Neha's Notebook

  The best place to be in…   The moment when you feel like you have nothing to write, is the very moment you should start writing, because this “nothing” is the gap where a treasure trove of words are awaiting for you to wake them up so they’ll tell you about their pains and stories, and like a diligent transcriber, you’ll take the dictation and copy their dialogues and monologues and whisperings and sweet nothings in your notebook.   This “nothing” is the best place to be in. Within the inky abyss of this nothing-ness lays asleep a colony of creepy little monsters, also known as “words.” Some of these monsters had been sleeping in this n-cave for, probably the past billion years. Nobody ever tried to wake them up, partly because they had no idea that they even existed. It wasn’t until these crazy person called “writers” finally slumped down on their desks with their notebooks or laptops perched in front of them.   For at least half-an-hour, the writer gazed at the b...

Whenever someone asks me what I do, I tell them I work as a creative writer. But when I am sitting alone in my room, my rolling gaze falls upon the heaps of papers and notebooks lying scattered, and I am forced to wonder whether I am really a writer.  No matter how many paintings you have created, unless you put out an exhibition to showcase them, how the world is going to know that you are a painter. And I, unbelievingly, have been doing the same mistake, over and over again. Just cramming up my laptop folders with documents, stuffing my notebooks with jottings and notes that would probably never be read, unless I am dead and my greedy grandchildren sell my stuff to become billionaires. Am I dependent on my grandchildren to tell the world that I am a writer and I love words and my mind is constantly churning out weird, bizarre stories? Maybe I am. I was. I like to call it “hesocrastination,” a portmanteau of hesitation and procrastination I created from an online tool. Interne...

Sensory layering is a writing device that engages the reader on a multi-sensory level (touch, sight, sound, smell, taste) by painting a picture that illustrates multiple details without taking up too much of their narrative time.   In copywriting, for instance, sensory layering looks like product descriptions or visuals that appeal to multiple senses of the customer, allowing them to “experience” what you are selling before they even touch it. Sensory layering allows the writer/creator to create something that will build a strong mental picture in the mind of the customer as well as a deeper connection with their emotional center, beyond just a logical decision making or emotional triggers.   Take the example of a high-end coffee, both while selling it through only written word, and through written word plus visuals.   Instead of just “Our coffee tastes good,” a sensory-layered description of this coffee would read something like this:   “Wake up to t...

Freytag’s Pyramid is a writing technique, crafted by the German novelist Gustav Freytag. The technique involves five key processes that writers can use to write everything from short stories to articles.   The first step is “Exposition.” Exposition refers to the introduction of the subject, the setting up of the scene, and a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory. The second step is “Rising Action” Rising Action refers to “The development of the central conflict, problem, or interesting aspect.” This is where the tension builds, complexities are revealed, and the "plot" of the story/article unfolds through scenes, characters, research material, and anecdotes. The third step is “climax” Climax is the turning point or the most significant moment of revelation, insight, or development within the article's scope. It's often where the core question posed in the exposition is addressed, or a major challenge is confronted. The 4 th st...

Let’s take the example of a fictional novel called “Simi’s Memory Journal.” Here are some excerpts from “Simi’s memory journal” a diary in which this character records her memories, feelings, details of everyday experiences, dreams, fantasies, obsessions, ideas, notes, observations, and just about everything.   October 17 th – A recurring dream "The old house again. That creaking floorboard in the attic. Always the same grey light filtering through the dusty window. The hum of the old radio, even though I know it's been broken for years. The same old crow and its same old caw-caw." November 5 th – An observation “A woman in the bus caught my attention today. Her amethyst-colored scarf reminded me of my mother. For a split second, I almost reached out to her to ask who gave her this scarf.” December 12 th – A cryptic note about the memory of a past event “He said the words, but I heard something else entirely. The way the fierce winds whipped and the way ...

  Today morning, I recalled these amazing lines from Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird" and I think, they encapsulate just the perfect POV to look at writing, perfectionism, and all the things that inhibit a free flow of writing. Read it below: “When we have a wound in our body, the nearby muscles cramp around it to protect it from any more violation and from infection, and that I would need to use these muscles if I wanted them to relax again. I think that something similar happens with our psyche muscles. They cramp around our wounds – the pain from our childhood, the losses and disappointments of adulthood, the humiliations suffered in both – to keep us from getting hurt in the same place again, to keep foreign substances out. So these wounds never have a chance to heal. Perfectionism is one way our muscles cramp. In some cases, we don’t even know that the wounds and cramping are there, but both limit us. They keep us moving and writing in tight, worried ways. They keep us s...

There is a wedding or special occasion in your family. You are thinking about buying some jewels. And suddenly when you go to the market, your attention catches all the jewellery stores in the market which earlier you didn’t even notice. Everywhere you seem to be seeing jewellery stores. These stores were there earlier too, but earlier you didn’t notice them, earlier your attention was somewhere else, like on the various food joints in the market. But at this moment, your attention is reflecting back to you mainly the jewellery stores. Another example. You are in a crowd of people who are all talking to each other loudly. There is too much noise in the crowd that you can’t hear anything properly. But somewhere in the crowd, someone calls your name. Immediately, your attention drops the noise and gets focused on the direction from which the call of your name is coming. This is a mystery about the phenomenon of attention. There is an enigma in the process of attention that can only b...

Miss Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird is one of my favourite books when it comes to creative writing. It is also one of the first books that I did read when I started getting interested in writing. While there are other books written by her as well, the one that focuses on creative writing is Bird by Bird. So, I have curated some of these snippets and lessons from this book.   Starting with,   1.    Blennies are boring. Write with Open Mind. Blenny is the type of an undersea fish that lives in the deepest areas of the sea, usually in rock bed. It keeps on sitting there in its tiny cave with its partner and kids. Most of the blennies, in their short life, don’t even rise to the surface of a sea let alone look above in the sky.   So, if I chose to write like a blenny, then most of my writing/poetry will be about one corner of a rocky seabed. Not very interesting.     Saying this, Miss Lamott writes,   “ Who knows what this urge ...

What is Anthropomorphism in writing? A process comprising of the attribution of human traits, characteristics, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities like gods, animals, or objects. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human mind; and is employed as a storytelling tool and artistic/writing device. In mythology, anthropomorphism is the perception of the divine appearing as a deity or in a human form carrying a set of human personality traits and characteristics; In fables, fairy tales, science fiction and fantasy genres, anthropomorphism is utilised as a device to attribute human characteristics to non-human characters like animals, creatures, computers, robots, objects, motifs etc. In science, it represents attributing human emotions, behaviours and tendencies to various animals for the purpose of research. It is derived from the Greek words anthrōpos ("human") and morphē ("form"). Follow for more interesting snippets on writing, art and l...

WHAT IS BILDUNGSROMAN IN WRITING? Have you read novels like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, The Perks Of Being a Wallflower, Great Expectations and Paper Towns? There is something common in them apart from brillant writing. That is, a character who seeks spiritual transformation or walks on a journey to enlightenment. This kind of a novel or story comes under a genre called BILDUNGSROMAN. A bildungsroman novel is a novel depicting a character’s formative years of spiritual education. A writing genre that focuses on a character seeking answers to deep life questions and experiencing transformation along the spiritual journey. A coming-of-age novel or story that elaborates a character’s path to enlightenment. Composed from the German words bildung (education) and Roman (novel)! Follow for more interesting snippets on writing, art and life! www.nehasnotebook.com Subscribe:  Neha's Notebook  |  My Little library  |  Raindrop Stories ...

  #1 List of books about some topic ex: top books on chocolates #2 Life lessons from everyday objects #3 Inspirational Doodle Poetry #4 Creative and witty storytelling style cover letters #5 A collection of mock-ads #6 Write a Historical Poem #7 Convert a coloring book into art journal #8 Write poems based on song lyrics as prompts. Ex: Sapphire moonlight, tequila sunlight, 7 rings #9 Translate song lyrics from Hindi to English #10                     Explore the different types of poetry #11                     Make a paper-cutout doodle. Write a poem to go with it. #12                     Create your personal writer’s encyclopedia #13      ...