Archive for ◊ July, 2008 ◊

31 Jul 2008 Back on Track
Author: Mridu Khullar Relph |  Category: Life, Love, Writing  | Tags: , ,  | 3 Comments

I’ve struggled again lately with the ongoing writing for money vs. writing for love debate that’s pretty much a constant in my life. The things I like to write don’t bring in the money and the things that do bring in the money make me want to poke hot rods in my eye.

Investigative journalism is, and has been, my first love for a long time now.  But spending months chasing stories with no backing isn’t exactly my idea of a career. So I’ve chalked out a two-year plan, and am going back to school this fall. I’ll be taking classes in investigative journalism, law, and human rights.

It also means I’m leaving India again. This time for at least a year. More details once my papers come through.

30 Jul 2008 7 Tips for Better Time Management
Author: Mridu Khullar Relph |  Category: Life, Love, Writing  | Tags:  | One Comment

1. Plan ahead. Every day, before you end work, make a list of the five most important things you need to do tomorrow. Tomorrow, finish those five tasks before getting to anything else.

2. Do one thing at a time. Trying to finish multiple tasks at a time will do nothing but distract you. Even if you have several windows open simultaneously, try to finish one task before moving on to the next.

3. Don’t leave things to the last minute. As tempting as it may be, finish work as and when it arrives instead of leaving it for later. Long deadlines are great, but not if they’re making you procrastinate.

4. Keep yourself accountable. Keeping a daily log of work done and things achieved will help you figure out how productive you are over a daily, weekly, and monthly period and take action if you’re not feeling up to par.

5. Minimize distractions. No game-playing, e-mail checking, or photo uploading to Facebook at times when you’re supposed to be writing that press release.

6. Reward yourself. Every time I finish something that was tough for me, I make it a point to reward myself. This doesn’t have to be big. E-mail is usually the big tough one for me. I’m perpetually behind. So every time I’m able to clear my Inbox completely, I do something I’ve been looking forward to, like watching a movie.

7. Break it up into small pieces. I try to schedule interviews as soon as I get an assignment, even if I do the actual writing an hour before deadline. Similarly, you might want to figure out best way to break up every assignment so that you can do the interviews, research, transcription and writing in effective ways.

29 Jul 2008 Novel Attempt #2
Author: Mridu Khullar Relph |  Category: Life, Love, Writing  | Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment

Heading down that familiar road again. Attempt #1 got to 20,000 words before I shoved it in the bin. Let’s see how far this one gets.

I’ve got 200 words done to perfection.

Only 99,800 more to go.

28 Jul 2008 Query: Women’s eNews
Author: Mridu Khullar Relph |  Category: Samples  | Tags: , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment

This was my first query to Women’s eNews. I’d earlier sent them a Letter of Introduction and the editor sent me writer’s guidelines and encouraged me to pitch ideas.

Some things to note:

1. Even though the project isn’t aimed at women in particular, I emphasize why it’s of importance to women, and hence relevant to the publication’s audience: “The project is particularly of help to women, many of whom are widows and have children from their previous marriages.”

2. The article speaks of a huge problem (one written about hundreds of times), but also gives details of a unique solution (which hasn’t been written about at all). There’s a freshness about it.

3. I’ve done my research. This helped me give lots of details of the background of the people involved and why this project is not just a simple government-funded effort, but something that held meaning to the people behind it.

**

Dear [Editor]:

Thank you for your e-mail. Here’s an idea that I think would work well for [Name of Publication]. I hope you agree.

-
In a country of arranged marriages, it’s hard enough for a woman to exert her identity. Add AIDS to the equation and you have women who can never have healthy relationships.

In India, few women–married or unmarried–can afford to come out in the open about their HIV status because of the stigma attached to AIDS and the morality issues that surround it.

Daxa Patel, of the Gujarat State Network of Positive People, has come up with a unique solution–a marriage bureau for HIV-positive people.

The bureau was set up by Daxa and her husband Vithal Patel, both of whom are HIV positive. Daxa found out she was positive when she got pregnant, though neither of them have been able to determine how they got infected. On a doctor’s advice, Daxa aborted the baby, but has been in a happy relationship with Vithal for the past seven years.

The couple became HIV counselors and thought other people deserved to be in happy relationships as well. The idea behind the project was that people with HIV might be happier together than alone or with partners who were HIV negative.

The project is particularly of help to women, many of whom are widows and have children from their previous marriages. Many of them need not only social security, but economic security as well.

I propose a piece on this marriage bureau and the people behind it. I will also interview couples who have come together through the network, and others who’re seeking partners with their help. The article will additionally help explain the situation of AIDS in India, which according to recent UN reports is now considered the country with the most number of AIDS cases.

As I mentioned in my previous e-mail, I’m a freelance journalist based in New Delhi, India, and have written for publications such as Marie Claire, Elle, The World & I, The Times of India, Yahoo.com, Chicken Soup for the Soul and East West Magazine.

Details of my work and published credits are available on my website: http://www.mridukhullar.com.
I’m happy to send samples of my recent work.

Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to hearing from you.

Warm Regards,
Mridu Khullar

**

The resultant article:
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3201

27 Jul 2008 5 Ways to Write Despite a Short Attention Span
Author: Mridu Khullar Relph |  Category: Life, Love, Writing  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment

Some days I feel like I’m juggling a dozen things at once and getting nothing done. Being someone who’s easily distracted, I find it hard to stay focused on one particular thing for long periods of time. Instead, I open up a dozen windows and move back and forth through each of them, giving them split attention, and wasting time in the process.

Here are some methods that have helped me get work done despite my short attention span.

1. Break it up into smaller pieces. Don’t think of your project as a single piece of work. Think of it as a bunch of paragraphs or sections. Heck, I can’t even write a blog entry in one go. Lack of focus is a weakness and I have to work around it. So I just work with whatever I have. If I’m able to write two pages in one sitting, that’s great, but I’m equally happy if I can do two paragraphs. It’s not a speed writing competition. I try to come back to it every few hours or days (depending on the deadline) so that it doesn’t get neglected.

2. Work with self-imposed deadlines. “Will complete 500 words of manuscript by so-and-so date, so-and-so time.”

3. Keep multiple projects on the go. If you’re tired, bored, or blocked on one, you can move to the other. My magic number tends to hover around five or six, but you could try alternating between two or three just to give your brain something else to focus on when you’re hitting a roadblock on one.

4. Get a goal buddy. It’s easier to stay focused and on-track if you have someone to report to. Goal buddies can come in the form of a single person you can send weekly reports to, or writing groups where everyone shares their work and gives and gets feedback. There are also several writing challenges available online where writers try to meet a fixed target every week or month and motivate each other to reach their goals.

5. Get rid of the distractions. It helps to turn off everything when you have an assignment you need to focus on. I tend to turn off the music, disconnect the Internet, close all browser windows, and shut the door to my room. Putting myself in a closed space helps me focus better and feel less tempted to fiddle with something else.

How do you keep yourself focused when there are so many other things begging for your attention?

26 Jul 2008 Internal Clock
Author: Mridu Khullar Relph |  Category: Life, Love, Writing  | Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment

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