The rabbit has returned to his burrow and the dragon has awakened to claim the year (according to the Chinese anyway). It’s that time of the year when everyone makes their new year’s resolution and by the time you read this post, many would have already broken them. Here are a couple of New Year’s resolutions that aspiring bloggers should try and keep.

1. Maintain a Schedule for Your Blog

Take some time off and decide a posting schedule for your blog. Keep in mind that the quality of your blog posts should be top priority. It’s better to post 2-3 high quality blogs every week rather than 6 -7 hastily written blogs that are as interesting as reading the ingredients section on a shampoo bottle.

2. Get an Editor

NO! I’m not talking about hiring a professional editor to go through your blog. Just an extra pair of eyes to read your blog before your click the publish button. The extra pair will easily point out the mistakes you make because people love finding mistakes in other peoples work. It’s human nature.

3. Change your theme

It’s a new beginning, so you should give your blog a fresh coat of paint. It will not only reinvigorate your blog, but it may reignite interest in you and your old visitors.

4. Promote

If you wish to increase your visitors, then you have to promote your blog. SEO optimisation, keywords, leaving comments, etc will help you improve your visitor count. Just remember to be subtle and classy about it. Leaving comments like “READ THIS BLOG!!” will garner more hate than love.

5. Try Audio and Video

The New Year is the time to try new things. Why don’t you try posting an audio or a video file which simply narrates your blog? This way, you will gain access to a small section of people who dislike reading.

It doesn’t matter if the New Year has already passed by. These pointers should be taken regardless of the time or date you read this post. Remember, today is as good as any other day.

If you are finding your job boring and monotonous, it’s time for you to get out of your comfort zone and find ways to keep yourself motivated. It is very natural and every one of us, no matter how great our job is, at some point of time must have gone through the slump. There are a few tips that will help you stay motivated at work.

Setting goals

A realistic but, challenging goal is what will help you stay active and set new standards. Always set a goal at least ten percent higher, compared to what you are achieving at the moment.

You Love your Job, Don’t You?

Remind yourself why you are in this office. List down the best things about your job, your achievements, growth and all other things, sometimes even your boss, that will help you perk up. If you seriously cannot find any good stuff, sad, but it’s time to switch to another job.

Take up New Tasks

If you are bored with the same projects always feel free to talk to your boss and initiate to take up new tasks. But always remember, take up responsibilities that you think you can handle and live up to the expectations. Otherwise you will be inviting problems to your table.

Enhance your Knowledge and Skills

If you think you get stuck to often at certain levels, don’t just accept it. Increase your knowledge and skills and be an asset to your company.

Do I Need a Mentor?

It is great to have someone who gives you valuable advice and knowledge that helps in improving your work and knowledge. If you think there are people in your office, who are generous enough to help you out, make them your mentors.

Take a Break

No will to work, or simply you cannot put your efforts to bring quality work, trust me, you need a break. Take a small and refreshing break and ensure you come back with more productivity and quality work.

Writers and technology go hand in hand, starting with the pen and paper all the way till the Gutenberg printing press in the middle ages and the typewriter in the 20^th century. Writers who have the latest devices are considered to be the best in the business.

I though I’ll compile a list of the best gadgets for two reasons:-

a) To help my fellow writers be on top of their game

b) To give Santa Clause a hint this Christmas

1. The LiveScribe E-pen

This handy device digitally records what you write. It also has a microphone so that you can record a lecturer or a speaker. This means you can upload audio and actual content to a computer. It’s great for blogging, planning, and general purpose writing.

2. Netbook/Tablet

A netbook lets you write on the go because you never know when creativity may strike next. If you are into style then buy a tablet and connect it to a keyboard to look cool at the café.

3. Smart Phone

You should have this gadget even if you are not a writer. A smart phone isn’t just cool to have. It will let you check your mail, read you blog, etc. Not to mention the fact that it will also let you make phone calls.

4. E-Reader

It is quite obvious that writers are readers. An e-reader will let you read hundreds of books without the need to build and entire library.

5. Stress Button

Writing, like most other jobs, is a bit stressful. The Stress Button comes with a flip top to enable fantasies of blowing the world apart. It also comes with a USB cable which enables a simulated explosion or create a fake excel file in case your boss shows up.

This is a list of the best gadgets I feel are the best. If you know any more gadgets, feel free to let me know in the comments below.

One of the most prominent aspects of India, after Taj mahal would be Bollywood, if I dare say that. Apart from the celebrities visiting continents and working in other foreign films and some serious cinema, what do we really have to boast about? We spend multi crore dollars on our films but somewhere it still doesn’t come through. Well I’m pointing towards animation, cartoon, action, science fiction and horror films. These movies come to fruition after conjoining technology and creativity.

The Bollywood cartoon flicks doesn’t look like actual characters but hand drawn caricatures, horrific ghosts look more like comedy and animated movies doesn’t quite match up the level. I cannot think of a single movie that managed to evoke “Woaaooo” expression in me. Don’t mistake me for a Bollywood hater but I’m not a lover too. Some of the most valued films that I relate my childhood with are unfortunately Hollywood’s. Worth reminiscing would be: Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Up, Happy Feet, Lion King, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Transformers, MI, Die hard, Inception and many more.

The question lies not in the aspect of creativity, which we already have in ample amounts here, but in the level of technology. We definitely are growing in terms of experimentation and infusing special effects but there’s a long tread ahead if we wish to produce world class cinema. In a globalised era as today, where information is transferred easily why not move beyond traditional cinema to more innovative styles including 3D.

I admit it. I’m a gamer first and a writer second. I first played a video game when I was 4 years old and I got hooked. Fast forward 18 years and I’m still playing video games whenever I get some free time and I will most probably be playing video games till the end.

During my journey through the virtual world, I have come across a couple of great games which I feel will be a great asset to writers and lovers of the English language.

1. Bookworm

There is only one word which can be used to describe this game, addictive. I installed this game on my mobile a couple of months back. I have scored more than 500,000 points and I’m still going strong. The pick up and play aspect of the game makes it a great game for newbies or n00bs as they are referred to in gaming terms.

2. Typing Of the Dead

What are you going to do when there is a zombie outbreak? Grab a gun? No silly, you grab a keyboard. After all, you are a writer, not a fighter. As the horde of zombies approach, quickly type out the words that you see on the screen to defeat them. What better way to speed up your typing than by threatening you with death.

3. Scribblenauts

The object of this game very simple, you have to make the character collect things called ‘starites’. You can do that by any means necessary, you get a keypad that you use to create items out of thin air. You can use a helicopter, a dinosaur or anything. Your imagination is the limit. The only problem is that it is only available for the Nintendo DS. But there are ways you can get it for the PC.

These are just a handful of the games that you can play to improve your skills as a writer. A quick search will turn out more. Although when it comes to me, I personally prefer the latest version of the Call of Duty franchise, or a long drawn game of Age of Empires with some of my friends.

Good bye to the old shows. It’s the era of reality shows in the Indian television industry, where every possible effort is made to project the reality in the reel life. If you look at the content of these shows, I wonder how many of you will actually call them reality shows; for me they are merely scripted shows to draw attention of the viewers and for raising the TRP’s. If using abusive language and violence is called a reality show then it is far better to switch off the idiot box.

If we look at the past era of Indian television, there were some great shows that certainly had good content for the viewers, especially the sitcoms. I remember my childhood days sitting with the family and watching some great shows that contributed towards clean and wholesome entertainment. The present scenario has some weird concepts that are not even meant to be watched with all the family members, according to the values our Indian culture. The concepts are such that it seems as if the producers of the so called ‘reality shows’ are tampering with the values of our culture and beliefs.

Some of the concepts are so brash and in-your-face that the Indian audience is not even ready to accept them. Do we still call them reality shows and make them a part of our entertainment schedule. In my opinion, reality shows are scripted with zero percent reality. The new set of reality shows presented on the Indian television is not even worth categorising under the reality show genres.

Mulling over what to write, my mind is fiddled with thoughts, so I thought to share some of the most inspiring sayings that I have come across. They have made me laugh, given me strength and taught me the value of knowledge in the most brief encounters. So here it goes:

1. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. —Ambrose Redmoon

2. Work like you don’t need money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like no one’s watching. —Unknown Author

3. Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it. —André Gide

4. When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about. -Albert Einstein

5. Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. -Alexander Pope

6. Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. —Will Rogers

7. Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. —Lao-Tze

8. You must be the change you wish to see in the world. —Gandhi

9. For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

10. Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is. —Oscar Wilde

11. I never think of the future. It comes soon enough. -Albert Einstein

12. Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian. —Unknown Author