nobody knows who he really is, switching between identities: Wizard Howl in Market Chipping, Wizard Pendragon in Kingsbury, Jenkins the Sorcerer in Porthaven and Howell Jenkins in Wales.

I love his character because it has so many layers. He is not your usual hero.

Everyone is scared stiff just by hearing his name. He is the most powerful wizard of his times with a fire demon to boot. He owns a scary moving castle and is known to “eat souls of pretty girls”. He is a manipulative arrogant showoff with tantrums that shake the city.

Mostly, he is a coward, hiding behind negative publicity and many identities.

But he is soft at heart, taking in strays like Calcifer, Michael and Sophie, despite the personal cost, buying them expensive clothes while only owning two dresses himself. He worries about Michael and Calcifer and tries to help Sophie even though she is being as charming as an old crone, taking out her frustration and anger on everyone around her. Even his sister is awful to him and yet he visits her to meet his nephew and niece and be close to the only family he has.

He is also trying to fall in love, knowing there is no hope since he is heartless.

He is a super wizard who plays football for college, drinks too much when scared and, yet, never moves the burden on the shoulders of those he loves. He carries it alone.

He is my type of hero!

Posted in Blogging, Writing Tips

My struggle with writing Fantasy

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

I like to call myself a story writer.

My style of writing stories is more intent on an individual’s perspective on the situation than the events themselves. Most of the times, the narrator is one of the main characters. I write about the narrator’s emotions and relationships as events unfold. Sometimes, there is no plot, just feelings…more like Poetry…

…which becomes my bane when writing Fantasy!

Fantasy requires building a different kind of world around us where I need to explain what things look like. But being inside a character’s head who is already part of the world, they can certainly not be surprised with the flying jellies and candy bars hanging from trees (Okay, that one could make a good story…). So, why would they even think or talk about it? It is like make an Indian talk about their visit to the streets of their town–it is their daily life; they ignore it.

Also, since my writing focuses on relationships, it is difficult to make a character think of both their world and their relationships at the same time.

Therein lies my biggest challenge.

In one of my recent Fantasy stories (The Ceremony), I was creating a society where the Queen held all the power over the King. She goes out fighting while he raised their only daughter to be the next Queen. The scene is about the day their daughter chooses her Consort that will allow the Princess to become the next Queen, pushing her father out of royal circle.

Expectations about relationships change in light of the society and, speaking from inside the characters head, I had to make it sound like facts of life and acceptable. All the facts that fit for a mother in a patriarchal society were fitting in here for the King.

I kept changing perspectives from third-person narrator to the King to the Princess to the Consort-wannbe because no one can know the whole story or what is going inside another person’s head. And the entire narrative changed with it based on his relationships with the world around him.

It was an experience learning how the same situation can feel so different to different people. And the story wasn’t long enough to justify multiple perspectives. So, I had to stop at one point and take a stand about who our narrator is. Considering it’s a Fantasy, I had to “stay in the character” and keep adding Fantasy references that would feel natural, though I did not go to Victorian language for creating dialogues (I was tempted to but it is beyond my skillset).

It was a struggle that kept me occupied for months.

What is your struggle when you write your pieces?

Posted in Blogging, Writing Tips

Rain Rain, Don’t Go Away

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

I have always been interested in cultural reference in literature and how it shapes it, specially when I read someone explain Haikus that they have at least one line of “unrelated” reference to nature or seasons.

Why would a ninja (yes, ninjas often wrote Haikus) with super-high intelligence waste time in writing a piece with “unrelated” reference to nature? Doesn’t it sound weird before you even process this information? Could it be because the person writing the Haikus definition did not understand these references?

Is it because they have never really been close to the culture itself?

Seasons are related to survival of cultures that started long before irrigation techniques were invented. They are interwoven into poetry that started soon after, when people had time to ponder. Seasons bring comfort or discomfort and directly add to our joy and sorrow.

For example, in India with its oppressive heat most of the year, the smell of wet earth is considered one the most beautiful aromas. It brings out our joy. A lot Indian festivities are built around rainy season. It also brings out our loneliness when we don’t have anyone beloved to share it.

When a Hindi song explains feeling joy in raindrops, you might wonder how could we enjoy feeling chilled–that’s cultural gap.

I just found out that Indonesia has only two seasons: Rainy and Dry–they form the basis of their poetry.

There are also other cultural gaps, like when an Urdu writer spends pages and pages of his book writing pieces on his girl’s eyes, you wonder why he isn’t talking about her other body parts. Surely she has lips…nose…fingers…toes…legs and arms. May be because he never saw anything except her eyes because of the parda system.

Likewise, when an English writer writes about warm hearth and cozy houses, Indians have a problem in understanding how being warm could make you comfortable when we make it a point to open as many windows as possible. Most of us have never seen a fireplace in person, not even a proper oven. We also don’t have Autumn in most parts of India–we don’t understand it. We cannot visualise Autumn colours, falling leaves, gathering for the harsh winter and saving for a rainy day.

I recently saw a book, brilliant idea and amazing plot, where the writer tried to replicate Chinese culture. While the storytelling itself was amazing, there were parts that didn’t fit–some of the cultural references were wrong–minor misses that felt like a wood splinters stuck in skin. I couldn’t help thinking about them until enjoying the book became impossible.

So, the point is…

Actually, I don’t know what the point really is…

May be, this is just a reminder that not everyone will understand our stories unless we explain a few things better; and that if we are writing about another culture, we should get the cultural references right–even minor one. Also that if, as readers, we are missing context, it is good to research the culture or just ask the writer. 😀

What do you think of missed cultural reference?

Posted in Blogging

Quick notice

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

I was trying to update my website recently and tried to update categories based on the type of post. Needless to say, I killed it. So, if you find prose in the Poetry tab and poetry in Fiction, please forgive me. It might take a few days to fix.

I also tried to get a new site theme but my inner child wanted the Scratchpad theme back. So, I reverted back to it after losing 3 hours of work.

I also want a new top picture and logo. I don’t think I will change it too. Probably, I will move around to something better looking and, after two days, return to same old. All I can say is that I am not sitting idle.

Let’s see how it goes.

Posted in Reblog

Reblog: Sajadah di Pundak Lelaki Senja

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

Note from Shaily: Here is a piece in Indonesian by a co-blogger, Sunarno. Even though I don’t know that language, I am a fan because the Google translation of his pieces take me to a world made purely of feelings.

Here is the link to the original post: Link

And here is the Google Translation of his piece (I can’t vouch for accuracy of translation but assure you reading it will be worth it.).

Prayer mat on the shoulders of the Dusk Man

The market has shed its frenzy. The old man walked slowly, prayer mat hanging over his shoulders like an unhurried promise. The call to prayer has not yet sounded, but the time has shifted from bargaining to contemplation. The lowing of cattle was the only sound that lingered, filling the space left by conversation and ambition.

The ground was still wet with footprints and dirt that hadn’t been swept away, like a wound that had been left to dry on its own. No one is in a hurry to clean up, because here, chaos is part of everyday life, and everyday life is part of unfinished prayers.

And the man stopped for a moment at the edge of the prayer room, looking at the sky which was slowly turning orange. The prayer mat on his shoulders is not just a piece of cloth, but a path home that he carries wherever he goes. Behind the wrinkles on his face, there is a history of the market, a history of rice fields, a history of loss that he never talks about. Twilight embraced him silently, as if to say: prayer doesn’t need to be rushed, because every remaining second is an opportunity to return.