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Saturday 12 March 2016

Your Name in Paperback for the First Time

It is the dream of almost every human being on earth who is blessed with the power of writing, to see his name printed on a book. It is not as easy as most people think to make it to that level. And it is neither that difficult. Basically there are two phases in the journey of a writer with his writings with him. 
  • The writing phase
  • The phase of getting published.
The writing phase is totally for the writer. The quality of his write-up absolutely depends upon the magnitude of  writing fever that the writer has. The more a writer writes, the more he sharpens his ability of writing. Writing is the only way to learn to write and reading provides the tools. To make my statement stronger, let me quote Stephen King here. He says, "If you want to become a writer, do two things more than any other thing. Read a lot and write a lot."
As I am not an established author, I don't want my words to sound preachy. I won't utter a word about editing, proofreading or marketing. So far I've got just three of my poems published and some others have been selected at various places for publishing. My first book is only in its way. It has been sent to various publishers and I am currently waiting for their response. 
So, at first the writer must control his fantasies of seeing his books in the bookstores across the globe, and focus only on his writing. 
Lifenama, getting published for the first time

Now let me talk a little about the first paperback that I got a chance to be published in. Before that, I had got my poem - Free in Chains - published in an e-magazine named Unbound. When the opportunity of getting published in a paperback came to me, I was like, I ought to do this. I had a number of my poems resting in my Sony Vaio for years (I still have a ton though). I went through all the poems and selected the one which  I considered one of my best. 'The Sparrow' was its name. I renamed it 'Veiled Wails' for two reasons, (i) It is based on the agony of nature that no one sees and no one cares about, (ii) I wanted to make it sound more professional. I submitted the poem and it got selected for the book Lifenama. It was an anthology of English and Hindi poems put together in one cover, published by Serene Publishers who are based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Serene publishers Lifenama certificateI couldn't actually believe that they ranked my poem, number second in English poems. It was like a dream come true. I had got published for the first time and had made it to number second in over hundred poets from across the country. This boosted my morale and inspired me to never stop penning down my thoughts. 
After that I got published in one more book named, Roses & Rhymes by the same publishers. Two of my poems have been selected to be published in an anthology by the name of 'Voices of the World.'
I have completed my first novel this year which is on its way to get published.

Think not of getting published while writing. Never think of any reader while pouring your thoughts out on paper. Once you've completed your writing, then only a writer should think ahead. It enhances his quality of writing. What say?

Thursday 10 March 2016

Break Now Your Silence, Oh! Air


You’ve watched the world for ages,
You’ve witnessed all the pacts and wars.
You’ve seen all the outlaws and sages,
And man worshipping moon and stars.
But you don’t ever speak. Is this fair?
Break now your silence, oh! Air.


















You let people fight on historical accounts,
And don’t stop them by revealing the truth.
Don’t you feel annoyed with people quarrelling around?
Have you lost towards humanity all ruth?
About man’s sufferings, why don’t you care?
Break now your silence, oh! Air.

For being angry at you, I apologise,
But I don’t understand your mindset.
Of course you do nurture our life,
But your unfriendly nature I don’t get.
Why you produce sound at night to scare?
Break now your silence, oh! Air.

Are we humans not worthy of conversing?
Or are you dumbstruck by something you saw?
Do you give messages in the songs you sing?
Or don’t you even have a maw?
Forget the differences and let’s problems share,
Break now your silence, oh! Air.

© Asif uzzaman

Tuesday 1 March 2016

The Mine by Arnab Ray : Book Review

The Mine is a horror thriller written by Arnab Ray who is also known by his pen-name, Greatbong. The book was published in 2011.  
                  
The mine arnab ray book review greatbong the mine book review

The Mine is a story based on the very phrase, "The greatest evil lies deep inside." The depth where the evil lies is depicted in the book as both the depth of the sands of Rajasthan and the depth of the characters' own hearts and entity. 
Somewhere in the deserts of Rajasthan, a secret mining was was going on. During the mining, wierd sculptures were discovered depicting the legacy of genuine evil buried deep in the earth. The prologue of the book contains a short horrifying scene where a worker was murdered in most awkward of ways. The miners begin feeling very disturbed and begin behaving awkwardly. 
Five experts from are called for investigation. The story runs with these investigators. Through their investigation, they come vis-a-vis with the evil within the earth's surface and within the depth of their hearts. They come face to face with the most disturbing truths of their lives. 
Arnab Ray takes the readers on a journey which could unfold sheer terror at any moment and in any way. In the middle, somewhere the story gets a little slow. Never mind. The climax is worth reading. 
Overall, the book is an exciting read with good pictorial ability of the sentences and simple-yet-amazing storyline. Beware! The book can be very intriguing at places.

Review by Asif Uzzaman

What is an Acrostic Poem and How to Write One?



Poetry is the building block of the world of literature. In our country, India, the tradition of prolonged prose do not date back to ancient times. Before the introduction of the long prose writing in India, Poetry constituted the literature world. Even the ancient sacred scriptures of not only India but of the most other countries of the world are present in poetic form.
This was just a periphery of the brief history of Poetry.
Poems of contemporary literature are categorised in various categories depending upon their theme, nature, geographical origin of their style, rhyming scheme and many other factors. Some of the categories of English poems are Acrostic, Ballad, Ballade, Blank Verse, Free Verse, Limerick, Lyric et cetera.


Image from: pexels

Let's discuss about one of the types of poetry in English literature i.e. Acrostics.
The question is what is an Acrostic Poem?
Acrostic poem is quite different from other styles of poems. Acrostics have a different repute and way of writing that the other types of poems.
In Acrostic poems, first letter of each line is selected in such a way that if they are read vertically downwards, they form some hidden word. For example, read this four-liner of mine:


Asif
Acrostic writing for fun I began,
Startled was I to see my rhyme.
I then, read my poem once again,
For myself in words I’d written this time.

 ©Asif Uzzaman 


  • Acrostic poems are of three types:

  1. First letter Acrostic - Here first letter of each verse is counted. This is the most common form of Acrostic poems.
  2. Last letter Acrostic - Here last letter of each verse is counted.
  3. Middle letter Acrostic - In this, any letter between the verses can be counted. This is the easiest form of Acrostics to execute. 


Liked the style? Take a pen and give yourself a chance to write your own Acrostic poem. It's simple and interesting.



How to Write an Acrostic Poem?
  • Choose a word of your choice.
  • Write the first verse, beginning with the first letter of your word.
  • Write the second verse, beginning with the second letter.
  • Write the number of verses according to the word you have selected.
  • It would be better if you choose small words if you are writing an Acrostic for the first time.
  • Work in creating a proper rhyming scheme after you'd created a structure of your poem.
  • Take care to make the poem meaningful.
  • And your own Acrostic poem is ready.
Have a look at these. Here are some of the Acrostic poems that I've written in haste:

Fear
Fear is nothing but an ugly creature, which
Enters inside your frightened weak heart.
And chills your whole terrified body,
Rise of spooky visions in mind, then starts.

 ©Asif Uzzaman 


Revenge
Rattles a hazardous feeling inside,
Enmity overflows to give a result.
Very often people fall prey to this,
Everyone is suffering due to this in world.
Not a single creature is untouched.
Greatest of great and tiniest of tiny,
Everyone suffers because of revenge highly.

 ©Asif Uzzaman 


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