Mark Twain once said we should "write without pay until someone offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this as a sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for." Ouch! Thankfully, in my case, I didn't have to wait three years to get paid for my writing. … Continue reading The day my writing earned me USD400!
Would you still be my friend? Photo by meo on Pexels.com What goes on in my mind?The question of the dayWords bumping into each otherThat's what!Each fighting to hold sway. PushingShoving Seeking.A tasteA placeA spaceTo take the podium.Hopefully tallStanding head and shoulders,Above it all. Jostling for pole.Wanting to extol.To tell what had been told.Letting stories … Continue reading My Monday Metrical Musings #25
Last week, I wrote the first of a two-part series on how my blog made it to its 2nd anniversary! The piece was generally positive, even exuberant in its tone if I do say so myself. After all, what's not to be exuberant about when it comes to celebrating anniversaries and milestones, right? Well, the … Continue reading My blog turns 2! (Part 2 of Commemorative)
I hate this place. Sitting here staring blankly at the laptop screen, wondering what to say, what to type, what to create next. The truth, or at least some transcendent revelation, is what I hope to always post up and put down for posterity, for my loved ones, for the world. But what if "truth" … Continue reading Living and writing from the “in-between” moments
No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Yes, I can hardly believe it myself too! Especially when I'm a 50 year old minimum wage earner, without a steady income stream, yet with a family to feed. Seems reckless, even irresponsible. Right? And writing. Really? That much money spent for something that I ought to … Continue reading Would you invest $2,000 to learn to write and to “recover” yourself? I did.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Silent writing - best done when the world's fast asleep! There's something to be said for silent writing into the dead of night and during the wee hours of the morning. Aside from the quiet and the cool, it affords the most optimal platform for the fullest formation of our … Continue reading Silent writing while the world slumbers
It's finally happened - I've forgotten the joy of writing! Guess I should be glad it happened sooner for me than later. You see, I started my writing life a long time ago though I didn't know it then. As with most, writing first came by way of elementary school. There, we all had to … Continue reading The Joy of Writing – for its own sake!
Yesterday, while trying to write well (or I should say rewrite well), it finally hit me. I had been agonising over the written drafts for my book for months, to make sense of what I wrote. The various paragraphs and chapters needed a serious re-look. Somehow, despite having followed a carefully mapped-out process and structure, … Continue reading To write well? Go from “here to there”, small and slow.
Photo by CBS via Getty Images You sit and you slog, trying to write something brilliant for posterity. You dig deep to pull out the gems from the inner mines of your very heart and soul, your very being. Gems that you believe are there. Out of sight but waiting to be discovered, like a … Continue reading Margaret Atwood on Writers: “We’re duplicitous!”
Picture from ABC.net.au Yesterday was the official start of our annual Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) happening between Oct 30 and Nov 6. As with most events this year, practically everything in SWF would be conducted online. Now the kick-off event last evening threw up a name that I had heard of but whose work I … Continue reading Zadie Smith on Writing: “It’s a Performance!”
