#238 Review of Shades of life-2

Review of Shades of life-2 (SOL-2)

Grab your copy from here: http://amzn.to/2jCgCfN

Shades of life-2 is an anthology of poems and short stories based on different colours. Various emotions have been portrayed through different colours .For example-Red (Rage & Anger), Orange (Vigilance & Anticipation), Yellow (Joy & Ecstasy), Green (Admiration & Trust), Blue (Serene & Trustworthy), Purple (Mysterious & Romantic), Pink (Girlish & Romantic),Black (Powerful & Sophisticated), White (Peace & Virtuous), Gray (Neutral & Gloomy)

The book opens up with a forward note by Neelam Saxena Chandra. The editor Saravanan Murugan has acknowledged his gratitude to the people associated with the anthology.

The literary section begins with a wonderful poem entitled ‘The epoch of our love’ by the guest author Purba Chakraborty. It’s about the description of the memories of love against the natural background reflecting different colours.

The anthology has been very well partitioned in different sections of colours and the contents related to that colour have been written under that particular section. At the end of the content of each section, the writer's bio has been given to connect them to readers.This anthology ends up with a mysterious story by the editor.

 My reviews in brief: I really enjoyed reading this anthohlogy. It is really a complete package of all emotions very craftily woven through words. The stories have been so well plotted with appropriate description and maturity in writing skill is well reflected. The story lines amazes me thinking about the creativity in the thoughts of the authors and the same goes true for poems too. I would recommend it for every literary enthusiasts to get the taste of Shades of life , it is a treat for a good read.

Swati Sarangi

22.02.2017

#237 Falgun Issue of Agnishatdal

Troy David Loy's words for my poem

#236 Dear Zindagi Merchandise

#235 Author's Banner for contribution in SOL-2

Thanks Saravana Kumar Murugan for author's banner! :)

https://iamsarav.com/published-works/shades-of-life-2/

Grab your copy from here: http://amzn.to/2jCgCfN

#SOL2Fever

#234 Through a reader's lens

Through a reader’s lens

Readers are always thought to be the lonely ones. That’s may be because they don’t socialise much. They are always accompanied by the imaginary characters from the novels they read. The kind of happiness that they derive from reading is inexplicable. Being a reader, I can very well connect myself to the world of reading and writing. I find reading   experience something divine and out-of-the world. I hope that might be the similar in case of other readers.

This is an era of technology. The virtual world of internet is the store house of immense information. A reader gets an infinite resource to read from internet. The advancement in technology has been successful enough to compress the bulkiness of books to few grams of modern gadgets like ebook readers which have the ability to house million books. E-commere has brought a revolution in this field. The order placed for any book gets delivered within few days at the door step. The readers get any book of their taste in their hands even without moving out of their homes. Doesn’t it resemble with any fiction? All these intensifies a reader’s craving for books.

Reading is apparently a primary step of writing whether you believe it or not. “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” – Stephen King .Reading exposes you to the vastness of ideas and thoughts. This helps in broadening of the perspective and thought process. The mind of a voracious reader is capable enough to store the important things subconsciously so that during the time of need, those stored things can be retrieved almost effortlessly. Such is the power of reading which should never be undermined. It’s similar to the case of computer, to speak in a layman’s language. Reading helps in building vocabulary which is an important aspect of writing.

For writing something, brain storming is a must concept where you roughly jot down the primary idea of the article. Brain storming is like preparing a rough sketch about every little constituent of the article.

Readers are most attracted to the title of the text. The way a beautifully designed, interestingly titled cover of the novel is capable enough to appeal a larger section of readers, the role of the title of the article is no different from that. Title creates the first impression and to be able to keep the readers enchanted, this impression should have a lasting impact. While purchasing a novel from any book store, I quickly glance through the covers and titles of the novel. Then I move on to the pages for reviews and introduction, later on to the back cover for the gist or to know about the author.

Content is another important ingredient to be focussed on. There are varieties of readers in the market. For the fiction readers, the way of writing must introduce various characters well. There must be a deep association with different characters of the novel. The plot should be interesting. Then, the formation of sentence must not be too messy. It should be made as simple as possible .Language is the medium of communication. So, the underlying idea or message should be conveyed effectively by using the words appropriately. It may not be an 

easy task. It comes though practice and perseverance.

The rise of blog readers indicates the inclination towards the developing technology. This change in trend is giving ample of opportunities to the new budding writers who can attract readers easily.  Blogs are the easily available tools of reading for a reader. Blog offers a feasible method to peep into the writer’s mind. Reading always generates ideas. That may be the reason why every blog has an option of following other blogs .For eg wordpress provides an option of ''reader', blogspot provides an option for following other blogs.

No doubt, blogging has brought a revolution in the field of writing. It has provided a valuable platform to amateur writers for publishing their works. The vast spread of world wide web solves rest of the issue of connecting the words of authors to the readers. It serves as a digital diary for many writers who maintain a regular habit of writing. The design of the blog plays a vital role in attracting the vast multitude of readers just like the cover of the book. By introducing the section for accepting commenting of the readers, a writer can very well guess the taste of the readers which is very important in attracting a large audience.

Like “Kabhi Saas bhi, kabhi bahu thi”- which translates to every mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law, it would never be wrong to state that every writer was once a reader. In other words, I can say that every reader possesses the potentiality of a writer. So, every journey of writing stems up from the experience of reading.

Swati Sarangi              

14.07.2016

#233 My Interview by Sharmishtha Basu

Author Swati Sarangi of http://wordstoworld.wordpress.com
interviewed by Sharmishtha Basu (http://agnishatdalezine.wordpress.com)

Sharmishtha Basu@ Agnishatdal: Tell us something about yourself Swati.
Swati Sarangi: I’m currently pursuing Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering. So, basically I’m a post graduate student by profession and a writer by passion. I’m someone who has an intense obsession with words, numbers and colours. Being quite reticent in nature, I feel very expressive when I pen down my thoughts. I’m so much passionate about writing that I never miss a single page of my diary! I can be contacted through- swatisarangi@gmail.com and/or facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/swati.sarangi.165

Sharmishtha Basu@ Agnishatdal: You are quite an accomplished writer, your works have been accepted by many publishing houses, tell us the secret, if you don’t mind!
Swati Sarangi: Thanks for the praise! My journey to the field of writing has just begun, I feel. I feel that I’m just a beginner. It always feels so great when my works are accepted. The secret to my writing is my positive outlook towards the world around me. This in turn offers me a gift of observing things present in my vicinity and binding them through words.

Sharmishtha Basu@ Agnishatdal: Where do you see yourself as a writer ten years from now? Will you try stories too?
Swati Sarangi: Future is the most unpredictable concept. So, it’s difficult for me to predict it at this point of time. I write out of my passion, there’s nothing more profound than passion for something. I will continue to write as long as this passion is alive. Yes, I will experiment with stories too.

Sharmishtha basu@ Agnishatdal: Will you tell us a little about your blogs, their contents and urls?
Swati Sarangi: I have maintained two blogs with my sister, Sweta- creative-constellation.blogspot.com and wordstoworld.wordpress.com . The first one is nearly 3 and a half years old whereas the later one has been created recently which has been dedicated to short forms of writing like Haiku and flash fiction. My sister also contributes to these blogs.

Sharmishtha Basu@ Agnishatdal: Tell us about your published works, and the urls from where we can buy them, do add the covers if you can please.
Swati Sarangi: Here is the list of some of my published works-
Poem: Metamorphosis in THE STAGE –
http://www.amazon.in/Stage-Various/dp/9384411280/ref=sr_1_1…
Article: Observation- December Issue of Writer’s Ezine
https://pothi.com/…/various-writers-ezine-december-2016-iss…
Poem: Being a girl- Shade of life-2
Poems: A Prayer, Beyond the boundaries of impossibilities - Addiqtd Book of poetry
amazon.com/AddiQtd-Book-Poetry-Swati-Sarangi-…/…/B00TBPEUNS…
Issues of Agnishatdal-
(Poush )December Issue
Agrahayan Issue
Poem- Choices
Kartik Issue
Diwali Special: Poem- It’s Diwali here
Ashwin Issue
Article- Binding the household
Bhadra issue
Poem- A Prayer
College Magazine – Technoquest, IGIT , Sarang
Tecnoquest 2k12
Poem: Devils of life
Technoquest 2k13
Technoquest 2k14
Poem: The view, Identity
Different websites and pages-
Blue grass page of FB
Poems- It’s Diwali here , Illuminating through darkness
www.learningandcreativity.com
Article: Every man’s man – Shaktiman- http://learningandcreativity.com/shaktimaan-every-mans-man/
Poem: A prayer - https://learningandcreativity.com/prayer/
Bonobology.com
What I learned about relationship lessons from my parents
http://www.bonobology.com/…/301-relationship-lessons-from-p…

Sharmishtha Basu@ Agnishatdal: Do you have something to suggest us, the wannabe successful authors, especially those who are employed or are heading for a career in the dreary real world?
Swati Sarangi: My suggestion for wanna-be-authors would be to just follow their passion relentlessly, rest everything will follow eventually.

Sharmishtha Basu@ Agnishatdal: Any suggestion for Agnishatdal?
Swati Sarangi: Agnishatdal is an amazing platform for debut writers. It is an agglomeration of all forms of art – writing, digital art,photography. It would be better if the presentation (such as font size, color) is made little bit more oriented and uniform. For popularity of this Ezine, more focus should be given on its advertisement.

Sharmishtha Basu@Indie Adda: Do you have anything to say, suggest Indie Authors? As a successful author who has made publishers accept her works?
Swati Sarangi: To Indie Authors, I just want to suggest to keep following their passion. Writing is like a divine gift which should be nurtured effortlessly. Keep writing!

Find the interview here.

#232 Agnishatdal Book-2 on Amazon

Grab a copy from here

#231 My quotes

#230 6 Gateways to a worth reading article

6 Gateways to a worth reading article

It’s not an easy task to write an impressive article. In an attempt to write an article, you might have spent many hours drafting, so that you get a perfect one. But, you end up screwing your article. Then you feel pity for yourself. Even I have faced such kind of problems. The reasons behind your failure can be the lack of ideas, poor writing skills, absurd facts, not having catchy titles and poor presentation skills.  But you don't need to worry much. All you have to do is to figure out your shortcomings in writing and try to analyze and review your article in perspective of your readers. If you still find it difficult to do, then take help of your friend, college, and elders. They can suggest much more changes be done to your article to make it worth reading. 

Here I have enlisted some ways to make your article worth reading for readers.

1.            Research on topic- The foremost step for writing an article is to think of a topic that interests you. Collect matter from various sources. It can be anything related to that topic. If you are writing a scientific article, you need to provide a lot of evidence and facts to support your points. If it is on mythology, then examples from the ancient time would definitely fit the context.

2.            Make an overview- From the overview, I mean that a rough sketch of the sub-topics you want to include in your article, should be made. In other words, an overview is just a framework of your article. Every article must start with an introductory note followed by the sub points and conclusion.

Ø  Introduction: It should be short and capable enough to cover the notion of the topic. Some background knowledge can also go well. For example writing an article on “Mobile: A boon or bane”, you can start with the history of the advancement of mobile.

Ø  The body of an article: Body of an article includes all relevant sub-points. Fragment your entire article into subtopics/ sub-points so that it becomes easy for the readers to apprehend. It should be descriptive in nature keeping in mind the essence of your theme.

Ø  Conclusion: Conclusion should contain gist/summary of the article and your opinion. You should not forget to include what you feel about the topic. You can also add some quotations in the end which will convey a strong message to the reader.

3.            Catchy Title- No one is going to read your article if its title is boring.  You should exercise a lot of your brain cells for framing a creative title. The title should be chosen in such a way that it reflects the entire idea at one place. It should be compact and quirky. Mostly weird titles are able to draw a lot of attention of readers. So, a writer is in advantage if he/she finds a catchy or unconventional title.

4.    Target audience- Articles are deciphered in perspective of readers. So, it’s of utmost importance to know what kind of readers the article is written for. The knowledge of taste of the target audience helps a writer in focusing on a specific idea instead of getting deviated or distracted from the main idea. 

5.            Presentation- Presentation plays an important role in making an article effective. An article should be written in paragraphs. It should not be long otherwise the readers would be tired. Using bullet points can be a great way to highlight main ideas. It will be wise to add pictures to your article to make it suitable. Appropriate pictures will be able to grab the attention of readers. Headings of the articles can be made decorative but the body of the article should maintain the simplicity and uniformity. The font size should be chosen a moderate one- neither too large nor too small. The sub-points or any important points should be written in bold and quotations should be italicized. You can select the color of the text in contrast to the background. For example, for a dark background, the chosen color of the text should be a lighter one and vice versa. Proper spacing between the lines should be considered. Text should be justified. I would always recommend you to choose a primitive font style instead of going for the creative ones.

6.            Style of writing- Everyone has got different writing skills. That is what distinguishes a writer from his/her contemporaries. So, writing skill can be associated with the identity of a writer. Your writing should be simple and easy for the readers to comprehend. It should reflect your thoughts distinctly. Choice of words should not be overrated . 

In the words of Nelson Mandela, “It always seems impossible until it's done”. Everything starts with an idea and to execute that idea you need courage with determination. Just believe on your writing skills and bleed over the typewriter continuously.

You have to always remember the golden words of Richard Bach, “A professional writer is an amateur who did not quit”.  You can't head towards a better article by skipping any of the above-mentioned points. You have to keep on writing and editing till your article becomes perfect. In this entire process of article writing, you try to recreate your thoughts and ideas in a better way. In a nutshell, article writing is nothing less than painting your words with colors by the help of your pens as brush over the canvas.

 

By-Sweta Sarangi

#229 PreOrder Shades Of Life -2

#SOL2Fever I feel very blessed to be a part of SOL-2. Thanks Saravana Kumar Murugan for giving a place to my poem,'Being a girl', in the anthology - Shades of Life. The wait for holding the materialized version emotions,expressions is going to get over soon.

Here is the link to preorder:http://amzn.to/2jCgCfN


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34095225-the-love-for-colors

Grab a copy and let the words of expression to shade your life!

Looking forward to your feedback and support for the grand success of this anthology! 

Swati Sarangi

02.02.2017