For the life of me, I couldn’t write the sex scene. It had started as madness on a bored evening, triggered by the awful bodice-ripper I had just finished. Even my 17-year old self could tell how over-the-top and badly … Continued
Developing a writing strategy is not just about setting targets like a daily wordcount or number of pages, though that feeds into it. A writing strategy is a master plan that identifies your writing aspirations over the short and long … Continued
We’ve all been there. Where the words are sluggish, the momentum is plateau-ing and the sameness of our writing is slowly, but surely, driving us to anti-depressants and lunacy. We’ve all been at that dreaded stage in our writing where … Continued
Fact: quality writing comes from extensive reading. In order to appreciate the possibilities of language, the rules of creation, the ways they can be broken and break out of the rut of your own expression, reading is possibly the most … Continued
For me, writing is a high like no other. When a piece or poem I’m working on comes together beautifully, it is orgasmic. Here are some of the reasons I find writing addictive: 1) Liberation Growing up in Pakistan, my … Continued
For some writers revision can be a tedious guinea pig’s wheel of picking their words apart. Personally, I find it is challenging but exciting to rework draft after draft until a polished version emerges from the chaos and I’m satisfied … Continued
There are as many ways to write a poem as there are poets. By sharing these steps, I offer readers an insight into my process not in the arrogance that it is the right or only way to craft a … Continued
I have recovered from a common writing disorder: the belief that every word flowing from my pen/laptop should be Pulitzer Prize-worthy. Clearly, I am someone who aspires to the highest peak of literary achievement and I can hear the legions … Continued
I hate to break it to you but…there is no Muse. No Goddess of Inspiration. No Voices in the Head. No Miraculous Gift of Words from the Unknown of which you are Conduit. No. Most of the time when the … Continued
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” – Edgar Allen Poe. I could have been an astronaut. Or a political activist in a war zone. Or … Continued