Riding the Wave (Jun 2011 - Dec 2011)
High intensity can be sustained only over short bursts. Soon the intensity of writing had begun to tire me out and it was becoming stressful to keep up with the various prompts. So I had to slow down. But I had picked up good momentum in the previous two months and had picked up a good repertoire of blog post types. So in this period, blogging was completely effortless. There was no stress to write anything within a timeline. On the other hand, when I wanted to write there was no dearth of topics. I could just pull out a blog post like a rabbit out of a hat. It was around this period I became active on IndiBlogger.
Meaning of Real Beauty
I generally tended to keep away from IndiBlogger contests as the themes seemed too commercial. But I was inspired by one of my friends' take and finally put my hat into the ring. I did a thorough philosophical analysis of the concept of beauty. But to my disappointment, my entry was not even considered for a consolation prize nor my friend's while the winning entries were so mundane and superficial. Welcome to the world of blogger contests.
Adding more Color to our Lives
This was another IndiBlogger Contest post. Here I attempted a humorous cum philosophical take on the topic of importance of color in our lives. While my friends seemed to love this article, contest sponsors did not seem too impressed. This sealed things for me - decided contests were not the thing for me.
How to Write a Story
Given my mood to write essays, I wrote yet another essay - about the art of writing. Though many of the things I have said look obvious, it is difficult to practically follow in your art. I have been struggling to actually do some of the things in my stories.
Infatuation
Got back to taking poetry prompts - a haiku on infatuation.
Curse of the Last Swan
This was my fourth and last post in a genre I loved to write - stories of exactly 777 word size based on a picture prompt. After this one the pictures in the prompt failed to inspire me and eventually the prompt website closed down.
Mask of Life
This was poetry for a weekly picture prompt. At that time I was fascinated by what I had read about packrats. So I used that in my poem. Actually this poem and the previous story had inspirations from the book by Jared Diamond's book 'Collapse' I had recently read. Otherwise a general philosophical poem. It was also an attempt at poetry form called vilanelle.
Revenge
This was another experiment with poetry - this time a ballad. I have tried to express in poetry form, a story by Anton Chekov I had read in school. I have also used 3 poetry forms for the 3 parts of the story. This was for the monthly Blog-a-ton prompt.
Old
A combination of 2 poetry forms - Haiku and Acrostic with a philosophical theme.
Chrestomanci Series Review
A review of one of my favorite children's fantasy book series.
Legacy of Bharatavarsha
A piece of poetry on what India meant to me on the eve of independence day. This was for a contest organized by a fellow blogger. Poem was well appreciated. However did not win. It was a kind of semi ballad on Mahatma Gandhi.
Dune Series Review
This is a review of my all time favorite science fiction series. I somehow always find lesser comments on book review posts. Don't know if people don't read them or find little to comment about.
In Search of Freedom
I have attempted to retell an ancient story in modern settings. This story was well appreciated and won me my first Blog-a-Ton.
Ender Series (Bean Saga) Review
Yet another science fiction series review. I liked writing these despite low number of comments on them. One good thing about these was they brought Google traffic.
Bombay Duck is a Fish
This was the first free book I got for review. It really excited me to be given something free as a blogger. Tried to give a more professional review rather than the dreamy ones I give for my favorite book.
Technologies to beat Fuel Hikes
Finding a contest that afforded me scope to indulge in zany creativity, I entered into IndiBloggers Contests again. Had goo dun coming up with crazy ideas to save fuel.
All in a Day's Work
This was a post for a contest about the life of tree. Topic was somewhat like a school essay. But I enjoyed writing this and won a prize for this as well.
What if we don't go Organic?
This was again a straightforward topic. But I tried to use pictures and write in simple language like explaining to a child. Though different from my usual style of writing, I enjoyed it.
Fifty Grand Worth of Apparel
This was not meant to be a fun contest - a purely commercial one with little scope for creativity. So I decided not to give a damn to winning and have fun with the topic.
Not Totally Unbelievable
Another free book for review - This time from a close blogger friend. Could not be really critical with this one though given my personal friendship with the author.
A Tryst with Death
Another contest for which I have attempted a comical take. This time a kind of mythological spoof commercial.
The Latest Addition to Endangered Species: Leaders
This is the kind of post that is most popular in blog-o-sphere and what I like writing least. But at times when I feel strongly about some current political or social issue, I end up pouring my feeling as a blog post. I do it very rarely though, as I see writing more as an artistic expression.
A Corporate Parable
This was an attempt to adapt an ancient tale from Aesop's Fables to modern settings.
Paradox of Middle Class in Indian Democracy
This is again a political opinion post. I usually like to write such topics in an abstract sense to avoid emotional baggage and preformed notions associated with specific events and people. But then people do not relate to a purely abstract and theoretical post.
Salamander - A fiery Adventure Tale
Once again for a contest, I gave full expression to my creativity and came up with a zany tale right out of Calvin and Hobbes. It was a kind of free flowing tale written in an exaggerated voice.
In Quest of a Steed
I felt it was a long time since I had written a post about some comical personal experiences like the bride hunt tales that had catapulted me to the next level. So decided to try one of those again.
Miss Minoes - Review
Movie reviews is a popular topic for bloggers. Somehow I was never into this. But after seeing this particular movie, I felt like writing about it. Maybe one day I might even write beauty, tech and cookery posts.
High intensity can be sustained only over short bursts. Soon the intensity of writing had begun to tire me out and it was becoming stressful to keep up with the various prompts. So I had to slow down. But I had picked up good momentum in the previous two months and had picked up a good repertoire of blog post types. So in this period, blogging was completely effortless. There was no stress to write anything within a timeline. On the other hand, when I wanted to write there was no dearth of topics. I could just pull out a blog post like a rabbit out of a hat. It was around this period I became active on IndiBlogger.
Meaning of Real Beauty
I generally tended to keep away from IndiBlogger contests as the themes seemed too commercial. But I was inspired by one of my friends' take and finally put my hat into the ring. I did a thorough philosophical analysis of the concept of beauty. But to my disappointment, my entry was not even considered for a consolation prize nor my friend's while the winning entries were so mundane and superficial. Welcome to the world of blogger contests.
Adding more Color to our Lives
This was another IndiBlogger Contest post. Here I attempted a humorous cum philosophical take on the topic of importance of color in our lives. While my friends seemed to love this article, contest sponsors did not seem too impressed. This sealed things for me - decided contests were not the thing for me.
How to Write a Story
Given my mood to write essays, I wrote yet another essay - about the art of writing. Though many of the things I have said look obvious, it is difficult to practically follow in your art. I have been struggling to actually do some of the things in my stories.
Infatuation
Got back to taking poetry prompts - a haiku on infatuation.
Curse of the Last Swan
This was my fourth and last post in a genre I loved to write - stories of exactly 777 word size based on a picture prompt. After this one the pictures in the prompt failed to inspire me and eventually the prompt website closed down.
Mask of Life
This was poetry for a weekly picture prompt. At that time I was fascinated by what I had read about packrats. So I used that in my poem. Actually this poem and the previous story had inspirations from the book by Jared Diamond's book 'Collapse' I had recently read. Otherwise a general philosophical poem. It was also an attempt at poetry form called vilanelle.
Revenge
This was another experiment with poetry - this time a ballad. I have tried to express in poetry form, a story by Anton Chekov I had read in school. I have also used 3 poetry forms for the 3 parts of the story. This was for the monthly Blog-a-ton prompt.
Old
A combination of 2 poetry forms - Haiku and Acrostic with a philosophical theme.
Chrestomanci Series Review
A review of one of my favorite children's fantasy book series.
Legacy of Bharatavarsha
A piece of poetry on what India meant to me on the eve of independence day. This was for a contest organized by a fellow blogger. Poem was well appreciated. However did not win. It was a kind of semi ballad on Mahatma Gandhi.
Dune Series Review
This is a review of my all time favorite science fiction series. I somehow always find lesser comments on book review posts. Don't know if people don't read them or find little to comment about.
In Search of Freedom
I have attempted to retell an ancient story in modern settings. This story was well appreciated and won me my first Blog-a-Ton.
Ender Series (Bean Saga) Review
Yet another science fiction series review. I liked writing these despite low number of comments on them. One good thing about these was they brought Google traffic.
Bombay Duck is a Fish
This was the first free book I got for review. It really excited me to be given something free as a blogger. Tried to give a more professional review rather than the dreamy ones I give for my favorite book.
Technologies to beat Fuel Hikes
Finding a contest that afforded me scope to indulge in zany creativity, I entered into IndiBloggers Contests again. Had goo dun coming up with crazy ideas to save fuel.
All in a Day's Work
This was a post for a contest about the life of tree. Topic was somewhat like a school essay. But I enjoyed writing this and won a prize for this as well.
What if we don't go Organic?
This was again a straightforward topic. But I tried to use pictures and write in simple language like explaining to a child. Though different from my usual style of writing, I enjoyed it.
Fifty Grand Worth of Apparel
This was not meant to be a fun contest - a purely commercial one with little scope for creativity. So I decided not to give a damn to winning and have fun with the topic.
Not Totally Unbelievable
Another free book for review - This time from a close blogger friend. Could not be really critical with this one though given my personal friendship with the author.
A Tryst with Death
Another contest for which I have attempted a comical take. This time a kind of mythological spoof commercial.
The Latest Addition to Endangered Species: Leaders
This is the kind of post that is most popular in blog-o-sphere and what I like writing least. But at times when I feel strongly about some current political or social issue, I end up pouring my feeling as a blog post. I do it very rarely though, as I see writing more as an artistic expression.
A Corporate Parable
This was an attempt to adapt an ancient tale from Aesop's Fables to modern settings.
Paradox of Middle Class in Indian Democracy
This is again a political opinion post. I usually like to write such topics in an abstract sense to avoid emotional baggage and preformed notions associated with specific events and people. But then people do not relate to a purely abstract and theoretical post.
Salamander - A fiery Adventure Tale
Once again for a contest, I gave full expression to my creativity and came up with a zany tale right out of Calvin and Hobbes. It was a kind of free flowing tale written in an exaggerated voice.
In Quest of a Steed
I felt it was a long time since I had written a post about some comical personal experiences like the bride hunt tales that had catapulted me to the next level. So decided to try one of those again.
Miss Minoes - Review
Movie reviews is a popular topic for bloggers. Somehow I was never into this. But after seeing this particular movie, I felt like writing about it. Maybe one day I might even write beauty, tech and cookery posts.
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