Articles
On the whole, the articles listed on this page relate to writing and storytelling.
In the first part, I created a list of articles I wrote that focus on writing a novel. Thereafter, I’ve created an alphabetical list of articles written by others. They have been collected over many years.
You are welcome to consider any of the articles listed below for publication in your website/blog/newsletter. Permission is granted to reprint for free with the resource box and byline intact (this information is placed at the bottom of each article).
To view the articles, just click on the article you would like to view and you will be taken to the appropriate page.
I am aware the list is long. So, please don’t get overwhelmed and close this page. Do take some time to view it. Scroll down the list (all entries have been placed in alphabetical order) and I’m sure you’ll find something of interest.
I have been in a state of ‘emotional unwell-being’ for seven years. There, I’ve said it. Why? Well, after my father died, I believed that if I reached out with love to ‘good friends’, counsellors, suitors, and relatives, there could be pockets of joy to offset my grief and loneliness, thereby maintaining my emotional well-being. Instead, I received repeated metaphorical slaps in the face. It’s quite something to observe them profess to want to heal people and publicly pontificate about compassion, empathy, kindness, gratitude and, wait for it, meditation and mindfulness, all the while being stunned by their need to…
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Tuesday, 05 July 2016 04:13
15 Habits of Writers Who Are Mentally Tough
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
15 Habits of Writers Who Are Mentally Tough by Aneeta Sundararaj Earlier this year, I read an article by Travis Bradberry (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248234) where he sets out 15 habits that mentally tough people should have. I analysed the same 15 habits, but applied them to the writing/publishing industry. Here’s what I came up with: They’re emotionally intelligent From what I understand, EQ is a person’s ability to accurately identify his emotions. This includes being aware of, controlling and expressing those emotions. In ‘Why the best writers have the most Emotional Intelligence’ (http://www.publicationcoach.com/emotional-intelligence/) the two points that jumped out at me were…
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Orwell, Bell and the English Language When I started writing many, many years ago, a friend referred me to 2 resources. One was an essay by George Orwell called ‘Politics and the English Language’. I studied the essay, summarised the points and have used the teachings ever since. The other was a book called ‘Plot and Structure’ by James Scott Bell. I’d like to share what I learnt below. From George Orwell’s essay: [Words like ‘democracy’] are often used in a consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer…
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Semantics of Democracy In the wake of the dramatic political events in the Middle East in February 2011, there are many who wonder if some countries there will now embrace democracy. Indeed, since the revolution in Egypt, there is analysis of how fast its citizens were able to start the revolution to oust the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Also, there has been debate about the blueprint for democracy that Egypt will now adopt. From a writer’s perspective, however, one question remains strangely unanswered: what, actually, does the word ‘democracy’ mean? Let’s start with the events in Cairo, Egypt, by referring…
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Monday, 02 February 2015 21:41
7 Genres for Your Novel and How to Choose the Right One
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
7 Genres for Your Novel and How to Choose the Right One “Go to the bookstore and you’ll see my new book on the shelves,” said a recently published author. Her book was a fictionalised account of her spiritual journey and finding God a year after her divorce. Two days later, I was at the Customer Services desk of the bookstore, giving the lady the title of the book, name of author and even the ISBN. This was after I’d already looked for the book in the ‘Literature’, ‘Asian Writers’ and ‘New Releases’ parts of the Fiction section. The lady…
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How to Be Happy Inside and Out You’re delighted with the bonus you’ve received for a job well done. You spend the holidays with your family and it’s a happy time. A month later, you find that you’ve been promoted and this adds to your happiness. By the end of the month, though, that happiness seems to have paled. A mere six weeks later, you admit that this is a recurring pattern in your life where your initial happiness gives way to sadness; after all, these are yet another set of achievements that you’ve checked off your list. It’s almost…
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Years before Age: 10 Steps to Success “After 40, you should be valued for your experience, know-how and judgement, rather than for the ability to work 18 hours every day.” (Korda, Michael. “Ten Steps to Success Before 40.” Reader’s Digest. Jan 1988. 49-51). Korda, the article also states, was editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster and author of half a dozen books, including the best-sellers Power!, Success! and Queenie. The main premise of Korda’s article is that if you do the ‘right things’ before you’re 40, you will be reap the rewards thereafter. This article was published more than 30 years…
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‘Circum’ – ‘Scum’: Small Difference? “My husband cannot come to kenduri because in our kampung, we have scum session,” said this gentle lady I was giving a lift to. She was very helpful to our family in the last few days as she had been assisting with the housework. She explained that she needed to return home early because her niece was getting married in the evening and she wanted to attend the festivities at the ‘kenduri’. I smiled politely even though I had no clue what she was saying. In those split seconds before she next spoke, I wondered…
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Listen and Learn (You are free to reprint this article in any media as long as it remains in intact and the byline below the article is included.) Ladoo was my little much-loved dachshund who died in March 2013. In the aftermath of her death, I was surprised by the number of people who contacted me to convey their condolences. Perhaps, I hadn’t expected so many people to understand my bond with this furkid. I was deeply touched by all their gestures. There was one person, however, who stood out among them all. When I telephoned her, I apologised for…
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Showing Off Isn’t Always Bad (You are free to reprint this article in any media as long as it remains in intact and the byline below the article is included.) In my role as a contributor for the newspapers, I come across a multitude of people during my assignments. My experiences have been generally positive. However, one experience stood out and it was with a man who refused to reveal his age, marital status or even his full name. He insisted that he only wanted to speak about the project he was involved in. What hit a raw nerve, though,…
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Sunday, 10 August 2014 18:56
The Stuff of Stories – Goals, Motivation and Conflict
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
The Stuff of Stories – Goals, Motivation and Conflict (You are free to reprint this article in any media as long as it remains in intact and the byline below the article is included.) When creating a plot for any story, the building blocks of this element are the characters’ goals, motivation and the conflict they face. Goals are necessary to avoid the situation where your characters wander aimlessly throughout the story. They should have an idea of what they want and how to achieve such a goal. Motivation is the reason to why achieving such a goal is so…
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Success in a Niche Market (You are free to reprint this article in any media as long as it remains in intact and the byline below the article is included.) Many successful people speak about being leaders in a ‘niche market’. What this means is that they found a group of people who are willing to invest in their products and services. If you desire being a leader in your niche market, you need to go beyond doing something that you love. The search for where your niche market is begins well before you start the creative process and involves…
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5 Steps to Make a Cover Image In a previous post, Rohi suggested I share the steps I took to make the cover image for Ladoo Dog. I thought this was great idea and that it would be an easy post to write. I can’t believe that although it’s been barely 3 weeks since I created the cover image, I had difficulty recalling the exact steps I took. Nevertheless, I’ve written out a rough guide for this post. So, here goes: Step 1 – The Requirements The Style Guide I downloaded from the Smashwords site has a whole section on…
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E-publish and be damned IN an article called ‘ Kindle: How you can make a million writing your own e-book’, Andrew Wilson shares his ideas about e-publishing. I’m guessing there’s more to the amount of work he did than he’s letting on. While it’s wise to read the whole article, what I’ve done is to condense his words to get a gist of the whole thing: *** Step 1 – How to Start Think about the type of book you want to write. Genre novels – particularly crime thrillers, fantasy, paranormal romance and chick-lit – seem particularly suited to the…
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Sakshi
Written by Aneeta SundararajI have been in a state of ‘emotional unwell-being’ for seven years. There, I’ve said it. Why? Well, after my father died, I believed that if I reached out with love to ‘good friends’, counsellors, suitors, and relatives, there could be pockets of joy to offset my grief and loneliness,…
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The Creative Industry Needs to Look at Things Differently Post Budget 2022
Written by Aneeta SundararajOn 29 October 2021, the Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz tabled Budget 2022 in the Malaysian parliament. RM50 million has been allocated for the arts and culture industry. This comes after a year and a half after the entire industry came to an absolute standstill. With…
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