Evade me.Like toddler too fast for their sizeThe words are within viewBut find ways of hiding beneath tablesAnd behind curtainsPlayfully frustrating meGently irritatingAs if they knowThat if I lose my coolI’d be forced to forfeit the gameAnd have no right to hold the baby-The paragraphThe stanzaThe story-The words I most want to write.Once in a […]
Read more "The words I most want to write"The words fell onto the pageBegrudginglyPainfully.Slowly.Like a thick, heavy honeyThat reluctantly falls off the combPromising sweetnessBut releasing itEver so slowly.I was tired.But I knewThat once the ink began to flowInspiration would not be far behind.Writing deserves our best hoursBut if all we haveAre the dying moments of the day,Even then the pen will not disappoint-It […]
Read more "Too tired to write"Before I sit down to writeThere’s often a scuffle within my membersBetween my will to create And an urgent, persistent and seemingly authoritative voice That earnestly encourages me to disqualify myselfFor my own goodLong before the work has even started.It lists good reasons for not showing upIN ALL CAPS.Making much of previousFalse startsAnd missed opportunities,It […]
Read more "Pre-disqualification"Because she couldn’t afford a desk. Her back aches But she”s learned to ignore it Her phone screen is cracked But her writing habit Is still robust and intact . She writes in bed Coz it’s the only time of the day When her body slows down enough For her mind to ponder And her […]
Read more "Writing in bed"The pen can be a formOf passive aggression.A way of saying things on a pageThat you can’t bring yourself to sayFace to face.Many books are filled with wordsThat were left unsaid,Plans that were never carried out:Life that was not lived.While narrative is a superpowerIt cannot replace actual experiences.Words are meant to describe, informAnd even shape […]
Read more "Hiding behind the pen"There’s a sentence in the airI can’t quite graspA phrase that would come to meIf only I had the patience,If only I had the skill,Or the presence of mindTo give it a home.Somehow I can perceiveThat this one sentenceWill lead to a world I’ve longed forAnd only painfully glimpsed,Like Moses yearning for the Promised LandHe’d […]
Read more "Vanishing phrases"When you’re a rookie,Aiming for a project that’s the‘Best in the class’Is probably not the best goal to have.To focus on processRather than the praise you’re hoping to getIs a more reliable north star.And if you must procrastinateDo so productively,Let your mind never stop gathering dataEven if you’re far from your books,And be sure to […]
Read more "On doing research"Having every thought and idea Neatly lined up in marching formation, Chronologically arranged Ready to tumble onto the page – Is not a pre-requisite For good writing. The pen is a sword Capable of slicing through confusion, Splitting open hidden insights And chopping off sentiments That don’t add to the narrative. Writing does not empty […]
Read more "Writing for clarity"I have a recurring nightmareThat my pen has dried up,And have said all I could sayEmptied myself completely-Bottom of the barrel kind of stuff:I sit down to writeBut all that comes upAre tired old storiesRepeated repeatedlyStaring back at me on the pageAnd morphing into the voiceOf my inner criticThat I am all too familiar-‘’You’re done’ […]
Read more "Dry pens"May not be the best you have in youAnd yes it may even be really, really bad.The pen makes no guarantees,No assurance of qualityNo fail safe strategy for a compelling story-Just a promiseThat once on the pageYour ethereal thoughts would haveFound brick and mortar residence in the formOf sentences-Sentences that may evokeMind numbing boredomOr deep, […]
Read more "The stuff you write today"
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