Writings
On this site you will find reading material to help you write better, to improve professional and creative side of your writing. The Writings vary: Opinions, Book recommendations, Tools and Tips and Reading Diets.
Who reads this (a.k.a the BWBR community)?
Working Artists, Creative Freelancers, Animators.
Designers, Architects, Advertisers, Content Writers.
Most of the Substack Audience is over 25.
Student readers.
NOTE
As computed by a fictional computer, my choice of words is 1/3rd Indian English, 1/3rd British and 1/3rd Indian American! So be warned, you will find no consistency in this area. For spell check, I stick to English(US).
Can I sample some posts?
BUSINESS WRITING
Use Case in Business Writing
Observations on Internet Connectivity
FICTION WRITING
Endurance of the Tennessee
Goal - A SCENE in a story with Cherokee main characters, considering the Tennessee river was named after a God. (Why this - I have good memories tubing down the river at Chattanooga, Tennessee when I was a student in the States and was intrigued by the Cherokees who settled all along this great river in the past.)
Story Writing 101 (Show, Don’t Tell)
Heartache (Courtship love story)
Fantasy Genre - A Greek Mythology Novel (Ariadne)
How fairy and folk tales become immortal?
Psychological Thriller Genre - a good girl’s guide to murder
What is Scrollable literature/poetry?
How do you pick the books in your Warli podcast?
We look across various book recommendation lists to curate this list. Sending you a book a day unfortunately means we can’t read every book so we do not do book reviews.
What about the rights of the books you recommend?
All rights belong to the publisher of the book, we only share book extracts that are already available to the public. We curate them.
What writing did you do before this?
My career in past 20 years has involved computer science and engineering research publications (including Patents and Journals), Grant proposals and complete business plans including financial projections and company valuation (sharpened by HBS program’s case study method.)
In the year 1999, I began working on white papers that then turned into conferences papers such as these papers on Applied Artificial Intelligence. On the advice of my professors in a University in the United States, by 2002 we had enough papers published to turn it into a Masters thesis.
In 2002, a return to India led to joining IIT Bombay, where a venture focusing on applied technology for social impact was undertaken. During a 3-year research period, papers continued to be published, expanding into socio-economic tech conferences, including those sponsored by Microsoft Research, such as Information for Development at Berkeley. Two patent publications (2016) and over a hundred business cases were written for a telecom company.
Five years before Covid, review of database visualization papers from other authors was taken till Covid. My current Mumbai role involves prioritizing key impactful changes in mobile apps used by 300-500 Million users. This involves bit of marketing (understanding customer need), identifying white spaces (opportunities) and presenting what a solution will look like (including illustrating mobile screens, wire-diagrams, systems, search-keywords and revenue lines.)
Overall, the frequency of my writing reduced as I progressed in my career, creating a void of self-expression that I fulfill with this newsletter.
What are some of your top read pages?
Historical Fact/Greek Myth Reading
Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid's stories of gods and heroes. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice.
Thriller Book Recommendation
Today’s recommendation - The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?
The Better Writing by Better Reading Newsletter
WarliWorli is a newsletter I started in the pandemic to spread my love of language esp. effective prose and non-literary poetry. We came out of beta and now call this newsletter Better Writing by Better Reading. The new name better reflects our mission.
Women in Sci-Fi
What should strong female characters be like in Science Fiction? Dr. Louise Banks from “Arrival,” Sarah Connor from “Terminator,” Ripley from “Alien,” Laurie Strode from “Halloween,” and The Boss from “Metal Gear Solid 3,” are examples of strong female characters in science fiction.
How fairy and folk tales become immortal?
Fantasy Genre - A Greek Mythology Novel
Psychological Thriller Genre - a good girl’s guide to murder
Is it the age of Scrollable literature/poetry?
Sample this Reading Diet part 2
Improve Writing
Observing how other writers use grammar and syntax, you can subconsciously absorb these patterns and improve your own command of the language.
Reading different (recommended) authors allows you to identify and appreciate different writing styles, which can inspire you to develop your own unique voice.
Reading effective writing helps you learn how to convey your ideas clearly and concisely, avoiding unnecessary wordiness or ambiguity.
Reading well-written works can instill confidence in your own writing abilities, motivating you to continue developing your abilities (insiders affectionately refer to this learning as refining or honing your craft.)