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My Reading and Writing Pursuits Last Week

I bought a Kindle copy each of Chinese Whiskers and Jakarta Tails by Pallavi Aiyar recently. I’d picked up both books since I love cats. However, after reading about 50% of Chinese Whiskers, I’m berating myself for my impulsive buys. I will make it a point to finish Chinese Whiskers, but I’m not enjoying it much. I find it boring and I feel that children may enjoy it better since it is from the perspective of the cats. I think it is important to read reviews of a book before you buy it, so that the chances of disappointment are fewer. To top it, I found ‘losing’ misspelt in the book( at 38% of the book), and since that is a pet peeve of mine, I’m doubly disappointed. The illustrations, however, are cute.

Today, I received a copy of ‘The Karachi Deception’ by author Shatrujeet Nath. I’d won this book in a Facebook giveaway conducted by the author a couple of weeks back. I look forward to reading it.

This year, I’d started with my morning pages from ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron, but I soon abandoned them ‘coz I didn’t want to feel that I HAD to do them. I wanted my time to be mine to use as I saw fit or to squander. I’m on Page 112 of the workbook and I’ve not been doing it week after week as recommended. It is supposed to be a continuous 12-week programme to artistic recovery.

I was given an opportunity to come on a Facebook Live session by Blogchatter and share screen space with author Samit Basu when I’d won a contest he’d conducted on Facebook. I’ve read his ‘The adventures of Stoob’ long back and also read some of the editions of his newsletter ‘Duck of Dystopia.’ My question to him had been ‘Could you recommend a book on writing that you found useful.’ He recommended ‘On writing’ by Stephen King, which I’ve already read twice and reviewed here.

I recently took up a 5-day writing challenge conducted by The Writers’ College on Facebook and completed it.

Here’s a poem I wrote for Spoken Word Poetry as a part of the 5-day writing challenge.

DON’T GIVE UP

The road ahead may seem tough

But don’t give up

You were put on this planet

To realize the meaning of your life

Don’t give up

Before you achieve

What you set out to do

If challenges are thrown your way

Overcome them

Work through them

Fight them

But don’t give in to disillusionment,

Disappointment,

Fatigue,

Hopelessness,

Use every ounce of strength

In your mind, body and soul

To go forward;

Play the role you were meant to…

Put in the effort

And you will be rewarded

Even if you don’t reach your goal

You will be one step closer to it

Wear your dream like a cloak around your shoulders

Breathe it, imbibe it

Until it seeps through every pore

And pushes you forward

Aim for success

You cannot pour from an empty cup

Only when you are satisfied inside

Can you help people nearby..

So start with yourself

Do it one step at a time

Left foot, right foot

Put one foot in front of the other

And don’t give up

No matter how hard it may seem

No matter how weighed down by troubles you are

Push ahead

And the light will stream in from afar

You can do it!

Go on, do it now!

Do let me know if you enjoyed the poem. Also, what have you been reading and writing lately? Do share links from your blog or articles you have written in the comments section. I look forward to reading them.

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4 Responses

  1. Writing challenges are always a great way to improve your craft, though I don’t really have the discipline to stick to them, so go you! Great poem too. Thanks for sharing!

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Aishwariya Laxmi

I’m Aishwariya. I’m passionate about writing, reading, marketing communications, books, blogging, poetry and editing. I’ve donned several hats, such as freelance journalist, copywriter, blogger and editor.

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