The Writing Pages

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Poetry For All  

I have seen people shying away from writing poems because they believe they cannot do it. They think it is very difficult and do not even try their hands at it. Poetic expressions come from within oneself, but writing poetry is not really difficult!

There are many different forms of poetry but I think that the two simplest forms of poetry are Haiku and Acrostic poetry. In this post, I have tried to explain how you can write them!


Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry. It is also called Nature or Seasonal Poetry. It is an un-rhymed verse consisting of three lines of five, seven and five syllables (5,7,5) and 17 syllables in total. It is written in the present tense and usually based on the theme, nature!

This form of poetry was created for young students to understand and write poems. For more information about this form of poetry visit, Shadow poetry for there is much more to haiku than the 5/7/5 version.

My own example of haiku:

The first soft snow
And everything is hidden
Even the plane, so low!

The other simple form of poetry is Acrostic Poetry. You can find more information about it here. It is a form of poetry in which the first letter of the first word of every line together, spells out a word.

For example :

Blogging is all about having fun
Lying down too you can have it done
Oh! It’s very amusing
Glad that you all are joining
Guys if you don’t do it
I can’t help you a bit
Now that this poem is ending
Got to tell you it forms blogging!

In the above example you will notice that the first letter of the first word of each line together, forms blogging.

Now that you have read this post, I am sure that those who believe they are not good at poems will at least try their hands at it! I would love to read an example of your poem in the comments too, if possible. So get ready, let the pen be your brush and a plane sheet of paper, your canvas and let your imagination fly!


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Female Writers Won't Appeal To The Masses!  


J.K. Rowling does not need any introduction. All book lovers, young or old, must have certainly read the fabulous fantasy novel Harry Potter and must have heard about this famous author too. I am an avid Harry Potter fan and I am sure none of you can decline that you are not!

Now, until and unless you have searched the internet or read about her in the newspaper, you surely would not have known that she is a lady! J.K stands for Joanne Kathleen Rowling. And now, some curious minds like me would have always wondered why her name appears printed as J.K Rowling instead of her full name on all her huge books.

And the surprising reason is that the publishers of Harry Potter initially feared that the famous boy wizard and his life story would go down the drain if people came to know that the writer was actually female. Can you believe it? They thought that female writers would never appeal to the public and so published that author's name as J.K Rowling. But surely they learnt that this was not the case.

How much your book sells or how famous it becomes, depends on your talent and writing ability. And now, I am certain that the publishers have understood this as her books have topped all charts!

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The Hollow - by Agatha Christie  

The best part about Agatha Christie novels is the well developed plot and characters; especially the amusing detective, Monsieur Poirot. This character shows how much Christie is in love with her works and creation.


The Hollow, considered as one of the good works by Agatha, is a br
ain tackling mystery. I am sure, it will challenge your wits and your sleuthing skills. It so happens, that there are a lot of visitors at lady Angkatell's house on a short holiday. Her cousin, the dreamy Midge Hardcastle and the intelligent Edward Angkatell are some of them. The wonderful artist Henrietta Savernake and the young doctor John Christow and his strange wife, Gerda were also there.


All the friends and family members were having a wonderful union b
ut on a windswept autumn day, while John was taking a walk, someone shot him and he died. He lay briskly near the edge of the pool and his scared and innocent wife held a revolver whereas the water of the pool turned red. Nobody believed that the pitiable and modest Gerda could have done this.


This all looks like a staged drama but somehow, it is not one. This is when Hercule o arrives and takes charge of the matter. He looked at the man who was not yet dead but was soon dying. He investigates the matter deeply with his slight touch of humor and eccentricity. And then comes a startling revel
ation.....


I enjoy reading novels by Agatha Christie, and I must say they are one of the best in the literary world. Although there is only a slight problem that I believe, Christie enjoys her work but quite tires herself with it at times! I love the strange twist at the end and all the fun-loving characters. It is a great read and I am sure you all will enjoy it, if you have not yet read it!



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Writing Prompts  

Writing prompts are very useful to give you ideas when you have none. They can help you start with a story or help you to continue when you are stuck in the middle of one.


Prompts give instant writing practice and help produce good work. Somet
hing you have written for practice can be good but it is not necessary it would be perfect every time. One should write daily not for some great masterpiece but as a daily ritual for practice. One should practice everyday and try to improve and this is how great artists do it!


The more you write, the more you like it and the better you get at it. Never be scared of words, using strange ideas and dialogues! Remember, if you do not like the result, nobody will ever see it but you. The aim is to enable yourself to have freedom with the language and developing the creative spark in you!


I think writing prompts are a really enjoyable way to practice writing and provide myself with ideas. When I searched the internet, I found many prompts but they began with Write about a day when…. Being a fantasy lover, they were not very amusing for me!


Now that you know how useful these writing prompts can be, I am providing you all with some sites where you can find valuable writing prompts::

  • Teacherscorner.net is a great site which provides you with excellent writing prompts on a daily basis as they are arranged conviniently in a monthwise order.
  • If you are not comfortable with the prompts you find, you can also make your own prompts which can be meant for other writers of the same genere. You can also let your creativity flow through this way!
  • CanTeach writing prompts/journal contain topcs which also provide valuable writing prompts.
  • Random Logline Generator provides you with motivaing topics for your stories.
  • Pumping Your Muse Prompts has prompts on a daily basis too and you can also post your original creations here1
  • Story Spinner is a fun place to try where you can find a starting phrase, setting, situation, word etc.


Let your creativity flows ........




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Charles Dickens and the Rotten Eggs!  

We all know that Charles was a fabulous writer. But I can already see your questioning eyes asking me what he has to do with rotten eggs, eh? He had a great career in writing, but Charles aspired to be something else, something different! He wanted to be a comic actor! Ah! That’ is what I call a true perfectionist!

If you want to read more about this famous author, you can read it at Wikipedia. And if by any chance, Charles Dickens is your favorite author, you can try to download his novels here.

But unfortunately he was not too good at this! Never afraid of a bit of showing off, Charles would pay theater managers to allow him to act on stage in front of rowdy
London audiences. But the audience didn’t appreciate it. Eventually he gave up the idea of a career in acting but he continued with amateur dramatics all his life. I suppose he should stick to writing those well known novels rather than let rotten eggs be thrown at him while on stage!




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Marker - by Robin Cook  


Marker is an exhilarating medical thriller written by the renowned author, Robin Cook. The novel has a well developed plot with a remarkable and truly well written ending! Robin Cook shares his thoughts about the medical system in the States, the nursing shortage and faults about the health care through this novel. The novel is written with the signature intermingling of suspense and science, and the author delivers a stimulating page-turner as stunning as today's news.

A chain of deaths at Manhattan General Hospital keeps Laurie indulged in her work even more than before while she tackles her troubling relationship with Dr. Jack Stapelton.She then finds the case of a twenty-eight year old boy who only had a minor foot injury but died due to no particular reason. Next in line was a woman who also died with a naive knee surgery giving no apparent evidence of her death. Laurie finds these cases very puzzling and thinks that they are related. Suddenly she discovers the bizarre truth…..There is a serial killer operating in Manhattan General!


As more cases keep arriving, Laurie detects that there are only three things common between all the deceased. They are young, healthy and new subscribers of the AmriCare. Laurie toils day and night to find the reason and the person behind these cold blooded murders. As the mystery keeps unraveling, Laurie tangles between her personal life and the strange job at hand. Determined to find the culprit she goes into deep dimensions.


I enjoyed reading this book like the other thrillers of the same author. This book fulfills the curiosity of the young souls who want to know more about the modern medical scenario and provides a bone-chilling mystery too!

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Not Sure About The Exact Word To Use?  

There must be plenty of instances when you got stuck while writing because you could not find the right word. Yes, you knew it....you knew it...but you were not getting ! Or maybe you knew a similar word but not the exact word which could depict your feeling. I have passed through these situations many a times but not now!


Rhymezone has an an excellent online tool for this purpose. It can be found here. It is really useful for all writers and bloggers. I use it extensively. It is used for finding the best suitable word in the fastest possible way.


You can use it to help yourself in writing a poem, lyrics of a song, cards, papers, and anything else. You can use it to discover associations between words. You can use it to find the correct spelling of a word you are not sure about. You can use it as a launch pad for finding pictures, credentials, and other multimedia items related to a particular thought that you are writing about. Finally, you can use it to see how your word is used in the framework of famous quotes, poems, and plays.


According to the instructions given at RhymeZone, type a word into the box provided, select a function in the drop-down list next to the box, and then hit "Go get it!" to view the results. Here are the different functions that you can select from that drop-down list:

  • Find rhymes
  • Find synonyms
  • Find anonyms
  • Find definition
  • Find homophones
  • Find similar sounding words
  • Match consonants
  • Find related words
  • Find similar spellings
  • Match these letters

Hope this post helps you in finding your required words easily. Do tell me if this helped you or not!



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Contact Form  

Meghna 0 comments


An Entire Novel With No Verbs!!  

While doing some research today, I fell upon some astounding article which I thought would be best if I shared it with my esteemed readers.

Believe it or not, French author Michel Thaler published a 233 page novel 'Le Train de Nulle Part' ('The Nowhere Train') which has no verbs.

According to Language Log, Thaler describes verbs as "invaders, dictators, and usurpers of our literature", adding "the verb is like a weed in a field of flowers ... You have to get rid of it to allow the flowers to grow and flourish." He has banned infinitives as well as tensed verbs entirely from his writing, but he does exempt past participles from his linguistic Nuremberg Laws.

Sample extracts of the book from Wikipedia:

Quelle aubaine ! Une place de libre, ou presque, dans ce compartiment. Une escale provisoire, pourquoi pas ! Donc, ma nouvelle adresse dans ce train de nulle part : voiture 12, 3ème compartiment dans le sens de la marche. Encore une fois, pourquoi pas ?

Which means - "Fool's luck! A vacant seat, almost, in that train. A provisional stop, why not? So, my new address in this nowhere train: car 12, 3rd compartment, forward. Once again, why not?"

Something fascinating for sure ! One can in no way imagine life without verbs and an entire verbless novel is certainly astounding!

What do you think?




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Welcome  

Meghna 12 comments

Welcome to my new blog.

After enjoying my first venture of 'Delve Into The Mind Of A Budding Blogger' in which I write stories, poetry, humor, some bizarre things, about school and children and many other posts, I have decided to use my blogging knowledge to start this new blog. With your support and help this blog will certainly flourish and reach heights as high as my previous venture.

Hello friends, with much effort and sincerity I have decided to open this new blog. I hope to make this venture successful and you are warm heartedly welcome here! I have opened this blog after being inspired by writing about writing itself. I am a young and avid literature engrossed girl. I want to share my knowledge and learn new things with you by opening this blog.

This is an earnest attempt on my behalf to provide my readers with something new and innovative. I hope you all enjoy the next posts that I have been planning. These posts include lesser known facts on which I open the curtains, book reviews written by me and some writing resources for all those interested in writing.

This blog will be a great place for all those who would like to share their knowledge about writing and also for those who would like to learn new things. This will be an obliging support to all budding and amateur writers. For all great professionals out there, it is a great place to share their knowledge!

I hope you all will assist me in my new endeavor and make it a flourishing one!

About Me  

Meghna 19 comments

Meghna


My sincere greetings to all my obliging readers out there who want to know about me.

My name is Meghna. I am a student and a young reading enthusiast. I have deep interest in books and reading. It is one of the most enjoyable aspects of life. Life without reading is naive. I strongly believe that the more you read; you develop a more educated vocabulary, understand more complex material and develop a great imaginative skill. Reading is a god-sent gift from heaven!
I am a girl who believes in solitary bliss. But do not take me as a shy and timid one, who does not like chatting with others. I really love socializing but I prefer the sole company of books than anyone else! And my thoughts guide me to say that there is no better life than spending long hours in eternity with the companionship of my dear books!

Books are the life blood of an author and treasures of wisdom which also teach a person moral values which are important assets for a good life.

So I think you all can understand the liking of books for my trivial young mind!

I read all kinds of books I can lay my hands upon. I read books ranging from fiction to non-fiction, mystery to horror and biographies of great souls on earth. I read as much good books as I can find time for. Being a young avid reader I also try to read books which interest the general public.

I love writing and penning down my thoughts. I take a look, get some ideas, some inspiration, anything I need to write and get it going. I write because I love to - I don't write because I have to. I believe that whether you are 13 or 73, you should sit down today and start being a writer if that is what you want to do.

If there is still anything more you want to know about me.....Read my blogs.

1. Delve into the Mind of a Budding Blogger



This is my first blog, where I write some stories, poetry, humor and many other. It is my scratch pad of sorts. Feel free to have a look at it.

2. The Writing Pages


This is the blog where you can find articles on writing, books, authors, reviews, trivia and much more.


My Favorites  

Meghna

Here, I bring before you some excellent sites and blogs which have helped me a great deal with my writing and I am sure they will be beneficial for all of us!

1. Library Thing
2. Quotable Quotes On Writers & Writing
3. The Teacher's Corner
4. Resources For Creative Writers
5. Glossary Of Poetic Terms
6. Shadowpoetry
7. Wikipedia



About The Blog  

Meghna

This blog is about writing, writing & writing. Whenever I stumble upon some useful facts about writing, I will put them before you for the contemplation, judgment and examination of my esteemed readers. In between. I will also try to give you excellent writing tips and advices given by some successful writers and also bring your attention to some writing prompts, some wonderful aids and softwares which enable you to enhance your long lasting writing experiences.

Apart from mentioning all aspects of writing, I would love to discuss some interesting books which I come across. I am always drawn towards the lives of interesting aspects of the famous authours of these books. So I will come up with some of the lesser known bizarre facts from those parts of their lives which I am certain will amuse and interest you.

The topics for this blog have been chosen with care and consideration and this reflects my passion for these subjects. I will regularly try to research on the topics, as there is always something new out there. I believe that it involves a lot of hard work, patience, persistence to read, assimilate and formulate my content.

I have started to blog with the idea of improving my writing and helping other amateur writers and also to take tips from established writers. Just like famous actors do not directly act in a movie, they practice and experiment and when at last they succeed; they get a role. Similarly my blog is trying to practice and experiment with my writing.

Hope you enjoy reading it!