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Plus, a template you can use for your own If you ask me about my favourite movie climax, it has to be the one in Kung Fu Panda hands-down. The movie has a simple plot, in line with its animation format and family-and-children audiences. Yet, the film is so powerful that you can’t stop bingeing on it again and again. (It’s available on Netflix now.) There are so many takeaways lurking inside its layers that they deserve a separate blog post of their own. For now, I’d like to focus on the most exciting part of the film: its climax. True to its meaning of the final, nail-biting showdown between the protagonist and the antagonist, the climax, in this case, revolves around the epic fight between the childlike but street-smart panda Po and the ruthless leopard Tai Lung. Obviously, it’s the tensest and most exciting part of the film, which, as per its definition, occurs around the film’s 90-percent-mark. We want to know whether Po wins this one or not. Okay, we know Po’s going to win this one—no spoilers here. He’s the titular character of Kung Fu Panda, after all, and the story’s protagonist. The only question that burns inside us is how. The scene then beautifully unravels the answer to this heart-racing question. I broke down this scene so I can understand its structure better and apply it to my current stories, including PiKu & ViRu 2. (Buy/download, read, and review PiKu & ViRu here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited.) Needless to say, I’m having a lot of fun seeing the climaxes of my WIPs get better and better. So, here’s a template I’ve created so you can use it to craft and structure your story climaxes. Let me know in the comments below how it works out for you. -- The antagonist is doing something evil. The protagonist shows up, and the two characters come face-to-face with each other. The antagonist appears stronger and more powerful than the protagonist, so the viewer is afraid for our hero. Yet, the protagonist is confident they’re going to win this one. They have a hidden advantage, an unknown ace up their sleeve that they received at the beginning of Act 3, which the antagonist doesn’t. The viewer has just a faint idea about what this advantage is, and that’s why they worry for our hero’s safety and well-being. The protagonist plays their move, kick-starting the most edge-of-the-seat and popcorn-worthy part of the story. The antagonist fights back, thinks they’ve won the game, and begins celebrating. The protagonist then counters and snatches the round from the antagonist and completely stumps them. We now know that the antagonist has met their match in the protagonist. The viewer cheers for the protagonist but is still worried for them. They’re sure the protagonist is going to win—they just don’t know how. The protagonist uses all the lessons they’ve learned in their journey, plus their own talents and skills, to fight the antagonist. Unlike their previous selves, they’re smarter and more confident, with higher amounts of self-esteem. The stunned antagonist grossly misunderstands the source of the protagonist’s newfound powers (which they received at the start of Act 3). The protagonist, given their innate goodness, explains what this source is, but the antagonist just doesn’t get it. Even the viewer is confused, though they begin to get an idea. No other character knows about this power—the protagonist is the only one. The antagonist underestimates the protagonist, while the protagonist exudes attitude and a positive, winning perspective of what would scare or disturb them before. The protagonist has conquered all their fears by now. The protagonist defeats the antagonist. The viewer either automatically understands what the protagonist’s new power is, or the protagonist provides a detailed explanation. It’s a true AHA moment for the viewer. Even after winning the climax, the protagonist retains their goodness, innocence, humility, concern, and regard for their loved ones. The viewer gets a good glimpse of it, and that’s why their love for our hero endures.

Keywords, while important, should be a tiny sliver in the larger pie of your SEO strategy, not the entire whole. Here’s what you need to prioritise first Image: Merakist | Unsplash What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I say “search engine optimisation”? If you answered this question with “keywords,” you’ve probably been led to believe that they’re what SEO is all about. In reality, search engine ranking is the work of a complex beast of machinery with myriad different elements, driven by unpredictable algorithms. Focusing on keywords in this case is like trying to treat diarrhoea with antacids. The stomachache may go away, but you still need to rest, take light meals, drink plenty of fluids, and pop other relevant meds to get your body and number of loo trips back to normal. Likewise, there are certain items you need to add to and cross off your SEO to-do list before you even say “keywords”. To spice up things (not a good term to use after dedicating an entire para to diarrhoea, I know), I asked 4 digital experts to share their tips on this subject. Their inputs helped me identify 5 key things everyone should be doing before they dump (uh-oh) all sorts of keywords into their copy. So, here are those 5 to-dos, which you should follow for your content in the exact order of their sequence in this blog post. You won’t get lightning-fast results immediately—if Rome wasn’t built in a day, you shouldn’t expect any better for your online page. But you’ll surely be on track to becoming the website or blog nobody can get enough of. Great, value-added content Image: fabrikasimf | Background photo | Freepik Okay, that’s a given. But what do we exactly mean by this? Won’t it work if we simply ranted about the unending rains, roadside repairs, and pesky potholes on our blog and inserted a combination of carefully curated keywords into our copy? No, it won’t. In diarrhoea parlance, that’s like eating junk while you’re wrestling with indigestion but still expecting the medicines to do the job. Good content is like the healthy, nutritious food and fluids that will save your life. It’s basic but valuable. Good content is one that “fulfils people’s needs and solves their problems,” says Mumbai-based YouTuber, web designer, and photographer Sonika Agarwal (a.k.a. my sister). “That’s why you should first define your audience and get clarity on their demographics. Then, figure out their problems. Talk to your friends, ask yourself what your problems were (or would be) at your TG’s age, use keywords to find out what people are looking for,” she adds. “The idea is to make your content so comprehensive that you don’t need to insert keywords separately—they’re woven in naturally. Yes, do add the keywords, but think that way about your content.” [Also read: How one of my blog posts crossed 200 views] Mumbai-based writer and “Ideology Empath” Nishka Rathi, while not an SEO fan, agrees that content should cater to the target audience and solve their pain points. “If you’re writing for brands, companies, or clients, talk to them directly,” she says. “Understand their business, their clients, their struggles. Then, use these findings to research content ideas. Connect with your audience by making your content interesting and engaging. And yes, be authentic and truthful.” Tone and voice Taking from Nishka’s point, what’s also key is to be true and authentic to yourself and for your content to reflect that. It’s essential for your true voice to emerge through your content. Don’t try to be what you’re not. Sonika also advises incorporating elements such as similar-looking thumbnails and saying certain words again and again (in her case, the camera name in her photography videos). “These ensure instant recognisability of the content creator,” she says. When you’re writing for clients or brands, you obviously have to consider their voice, tone, and style. You can’t write long-winded romantic poetry when they need you to keep it crisp and meaty. “Get the brand–audience–content fit right,” says Bengaluru-based writer, book editor and coach, and personal-branding coach Ganesh Vancheeswaran. “This means you write keeping in mind the brand’s identity, the key aspects of which are personality, value proposition, and tone of voice. What I write for the brand should speak to its target audiences and engage them compellingly. This means I have to write contextually meaningful stuff for these audiences.” Ganesh advises plugging in keywords and SEO metrics only after achieving this step. “Even then, do not obsess over (these metrics); don’t make them your top priority. If you put out content that is in character to the brand and important to its audiences, engagement will invariably follow.” Consistency Image: Calendar photo | Freepik It isn’t enough for a content creator or brand to put out a couple of posts (or worse, just one), promote them everywhere, and then vanish for months or years or forever, expecting some genie-like magic to bring in those views. Nor would it help if there’s a gap of one, two, or six months between two of their posts. (Some people even resurface a year after their previous post. Yes, that happens. *Looks at my 2020 self.*) Content creation is a long game that requires patience, dedication, effort, and hundreds of posts published regularly, with a gap of only a few days or so between two posts. (This also goes for your clients.) It’s a point I’ve been emphasising in many of my blog posts—read one of them here. You need to create tons of posts and schedule them in advance. (Nishka and I belong to the same school of thought here. I’ve been telling prospective clients to allow me to bank at least 3–6 months of posts before they announce their blog to the world. Banking your posts also helps reduce deadline-related stress. You don’t want to end up writing 3–6 posts of 500 words each per day, like how I would at one point in time to meet my hirer’s crazy timelines, and show up at home like a zombie on sedatives.) Even then, views and readership are completely out of your hands. That’s why persistence is a determining factor in the game of search engine ranking. There’s another reason you need to be consistent with your content. “Making your online page or blog an authority on a subject is how it becomes more discoverable by search engines. For all this to happen, there’s only one formula: consistent and relevant content,” says Mumbai-based content writer Rohini Kapur Alva. To some extent, SEO is about keywords, Rohini adds. But she warns that “search engines have become smarter”. “They pick up good, relevant, consistent content,” she sums it up. Tagging, linking, categorising, recommending Good content, check. Voice and tone, check. Consistency, check. Keywords are working, too. The audience now comes pouring onto your blog or web page. What would you like them to do after they finish reading your post? Never thought about it, did you? That’s where tagging, linking, categorising, and recommending your other related posts enter the scene. Sis is a stickler for these—so am I. “Tagging connects all your content, videos, etc.,” she says. “So, when people come to your content and find it good, they’ll consume all your other content, too. Suggested content is known to increase views.” For blogs, she recommends writing 5–6 posts on the same topic so you can put them under one category. I can say this is a crucial step, as I’ve seen a sizable number of clicks on my topic tags alone. This means more posts under “PiKu & ViRu” in the coming months—watch out for them. (Buy/download, read, and review my book PiKu & ViRu here if you haven’t yet; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited.) A mix of planning and spontaneity Yes, you should plan and schedule your content months in advance. At the same time, be open to tying it to anything that’s viral, trending, or in the news. Take notes from how Paytm roped in Kokilaben as their PSA ambassador after “Rasode Mein Kaun Tha” went viral last year. And of course, we have the Amul topicals, which are an institution by themselves in moment marketing. Be it educational, entertaining, or inspirational, your content stands to benefit if you connect it to news, current affairs, and trending topics. Sonika agrees with this. The more topical your content, the higher its chances of gaining traction. Rohini, too, prefers using topicals and trends over keywords to come up with content ideas. The only downside, as Sonika says, is the little to no content consumption possible after the event has elapsed. But all that effort is worth the memorable creativity that emerges. Amul topicals’ status as a collectors’ item and Kokilaben’s video embed in this blog post after more than a year of its premiere are all the proof needed. You can also factor in festivals and holidays while planning your content way in advance. Use my monthly content calendars for the same. With each event verified and fact-checked, you know you can’t go wrong with these.

’Tis the month for 300+ holidays, events, and occasions for timing your posts and articles to Images: (From L to R) Ilyas Bolatov | Unsplash; Ella Olsson | Unsplash; Raimond Klavins | Unsplash You could be an article writer trying to get your pitches through to editors. (Especially at a time when they may be in a holiday mood). Or a content writer or blogger seeking topical ideas beyond the usual Christmas and New Year’s Eve for your bank. Or someone simply keen to grow their social media standing over the festive season. Enter this much-needed December 2021 content calendar. Because the more topical your pitch or content is, the higher the chances of its positive reception. So, make way for this handy December 2021 content calendar and get creating! Month-long events Bingo’s Birthday Month Car Donation Month Decembeard Month Dressember Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month Eggnog Month Farm to Food Bank Month (Worldwide) Food Service Safety Month* Fruitcake Month (Give the) Gift of Sight Month Giving Month HIV/AIDS Awareness Month (Universal) Human Rights Month Impaired Driving Prevention Month Pear Month Quince and Watermelon Month* Read a New Book Month (Also in September. Here’s recommending my book PiKu & ViRu for the occasion. Buy/download, read, and review it here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited!) Root Vegetables and Exotic Fruits Month Safe Toys and Gifts Awareness Month Seasonal Depression Awareness Month Spiritual Literacy Month Stress-Free Family Holidays Month Tie Month Tomato and Winter Squash Month Tropical Fruits Month Write a Business Plan Month Write a Friend Month Multiple-day events Mon, 1 Nov to Fri, 31 Dec – MADD’s Tie One on for Safety campaign Sat, 6 Nov to Sun, 5 Dec – Rabi al-thani 2021 Sat, 20 Nov to Sun, 19 Dec– Margashirsha 2021 Mon, 22 Nov to Tue, 21 Dec – Sagittarius 2021 Fri, 26 Nov to Fri, 31 Dec – A Blue Christmas* Sun, 28 Nov to Mon, 6 Dec – Hanukkah 2021 Sun, 28 Nov to Fri, 24 Dec – Advent Wed, 1 to Tue, 7 – Cookie Cutter Week Wed, 1 to Tue, 7 – Tolerance Week Wed, 1 to Fri, 10 – Hornbill Festival (Nagaland) Wed, 1 to Fri, 24 – Operation Santa Paws Fri, 3 to Fri, 10 – Clerc–Gallaudet Week Sat, 4 to Sun, 5 – India Bike Week 2021 Sat, 4 to Sun, 5 – Tree Dressing Day (first weekend of Dec) Sun, 5 to Fri, 10 – Recipe Greetings for the Holidays Week (apparently, first full week of Dec) Sun, 5 to Sat, 11 – Influenza Vaccination Week Sun, 5 OR Mon, 6 to Sat, 11 OR Sun, 12 – Handwashing Awareness Week (apparently, first full week of Dec) Mon, 6 to Fri, 10 – Older Driver Safety Awareness Week Mon, 6 to Sun, 12 – Computer Science Education Week Mon, 6 Dec 2021 to Mon, 3 Jan 2022 – Jumada al-awwal 2021–22 Fri, 10 to Fri, 17 – Human Rights Week Sun, 12 to Sat, 18 – Gluten-Free Baking Week (week before Christmas)* Mon, 13 to Fri, 17 – Cookie Exchange Week (apparently, Mon–Fri week before Christmas) Tue, 14 Dec 2021 to Wed, 5 Jan 2022 – Christmas Bird Count Thu, 16 to Fri, 17 – Bahrain’s National Days Thu, 16 to Fri, 24 – Posadas Fri, 17 to Thu, 23 – Saturnalia Fri, 17 OR Sat, 18 Dec 2021 to Sat, 1 Jan 2022 – Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over (Winter Holiday 2021) Sat, 18 to Sun, 19 – AKC National Championship 2021 Mon, 20 Dec 2021 to Mon, 17 Jan 2022 – Paush OR Pausa 2021–22 Wed, 22 Dec 2021 to Wed, 19 Jan 2022 – Capricorn 2021–22 Thu, 23 Dec 2021 to Mon, 28 Feb 2022 – Harbin Ice Festival 2021–2022 Sun, 26 Dec 2021 to Sat, 1 Jan 2022 – Kwanzaa Single-day events Wed, 1 (World) AIDS Day Antarctica Day Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day Christmas Lights Day Day without Art Eat a Red Apple Day Indigenous Faith Day (Arunachal Pradesh) Kazakhstan’s First President’s Day Package Protection Day (Wed after Thanksgiving) Peppermint Bark Day Pie Day (also on 23 Jan) Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Day Romania’s National Day Rosa Parks Day (in the US states of Alabama, Ohio, and Oregon) Special Kids Day Thu, 2 (International Day for the) Abolition of Slavery Asom Divas Business of Popping Corn Day* Fritters Day Lao National Day (Laos) Mutt Day (also on 31 Jul) (National) Pollution Control Day (India) Safety Razor Day* Special Education Day UAE’s National Day Fri, 3 Apple Pie Day (also on 13 May)* Bartender Appreciation Day (first Fri of Dec)* Faux Fur Friday (first Fri of Dec)* Feast of St. Francis Xavier Fuel Poverty Awareness Day 2021 (UK) Ghana’s Farmers’ Day (first Fri of Dec) Green Bean Casserole Day Let’s Hug Day Make a Gift Day (International Day of) Persons with Disabilities Roof over Your Head Day (International) Sweater Vestival (second Fri after Thanksgiving) Sat, 4 Cabernet Franc Day (International) Cheetah Day Coats & Toys for Kids Day (apparently, first Sat of Dec) Cookie Day Crate Day (New Zealand) Dice Day Ear Muffs Day (first Sat of Dec) Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day (Global) Fat Bike Day (apparently, first Sat of Dec) Greenwood Day (apparently, first Sat of Dec) Navy Day (India) New Moon Day (World) Pear Day (apparently, first Sat or weekend of Dec) Play outside Day (first Sat of every month) Rhubarb Vodka Day (apparently, first Sat of Dec) Santa’s List Day SKYWARN Recognition Day (apparently, first Sat of Dec) Small Business Saturday UK (first Sat of Dec) Sock Day (International) Spirit of the Game Day (first Sat of Dec) Thailand’s National Unity Day Wear Brown Shoes Day (World) Wildlife Conservation Day Sun, 5 AFL–CIO Day Bathtub Party Day Blue Jeans Day Communicate with Your Kids Day* Krampusnacht (Day of the) Ninja Repeal Day (USA) Sacher Torte Day (World) Soil Day (International) Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development OR (International) Volunteer Day Mon, 6 Dr. Ambedkar’s death anniversary Finland's Independence Day Gazpacho Day Microwave Oven Day Miners’ Day Mitten Tree Day Pawnbrokers Day Put on Your Own Shoes Day (National Day of) Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women Spain’s Constitution Day (Día de la Constitución) St. Nicholas Day Ukraine’s Armed Forces Day Tue, 7 Armed Forces Flag Day (India) (International) Civil Aviation Day Cotton Candy Day (National) Illinois Day (USA) Letter Writing Day (Also read: How to use your writing skills to bring yourself closure) Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (World) Trick Shot Day (first Tue of Dec) Wed, 8 Bodhi Day Brownie Day Christmas Tree Day* Feast of the Immaculate Conception Finnish Music Day Lard Day Panama’s Mother’s Day Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day Take it in the Ear Day Thu, 9 Anna’s Day (International) Anti-Corruption Day Christmas Card Day (International Day of) Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and the Prevention of This Crime Llama Day Pastry Day (World) Techno Day (International Day of) Veterinary Medicine Weary Willie Day Fri, 10 (International) Animal Rights Day Christmas Jumper Day (UK—one Fri in Dec) Dewey Decimal System Day Festival for the Souls of Dead Whales Human Rights Day Jane Addams Day Lager Day Lost and Found Day (second Fri of Dec) Nobel Prize Day Salesperson Day (second Fri of Dec) Sat, 11 App Day Have a Bagel Day Holiday Food Drive for Needy Animals Day Kaleidoscope Day Magnum P.I. Day* (International) Mountain Day Noodle Ring Day (International) Shareware Day (second Sat of Dec) (Anniversary of the) Statute of Westminster UNICEF Birthday Sun, 12 Ambrosia Day Bonza Bottler Day (Worldwide) Candle Lighting Day (second Sun of Dec) (World) Choral Day (on or around second Sun of Dec) Ding-a-Ling Day Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival of Unmentionable Thoughts of Taboo Day* Gingerbread House Day (Universal) Health Coverage Day Jamhuri Day (International Day of) Neutrality Poinsettia Day 12-Hour Fresh Breath Day Mon, 13 Cocoa Day Green Monday (second Mon of Dec) (Day of the) Horse Ice Cream Day* (Also read: Turn your #IceCreamLove into a bestseller with these 25 cool ideas) Malta’s Republic Day Pick a Pathologist Pal Day* St. Lucia’s Day OR St. Lucy’s Day (Sweden) US National Guard Birthday Violin Day Tue, 14 (National) Alabama Day (USA) Asarah B’Tevet (Jewish) Bouillabaisse Day (World) Energy Conservation Day Free Shipping Day 2021 Martyred Intellectuals Day Monkey Day Roast Chestnuts Day Wed, 15 Bill of Rights Day (USA) Cat Herders Day Cupcake Day* Lemon Cupcake Day (International) Tea Day (select countries) Wear Your Pearls Day Thu, 16 Bangladesh’s Victory Day Barbie and Barney Backlash Day Boston Tea Party Day Chocolate-Covered Anything Day Kazakhstan’s Independence Day (Day of) Reconciliation Stupid Toy Day Vijay Diwas (India) Thu, 16 OR Thu, 23: Re-gifting Day (third Thu of Dec or Thu before Christmas) Fri, 17 Clean Air Day Device Appreciation Day (International Day to) End Violence against Sex Workers Maple Syrup Day Pan American Aviation Day Ugly Christmas Sweater Day (third Fri of Dec) Underdog Day (apparently, third Fri of Dec) Wright Brothers Day Sat, 18 (International) Answer the Telephone Like Buddy the Elf Day (!!!) (World) Arabic Language Day Bake Cookies Day Flake Appreciation Day Give a Wine Club Day Ham Salad Day* (International) Migrants Day Minorities Rights Day (India) Roast Suckling Pig Day Super Saturday (last Sat before Christmas) Twin Day Wear a Plunger on Your Head Day (?!) Wreaths across America Day 2021 (apparently, third Sat of Dec or any day random) Sun, 19 Emo Day Cold Moon (Full Moon Day in Dec) Daman and Diu Liberation Day Goa Liberation Day Hard Candy Day Holly Day Full Moon Day Look for an Evergreen Day Oatmeal Muffin Day Mon, 20 Cathode Ray Tube Day* Games Day Go Caroling Day (International) Human Solidarity Day Mudd Day Poet Laureate Day* Sacagawea Day Sangria Day Mon, 20 OR Tue, 21: French Fried Shrimp Day Tue, 21 Anne & Samantha Day (also on 20 or 21 Jun—during summer and winter solstices) Celebrate Short Fiction Day (on the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere) Coquito Day Crossword Puzzle Day (International) Dalek Remembrance Day Don’t Make Your Bed Day Flashlight Day Forefathers’ Day Hamburger Day (also on 28 May and 28 Jul) Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day (on the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere) Humbug Day Kiwi Fruit Day (California) Look on the Bright Side Day (National) Maine Day (USA) (Global) Orgasm Day (also on 20 or 21 Jun—during summer and winter solstices) Phileas Fogg Win a Wager Day Ribbon Candy Day Short Girl Appreciation Day (on the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere) Short Story Day Summer solstice (for southern hemisphere—can also be on 22 Dec some years) Winter solstice (for northern hemisphere—can also be on 22 Dec some years) Yalda (on the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere) Yule (on the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere) Wed, 22 Abilities Day* Be a Lover of Silence Day Cookie Exchange Day Date Nut Bread Day Forefathers’ Day Haiku Poetry Day (National) Mathematics Day (India) Short Person Day Thu, 23 Christmas Movie Marathon Day Farmers’ Day OR Kisan Diwas (India) Festivus HumanLight (on or around 23 Dec) Metric Conversion Day Pfeffernuesse Day (Night of the) Radishes (Mexico) Roots Day Thorláksmessa OR Feast of Saint Thorlák (Iceland) Fri, 24 Christmas Eve (National) Consumer Day (India) Eggnog Day Jólabókaflóð OR Book Flood (Iceland) Last Minute Shoppers’ Day* Libya’s Independence Day Sat, 25 A’Phabet Day OR No “L” Day Christmas Christmas Pudding Day* Pumpkin Pie Day Sun, 26 Boxing Day Candy Cane Day (Day of) Goodwill Thank You Note Day Whiner’s Day Mon, 27 Free Balloon Day Fruitcake Day Howdy Doody Day Make a Cut-out Snowflake Day St. John the Evangelist’s Day (National Day of the) Victorious Greater Poland Uprising Visit the Zoo Day Tue, 28 Call a Friend Day Card Playing Day Chocolate Candy Day (National) Chocolate Day (USA—also on 29 Dec) Download Day Endangered Species Act Day Holy Innocents’ Day Pledge of Allegiance Day Proclamation Day (Australia)* Short Film Day Wed, 29 (National) Chocolate Day (USA—also on 28 Dec) Ireland’s Constitution Day Pepper Pot Day Still Need to Do Day Tick Tock Day Thu, 30 Bacon Day (USA) Bicarbonate of Soda Day Falling Needles Family Fest Day* Festival of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (!!!) Resolution Planning Day Tamu Losar Fri, 31 Champagne Day (USA) Hogmanay (Universal) Hour of Peace Day Leap Second Time Adjustment Day (only observance, not necessarily actual adjustment; can also fall on 30 Jun) Make up Your Mind Day New Year’s Eve No Interruptions Day Omisoka (Japan) (World) Peace Meditation Day St. Sylvester’s Day Unlucky Day *Unconfirmed Sources: Bank Bazaar, Days of the Year, Holidays and Observances, Kalnirnay, National Day Calendar, National Today, There is a Day for That

As my baby completes its third anniversary, here’s what I’ve learned from it I can’t believe it. My book, my masterpiece, PiKu & ViRu, celebrates its third anniversary today! I thank you, dear reader, from the bottom of my heart for all your love! And if I can blog about so many things, I can’t not do a post dedicated to my baby, which has not only helped raise my profile but also shaped my identity. I’ve been wondering for months about what to write in this post. And then a few weeks ago, I thought, why not compile the lessons from my writing and publishing experience and share them with you, dear reader, especially if you’re aiming to write and/or publish your first book. These pointers will also come in handy for me when I’m writing my next book so I don’t repeat my mistakes. So, here are the crucial lessons I’ve learned from writing my first book. Buy/download, read, and review PiKu & ViRu here if you haven’t yet; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Before you begin writing Image: Braňo | Unsplash Firstly, I feel EVERYONE should write at least one book in their lives. I cannot think of a better way to raise your profile, build your character, develop grit, and take your career and social standing to the next level. (You have no idea about the wonders it does to your CV!) Besides, your writing and language skills automatically improve, you learn the art of storytelling and self-expression, you leave behind a legacy, you heal yourself, and you get to exercise your patience muscles. You connect with people who push and motivate you to do better, and you make friends out of them. And by writing genres such as memoirs, you end up editing painful, traumatic memories, too (I can vouch for this). In short, your life massively improves. While you can always dabble in non-fiction, don’t ever believe you cannot write fiction. Especially when life itself is the biggest muse. A story will hit you when you least expect it. (Or maybe you already have one but don’t consider it as material worth mining literature from.) There’s no age or stage for it. As Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) says in Christopher Nolan’s Inception, “Once an idea has taken hold of the brain, it’s almost impossible to eradicate.” You will get the urge to put it down in written form! Do I have to quit my job to write a book? The answer is a big NO. Quit your job for other reasons, but not for writing a book. You can easily manage it during your commutes, downtimes, after-hours, and days off. And with many of us working from home now, the process has become so much easier. Do I have to write every day? My answer: Not at all. Even 3–5 days a week suffice if you have a day job. It helps if you build a routine, though. Maybe an hour of fiction writing before you start work is ideal. Set aside some savings for your book writing, even if your book is going to be traditionally published. You’ll need the money for professional editing, lawyer expenses (mainly for the publishing contract), and paid promotions at the very least. If all this sounds like a hassle to you, believe me when I tell you it’s all going to be worth it. What do I write a book on? Your life is a goldmine of unique ideas—you only have to look around and search your mind. You don’t have to wait for a brainwave to hit you like how it happened with a certain Ms. Rowling on a Manchester–London train. If you’re a chartered accountant in a fashion house or five-star hotel, there you have your story! Heck, even if you’re a CA in a usual firm, you have loads to share with the world, especially aspiring CAs. If you need help building your creativity and imagination, I’ve got lots of exercises and writing prompts for you. Do I need specific software to write a book? Absolutely not, though investing in Scrivener is a good idea. I wrote mine using only Word and Google Docs—Scrivener’s too complicated for me, though you may find it otherwise. I’m trying to plot and write the first draft of the next one by hand. Image: Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk | Unsplash I don’t need to learn about book publishing or marketing so early on, do I? You need to. The sooner you begin, the better. Learning how publishing works will also help you self-publish your book if required. Other advantages: you know how to build your market, get reviews, grow your book sales, and be smart about royalties and payments. Create a marketing plan and strategy out of all your findings. Besides, isn’t learning something new always a great idea? To make the process easier for you, I’m trying to compile a blog post that has it all. Watch this space. It’s a good idea to list out all your dreams, aspirations, responses, and goals you hope to achieve with this book. (Wanting to win a Pulitzer totally counts.) Doing so will inform and test out your plot and overall marketing strategy. Wish I’d have done this for P&V, but I’m totally doing it for my next. Writing your first draft There’s a debate out there between plotting and writing to explore what happens (the latter technique is called pantsing for some unknown reason). Plotting is more efficient and organised, while pantsing makes your story more organic. You have to find out what works for you. In my case, I let the entire story form in my head first before I dumped it on Word at a friend’s advice. I allowed the draft to rest for 3–4 weeks (ideally, do what Stephen King says and give it 6 weeks), checked whether the story looked good on paper, and then did the plotting. (More on my plotting methods in the next point.) The idea was to make the story flow organically, but I wish the process was a bit neater. Prepare a one-page synopsis before your first or second draft (ideally, before your dumping). Show it to a friend for a critique so you can fix any issues in this shorter document rather than painstakingly reworking a lakh-word manuscript. (You'll need to do some plotting here, though, for this reason.) Besides, this synopsis will also serve as your pitch document (once it’s edited) to publishers and producers later on. Do note that parts of your first draft can veer off from this one-pager, so don’t push yourself to stick to your roadmap. See where the story goes. If your book is based on or inspired by a period of your life, use real names in the first draft so you can capture all that emotion. Be sure to change them in the second draft. And yes, your first draft is going to suck, even if you plot before writing it and use the perfect synopsis as your roadmap. You’ll get a chance to fix it in subsequent drafts, so just silence your inner editor while writing it. It also means no fretting over grammar, spelling, punctuation, or typos at this stage. Plotting Image: Brands&People | Unsplash Which plotting method did I use? I followed the Hero’s Journey template by Joseph Campbell. I also experimented with mind-mapping for a few chapters. Those were the ones that required minimal edits later on, as the exercise also informed the choice of words I used. That’s why I suggest you mind-map your book, the plot, the characters, their arcs—actually, everything—first before you start either plotting or pantsing. Trust me, it’s a fun process that also promises efficiency. Mind-map first, then plot, then write a synopsis, then dump, then see whether the story works, then plot again—that’s the order I’d recommend for a more organised yet organic experience. You can use your book title, genre, theme, subject matter, or anything else as the central node. How did I find out about Hero’s Journey and mind-mapping? By attending workshops dedicated to each of them. Yes, you should sign up for as many writing classes, courses, lit fests, and workshops as possible. (They make for great networking opportunities, too.) I learned about Hero’s Journey from a free screenwriting course demo held at Mumbai’s FACE Academy in 2016 and about mind-mapping from its inventor Tony Buzan himself at Times Lit Fest 2015. I’d also recommend Anjum Rajabali’s screenwriting workshops—one of his lessons from a two-dayer held at Living Bridge, Pune, in 2016 helped me craft my first chapter. In between drafts Image: Hannah Morgan | Unsplash Read and watch a lot of fiction for ideas, references, and storytelling devices and techniques. Continue writing across an array of mediums: publications, blogs, films, TV shows, client content, newsletters… You make money, plus exercise your writing skills, too. If you can, start work on your website right away so you use this time to connect with your readers through blog posts, newsletters, videos, etc. Join support groups for authors. There are plenty of them on Facebook. Writing can be lonely, especially if you’re the first among your friends to do it. Connecting with those who’ve been there and done that can, hence, be a truly enriching experience. Celebrate the end of each draft by treating yourself to something. These moments are unlike any other. The book-writing process is so enjoyable, you wouldn’t mind losing your sleep for it. (I didn’t.) You shouldn’t, of course, but you get the drift. Beta reading Image: Towfiqu barbhuiya | Unsplash After around 3–4 drafts, you’ll have to send off your book to a few of your friends for a test read. Choose at least 10 trustworthy people for the task and ask them personally by text or phone call before emailing the lot to them. Ensure a mix of demographics (gender, orientation, etc.) and include writers as well as non-writers. Provide them with a firm deadline, but expect none of them to get back. A few of them will eventually do, though, giving you all the feedback you need. For those who never do, please don’t take it personally. You’re testing your book, not your friendships. Convert your beta reader’s comments into specific action points and then incorporate them into your manuscript. I tried to address every comment that came my way. It was a great opportunity to improve my work and dissolve my ego. Please thank your beta readers for the time they have invested in reading and critiquing your book and mention them in the Acknowledgments section of your book. Send each of them a free copy of your book. If you need me to beta-read your book, email me or drop me a comment. While I offer general page-long feedback for free, I charge for detailed reports. Editing Try your best to invest in professional editing, and ask the editor to also help you write a kick-ass book proposal. (Sorry, but your English teachers may not be helpful enough for this unless they’re proficient in book editing.) For my book, I worked with Varsha Naik, whom I found through an author friend. I’m really happy with the way it all turned out. Self-edit your work before you send it to your editor. I recommend the book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renne Brown and Dave King for this step. Make the most of user-friendly online tools such as Hemingway and Grammarly to clean up your work. The same advice for your beta reader’s feedback holds true for your editor’s feedback. Address each and every comment. Work in tandem with your editor until all your disagreements turn to an agreement. If you’re writing a novel, the final word count should be around 60,000–80,000 words. Just check with each publisher or agent’s website, as the exact number varies for all. Feel free to pen a novella, short story, or picture book for your first if a novel isn’t feasible. Publishing Learning all you can about both traditional and indie publishing helps you figure out the right publishing platform for your book. This prep work is something I regret not doing well enough for my first book, but I’m surely doing it for my next. Before you start pitching to publishers, it won’t hurt to avail the services of a book or publishing consultant. I worked with Poonam Ganglani for my book proposal, and her inputs have also given me the confidence to pitch my book to film producers. If you’re keen on getting traditionally published and have a kick-ass proposal in place, don’t give up after a rejection. Treat yourself to a cupcake after one and try again. Having said that, if you’ve got some film and/or TV producers interested, it’s advisable to focus on a movie adaptation right away. Launching Image: Joe Caione | Unsplash Never offer a discount during your book launch. Your loved ones are the first to snatch it at the time, and they’d happily shell out even a thousand bucks for it :) If people are upset or offended by your extremely harmless book (trust me, there will be people like these), let them go! Keep working on your inner self and happiness. Don't base your self-worth on your book’s reception. Have the attitude, “If it works, great; if it doesn’t, life’s still great.” Remember, no bestseller title, lit-fest invite, or author award can make you happy; only you yourself can. And please don’t ever read your book reviews. Promotions There are plenty of ways to promote your book for free: blog posts, newsletters, social media, email signatures, CV uploads on job portals. Put your book’s pic as your cover image across all your social media. That said, a paid promotion here and there can boost your book sales. Afterwards Continue writing, creating, pitching, and producing more works in any medium. The more you write, the wider you’re known.

A sneak peek at a day in this writer’s life Image: Lukas Blazek | Unsplash Whenever anyone would ask me about my daily schedule, I’d usually be stumped for an answer. Ever since I’ve begun freelancing and fiction writing in 2017 (buy/download, read, and review my book PiKu & ViRu here—it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited), I’ve been experimenting with every permutation and combination of daily routines possible. Unfortunately, nothing really would stick for long. Until October 2021. Following my rock-bottom moment that month, I realised what my true priorities are. Based on those, I’ve been able to come up with a daily routine that’s perfect for me at this stage of my life. Here’s what it looks like. Sure, it’s a flexible one, but I try to stick to it as much as possible. Also, I wish I can wake up at 5 a.m. so I can finish my Morning Pages by 6, read for an hour after that, and set out for a refreshing brisk walk at 7 before having my breakfast at 8. [Also read: How I completed #500DaysOfJournaling, despite the pandemic] Considering I’m still in the process of making my nightly bedtime no later than 11 p.m. (a task in these days of the internet, you have to admit), this dream routine is still a distance away. But I’m working towards it. Of course, I don’t work on Mondays, so many of these to-dos aren’t applicable for the time. Read my blog post: Why I take my Mondays off from work. Remember that not everyone can adhere to this daily routine; this is just for your inspo. You need to find out what works for you and follow it accordingly.

5 key elements in Guy Ritchie’s epic forest escape scene from the blockbuster Robert Downey Jr. movie ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ Image: Screengrab from Amazon Prime Video I can’t believe I’m 10 years late for the party. No wonder it’s taken me that long to find what arguably is the best chase sequence of all time. If it wouldn’t have been for the challenge I set with author Sudha Nair to watch the two Sherlock Holmes movies by Guy Ritchie, I’d have never stumbled upon it. I always thought the Gringotts escape in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was the best. But after being awed by Ritchie’s criminally underrated forest chase sequence in his second Sherlock Holmes movie, I’m compelled to change my stance. (Sorry, fellow Potterheads.) Watch the sequence here below. You can catch the full movie, which stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, among others, on Amazon Prime Video, using this link. Both films arrived in the same year (2011), yet it’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows that emerges as the winner here. How? It all boils down to one word: storytelling. For the uninitiated, the scene shows Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) and his aide Dr. John Watson (Law) escaping from the factory owned by Holmes’ deadly nemesis, Prof. James Moriarty (Jared Harris). Accompanying Holmes are the gypsy fortune teller Simza (Noomi Rapace)—who’s looking for her missing brother—and her allies. Moriarty’s men, including his right hand Sebastian Moran (Paul Anderson), go after the party through a dark forest to hunt them down. Compared to the Harry Potter scene, which has more layers to its content, this one appears pretty simple at the outset. But in this particular case, writing marries presentation, technique, filmmaking, and even acting to tick all boxes of storytelling and produce a marvellous outcome (pun completely unintended here). This is not to say that the final Harry Potter movie has bad acting performances. Far from it. Everyone has been impeccable in the film. But the actors in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows simply took the game to another level. Coupled with the filmmaking and post-production devices, the team was able to turn a simple forest running sequence into something truly epic. I’ve been watching it on a loop and have lost count completely. STORYTELLING = WRITING + PRESENTATION + PERFORMANCE + EDITING Although I haven’t checked out Ritchie’s other works, I daresay it’s going to take him ages to outdo even himself on this one! So, what are the ingredients of a great, memorable scene? Here are 5 that I’ve gleaned from this particular one. Stakes and urgency Usually, the goal of a scene is to establish Point A (where the characters currently are) and Point B (their destination), followed by the challenges in between that create the much-needed conflict. The Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows scene, however, first establishes Point A (Holmes and party running in the forest), points out the challenges (the horses have been left behind, so the characters, including an injured Holmes, have to escape on foot while Moran and Moriarty’s German men chase after them with all sorts of lethal guns and weapons), and then shows Point B (the approaching train Holmes, etc., have to board). Images: Screengrabs from Amazon Prime Video I’m not sure whether sticking to the convention would have made any difference, but flicking the order somehow keeps things tenser and more organic. Throw in some high-voltage background music, and we end up with our hands on our mouths! Clarity What’s the point of a scene if you can’t see anything in it clearly? That’s exactly the challenge with sequences set in the dark. But Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows ensures we’re able to see everything that transpires on the screen with utmost clarity, despite its twilit shades. No shaky camera movements, no jerks, nothing that disrupts the clarity of the scene’s contents at any point. It’s pure storytelling that’s the focus here—the best way to bring each line of the scene to life. Intensity Be it “Little Hansel” or Moran’s breathing break, the scene packs in the most powerful ways to show how dangerous the antagonists and their weapons are. Nothing beats the German henchman covering his ears after the destructive projectile is loaded into the cannon, though. Combine these with techniques such as slow-motion and snorricam effects (esp. on Moran), and you have a winner here. Impact So, what happens when Little Hansel is fired at our protagonists? Trust Ritchie to show the characters screaming and falling using the right choice of shots and some well-strategised slow-mo. Emotion Usually, chase sequences have no place or room for showing any emotional reactions. But Ritchie weaves in such a moment when one of Simza’s allies gets hit and she looks back sorrowed. It’s a split-second glimpse, yet it’s shot with all the clarity and technique on Earth. Images: Screengrabs from Amazon Prime Video This addition suddenly infuses the scene with a dash of humaneness; else, it would have ended up as a mechanical, testosterone-loaded chase sequence, with merely some effects to boast of. I’m a stickler for emotions in stories. I’ve aimed to weave in plenty of them in my book PiKu & ViRu. (Buy/download, read, and review it here if you haven’t yet.) I understand that chase sequences are too focused on—well—the chase to concern themselves with anything else. But this minor emotional bit, even if it’s for a few seconds, is a bonus for someone like me. I’m really thankful to Ritchie and his team for doing that. The Sherlock Holmes stories truly get the best possible adaptation through these movies. I’m a fan—can’t wait for Sherlock Holmes 3 now! What’s your favourite chase sequence in films? What did it get right? Do share in the comments below.

6 interesting takeaways from my milestone achievement, made possible by you, dear reader Image: Cards by rawpixel.com | Freepik What was once a hope against hope is now a reality. One of my blog posts has unexpectedly crossed the 200-views mark! It may not sound like a big deal. But considering this is just my first year of regular blogging, this highlight is gold for me. And I want to thank you, dear reader, with all my heart, for playing a role in making this milestone happen. Can you guess which post this is? Try, try… I’ll reveal the answer in… 5 4 3 2 1 And here’s the hallmark post! You can read it right here if you haven’t yet. So, how did the “magic” happen? I’d say it’s a mix of hard work, good fortune, and, most importantly, your generosity and kindness for taking the time to read it, for which I’m always grateful. Here are the 6 lessons I’ve gleaned from my experience. Search engine > social media While I have promoted and repromoted the post on Facebook, Twitter, etc. many a time over, the story’s analytics show that you’ve most likely stumbled upon it on search engines. Social media brings us traffic on or around the time we promote (or repromote) our posts on it. But with search engines, the readership is consistent for us almost every day. Even one view for a post in a day amounts to hundreds for it in a few months’ time. The post rarely loses its shelf life, and hundreds if not thousands of readers like you keep visiting. That’s why there’s little to no need for us to worry or fret if a post doesn’t perform as per our expectations the first time around. The Anthony Bourdain post didn’t either, but look what happened over time. So, speaking of SEO, what keywords did I use? Here comes the shocking part. While I did optimise my post with top recommendations from keyword research tools, the combination of keywords that brought in many of you was entirely different. Apparently, some of you were probably “curious” about an aspect from Anthony Bourdain’s life and, hence, clicked on my post, which shows on Google’s first page for that particular search. Does it mean I should optimise my post for these specific keywords? Not really, considering they are more closely related to celebrity news and lifestyle than to writing and storytelling :) But step #2 takes care of everything, and that is… Writing a post as comprehensive as possible Because that’s how all permutations and combinations of words related to the topic in question can be organically woven into the copy. Considering I chose to document not 1 or 10 but 50 business lessons from Mr. Bourdain’s tell-all memoir, I had ample ground to incorporate all sorts of words related to him and his culinary field. That’s how, I’m guessing, the post became search-engine-friendly, and you could easily find it for the keywords you punched in. Another thing to remember is that while we tend to pay more attention to the post description in search engines to get the answers we seek, there’s also the need for… Paying special attention towards crafting the headline This is something I’ve been grappling with for my other posts but somehow got it bang-on for the Anthony Bourdain one. It isn’t just about whether a headline has a good ring to it. It’s about the overall headline structure and composition. If everything has a reason or justification for its existence, so should the words in the headline. Because they dictate the content and body of the post. In this case, five or ten business lessons wouldn’t have cut it. Fifty, on the other hand, was epic for me to even imagine, let alone write. Thankfully, I had the same number of lessons and quotes highlighted in the book, so it was possible for me to make a post out of them. Writing posts for the self The reason I penned that post in the first place was to put down those highlighted lessons on a platform easily accessible to me for anytime motivation and inspiration. Because I chose my blog as the medium, you, too, were able to find those lessons under one roof. Needless to say, the post always comes in handy. Whenever I need guidance for a project I’m working on or people difficult to deal with, I simply look up the post in my dashboard (to avoid adding my visits to the count) and immediately know what to do. And if I keep coming back to the post so many times, imagine how many more like you and me are likely to do so! Timely updating I check in with my posts a few months down the line to better the copy, as well as update related posts to the most recent and relevant ones possible. Doing so works wonders for my view count. Acknowledging that there’s no magic formula Nobody can say with certainty what makes their posts click. Sure, there are certain factors within our control, as I’ve explained in the aforementioned pointers, and we should make the most of them. But after a point, the results are out of our hands. We may write the most relevant content tailored to you, use the best keywords, optimise the post for seamless viewing, repromote it several times on social media. But in the end, it’s the Universe that takes the final call. And, as writers and bloggers, we’re likely to have way more duds than superhits when it comes to our posts—at least in the initial stages of our blogging. The sooner we accept this reality, the easier the process gets for us, and we’re able to enjoy it, too. Let’s face it: SEO isn’t a science. Given how unpredictable this environment is, let’s call it art instead. Yes, we must try to incorporate its principles in every post of ours. But we shouldn’t expect those alone to work the magic for us. There are too many factors beyond our control, and acceptance and learning are the only ways to go about it. That’s how we gain this thing called ‘experience’. I once again thank you with all my heart and soul. Please leave a comment with your feedback, suggestions, etc. I love hearing from you and really appreciate your invaluable inputs! And do read my book PiKu & ViRu and leave a review if you haven’t yet. Trust me, you’ll love it!

Use this free resource to create stunning topical and trendy posts Images: (From L to R) Patrick Fore | Unsplash, Bruna Araujo | Unsplash, Digital Content Writers India | Unsplash November is as much a festive month as October is, and not only due to Diwali and Children’s Day. There’s plenty more happening in these 30 days, serving as worthwhile inspiration for your content. This breezy month is also special to me, as it marks PiKu & ViRu’s release anniversary! (Buy/download, read, and review my book here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited!) So, whether you’re a brand or content creator, or a journalist looking to pitch topical stories, this is the November 2021 content calendar you need, with all major events, holidays, festivals, “food days,” and observances in one place. You seriously don’t need to seek these out elsewhere, though I’ve shared a list of resources at the bottom of the post in case you’re interested. Do share your experiences in the comments below about how useful (or not) this content calendar has been for you—feedback, suggestions, (constructive) criticism are most welcome. For now, let’s dive into this big list of special occasions gracing this “nouveau” month. Month-long events Adopt a Senior Pet Month Adopt a Turkey Month Adoption Month Alzheimer’s Awareness Month America Recycles Month Aviation History Month Banana Pudding Lovers Month (Worldwide) Bereaved Siblings Month Bladder Health Month Candle Month (USA) Career Development Month Child Safety and Prevention Month COPD (Awareness) Month Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month Diabetes (Awareness) Month Diabetic Eye Disease Month Education Month Epilepsy Awareness Month Eye Donation Month Family Caregivers Month Family Literacy Month Family Stories Month Fragrance Month Fun with Fondue Month Gastric Cancer Awareness Month Georgia Pecan Month Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month Gratitude Month Healthy Lifestyles Month Healthy Skin Month Hip-Hop History Month Historic Bridge Awareness Month Home Care & Hospice Month Impotency (Awareness) Month Inspirational Role Models Month Life Writing Month Long-Term Care Awareness Month Lung Cancer Awareness Month Manatee Awareness Month Marrow Awareness Month Medical Science Liaison (MSL) Awareness & Appreciation Month Memoir Writing Month Military Family Month Model Railroad Month Movember Native American Heritage Month No Nut November (really?!) No Shave November Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month Peanut Butter Lovers’ Month Pepper Month Pet Cancer Awareness Month Pet Diabetes Month Picture Book Month Pomegranate Month PPSI AIDS Awareness Month* Prematurity Awareness Month PTA’s Healthy Lifestyles Month Quality Month Raisin Bread Month Real Jewelry Month Roasting Month* Scholarship Month Senior Pet Month Sleep Comfort Month Spinach and Squash Month* Stomach Cancer Awareness Month Sweet Potato Awareness Month Teff and Millet Month* (World) Vegan Month Veterans and Military Families Month Multiple-day events Fri, 8 Oct–Fri, 5 Nov – Rabi al-Awwal Fri, 15 Oct–Tue, 30 Nov – Wishbones for Pets Month Thu, 21 Oct–Fri, 19 Nov – Kartik month Sat, 23 Oct–Sun, 21 Nov – Scorpio month Sun, 24 Oct–Thu, 11 Nov – World Origami Days Mon, 1–Tue, 2 – Day of the Dead (Mexico) Mon, 1–Fri, 5 – Key Club Week Mon, 1–Fri, 5 – (International) Stress Awareness Week Mon, 1–Sun, 7 – Fig Week Mon, 1–Sun, 7 – Marzipan Week* Mon, 1–Sun, 7 – Medical–Surgical Nurses Week Mon, 1–Sun, 7 – Urology Nurses and Associates Week Mon, 1 Nov–Fri, 31 Dec – MADD’s Tie One on for Safety campaign Fri, 5–Sun, 7 – Sherlock Holmes Weekend (also in Oct) Sat, 6 Nov–Sun, 5 Dec – Rabi al-Thani Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Allied Health Week Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Animal Shelter Appreciation Week (first full week of Nov)* Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Dear Santa Letter Week (second week of Nov)* Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Diabetes Education Week (first full week of Nov) Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Drowsy Driving Prevention Week Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – (International) Games Week Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Home Care Aide Week Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Nurse Practitioner Week (second week of Nov) Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Radiologic Technology Week (week of 8 Nov) Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Traffic Incident Response Awareness Week Sun, 7–Sat, 13 – Vocation Awareness Week Mon, 8–Fri, 12 – (World) Quality Week Mon, 8–Fri, 12 – Talk Money Week Mon, 8– Fri, 12 OR Sun, 14 – (Global) Entrepreneurship Week Mon, 8–Sun, 14 – Children’s Book Week Mon, 8–Sun, 14 – Human–Animal Relationship Awareness Week* Tue, 9–Wed, 10 – Kristallnacht Fri, 12–Sun, 14 – National Donor Sabbath (USA—two weekends before Thanksgiving) Sat, 13–Sun, 21 – Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week Sun, 14–Sat, 20 – (International) Fraud Awareness Week Sun, 14–Sat, 20 – Perioperative Nurses Week Mon, 15–Fri, 19 – American Education Week Mon, 15–Fri, 19 – Anti-Bullying Week Mon, 15–Fri, 19 – Geography Awareness Week Wed, 17–Wed, 24 – Farm-City Week (the week before Thanksgiving) Thu, 18–Wed, 24 – World Antimicrobial Awareness Week Sat, 20 Nov–Sun, 19 Dec – Margashirsha month Sun, 21–Sat, 27 – GERD Awareness Week Sun, 21–Sun, 28 – Bible Week (usually, the week of Thanksgiving) Sun, 21–Sun, 28 – Restorative Justice Week Mon, 22 Nov–Tue, 21 Dec – Sagittarius month Wed, 24 – Tue, 30 – National Deal Week (USA—the week from the Wed before Thanksgiving) Sun, 28 Nov–Mon, 6 Dec – Hanukkah Sun, 28 Nov–Fri, 24 Dec – Advent Single-day events Mon, 1 All Saints’ Day Author’s Day (Yes, our day! On this note, recommending my book, PiKu & ViRu, again. Buy/download, read, and review it here. It’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited) Autistics Speaking Day Brush Day (Day of the) Bulgarian National Revival Leaders Calzone Day Cinnamon Day Color the World Orange Day (first Mon of Nov) (Go) Cook for Your Pets Day Deep-Fried Clams Day Extra Mile Day Family Literacy Day Give Up Your Shoulds Day Hockey Mask Day Jealousy Day (Finland) Job Action Day (first Mon of Nov) Karnataka Rajyotsava Recreation Day (Australia—first Mon of Nov) Scented Candle Day (World) Vegan Day (Remembrance Day for the) Victims Killed by Illegal Aliens (!!!) Vinegar Day (International) Xinomavro Day Mon, 1 OR Tue, 2: Traffic Directors Day Tue, 2 All Souls’ Day Broadcast Traffic Professionals Day Cookie Monster Day Deviled Egg Day Dhanteras Dynamic Harmlessness Day (International Day to) End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists Look for Circles Day Plan Your Epitaph Day Practice Being Psychic Day Wed, 3 Cliché Day Eating Healthy Day (first Wed of Nov) Give Someone a Dollar Today Day Housewife’s Day, a.k.a. Homemaker’s Day Japan Culture Day (World) Jellyfish Day Sandwich Day Smart Home Day Stress Awareness Day (first Wed of Nov) UAE Flag Day Wobbly Wednesday (first Wed of Nov) Thu, 4 Candy Day Cash Back Day (first Thu of Nov) Chicken Lady Day Diwali—Lakshmi Puja Diwali—Naraka Chaturdashi Easy-Bake Oven Day Italy’s National Unity and Armed Forces Day King Tut Day Men Make Dinner Day (first Thu of Nov) (International) Project Management Day (first Thu of Nov) Sigd (International) Stout Day (first Thu of Nov) Use Your Common Sense Day Waiting for the Barbarians Day Fri, 5 American Football Day Bank Transfer Day Diwali—Govardhan Puja (National) Doughnut Appreciation Day (USA) Firewood Day Fountain Pen Day (first Fri of Nov) Guy Fawkes Day Jersey Friday (first Fri of Nov) Love Your Lawyer Day (first Fri of Nov) Love Your Red Hair Day (World) Tsunami Awareness Day Volunteer Managers Day Sat, 6 Basketball Day Birth of the Báb Bison Day (first Sat of Nov) Book Lover’s Day (first Sat of Nov and also on 9 Aug. Plugging in my book again for the occasion :) Buy/download, read, and review it here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited) Diwali—Bhai Duj Finnish Swedish Heritage Day Ladies Learning Code Day (Canada) Learn to Homebrew Day (Day of) Liberation of Kyiv Marooned without a Compass Day Nachos Day (USA) (World) Numbat Day (first Sat of Nov) Play outside Day (first Sat of every month) Pumpkin Destruction Day (Sat after Halloween) (International Day for) Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict Sausage and Kraut Day (first Sat of Nov)* Saxophone Day Team Manager Day Sun, 7 Birth of Bahá’u’lláh Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day (National) Cancer Awareness Day (India) Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day Daylight Saving Time ends (first Sun of Nov) Employee Brotherhood Day Hug a Bear Day (International Day of) Medical Physics (International) Merlot Day Notary Public Day Orphan Sunday (Sun in Nov) (International Day of) Prayer for the Persecuted Church (first or second Sun of Nov) Zero Tasking Day (first Sun of Nov) Mon, 8 Abet and Aid Punsters Day (YAS!!!) Ample Time Day Cappuccino Day Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day Dunce Day Harvey Wallbanger Day Intersex Day of Remembrance (World) Orphans Day (second Mon of Nov) Parents as Teachers Day (World) Pianist Day (World) Radiography Day STEM/STEAM Day (World) Town Planning Day Mon, 8 OR Sun, 14: International Tongue Twister Day Tue, 9 (World) Adoption Day British Pudding Day Carl Sagan Day Chaos Never Dies Day (National) Entrepreneurship Day (India) (World) Freedom Day Fried Chicken Sandwich Day Go to an Art Museum Day Legal Services Day (India) Microtia Awareness Day Scrapple Day Young Readers Day (second Tue of Nov) Wed, 10 (International) Accounting Day Area Code Day Chhath Puja Forget-Me-Not Day Martinmas Eve (International) Pathology Day (apparently, second Wed of Nov) (World) Science Day for Peace and Development Sesame Street (Debut) Day (World) Top up Day Vanilla Cupcake Day Thu, 11 Armistice Day (France) Bonza Bottler Day (National) Education Day (India) (National) Forestation Day (Turkey) Metal Day Origami Day Pepero Day Pocky Day (World) Quality Day (second Thu of Nov—see tips on how to celebrate it here) Red Lipstick Day Remembrance Day Singles’ Day (China) St. Martin’s Day Sundae Day (Also read: Turn your #IceCreamLove into a bestseller with these 25 cool ideas) (International) Tempranillo Day (second Thu of Nov) (World) Usability Day (second Thu of Nov) Veteran Owned Business Anniversary Veterans Day (USA) Fri, 12 Chicken Soup for the Soul Day Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day Fancy Rat and Mouse Day French Dip Day Happy Hour Day Pizza with the Works (Except Anchovies) Day (World) Pneumonia Day Postman’s Day, a.k.a. Dia del Cartero (Mexico) Sat, 13 Hug a Musician Day Indian Pudding Day (World) Kindness Day Mom’s and Dad’s Day Sadie Hawkins Day Start a Rumor Day Symphonic Metal Day Sat, 13 OR Sun, 14: Wine Tourism Day (Sat of the first full week in Nov or second Sun of Nov) Sun, 14 American Teddy Bear Day Block It out Day Children’s Day (India) (World) Diabetes Day Dobruja Day Family PJ Day (International) Girls Day (on or around 14 Nov) Loosen up, Lighten up Day (National Day of) Mourning (Germany—two Sundays before Advent) Operating Room Nurse Day Pickle Day Pupusa Day (second Sun of Nov) Remembrance Sunday (UK—second Sun of Nov) Seat Belt Day Spicy Guacamole Day Spirit of NSA (National Speakers Association) Day Mon, 15 America Recycles Day American Enterprise Day Bundt Cake Day Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day Drumming Day George Spelvin Day I Love to Write Day (Day of the) Imprisoned Writer King’s Feast Day of Belgium Odd Socks Day (day #1 of Anti-Bullying Week) Pack Your Mom’s Lunch Day Philanthropy Day Raisin Bran Cereal Day Rock Your Mocs Day Spicy Hermit Cookie Day Steve Irwin Day Tue, 16 Button Day Clarinet Day Entrepreneurs’ Day (USA—third Tue of Nov) Fast Food Day Have a Party with Your Bear Day (International Day for) Tolerance Wed, 17 Azerbaijan’s National Revival Day Baklava Day (World) Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day (usually, third Wed of Nov) Education Support Professionals Day (Wed of American Education Week) (National) Epilepsy Day (India) Farm Joke Day GIS (Geographic Information System) Day (Wed of Geography Awareness Week) (International) Happy Gose Day Hiking Day Homemade Bread Day (World) Prematurity Day (International) Students’ Day Take a Hike Day Unfriend Day Zinfandel Day Thu, 18 Apple Cider Day Beaujolais Nouveau Day (third Thu of Nov) Children’s Grief Awareness Day (apparently, third Thu of Nov) Croatia’s Vukovar Massacre Memorial Day Educator for a Day (apparently, Thu of American Education Week) European Antibiotic Awareness Day Great American Smokeout (third Thu of Nov / Thu before Thanksgiving) Married to a Scorpio Support Day Mickey Mouse’s birthday Minnie Mouse’s birthday Occult Day (World) Pancreatic Cancer Day (third Thu of Nov) (World) Philosophy Day (third Thu of Nov) Princess Day Push-Button Phone Day Rural Health Day (USA—third Thu of Nov) Social Enterprise Day (third Thu of Nov) Use Less Stuff Day (third Thu of Nov) Vichyssoise Day William Tell Day Fri, 19 American Made Matters Day Blow Bagpipes Day Camp Day Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day Equal Opportunity Day Guru Nanak Jayanti “Have a Bad Day” Day (International) Men’s Day National Integration Day (India) Play Monopoly Day Rocky & Bullwinkle Day Soup Day (Germany) (International) Stand Up to Bullying Day (third Fri of Nov + last Fri of Feb) Substitute Educators Day (apparently, Fri of American Education Week) (World) Toilet Day Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Sat, 20 Absurdity Day Adoption Day (USA—typically, Sat before Thanksgiving) Africa Industrialization Day Black Consciousness Day Beautiful Day (World) Children’s Day Family Volunteer Day (apparently, Sat before Thanksgiving) Future Teachers of America Day Globally Organized Hug a Runner Day (GOHARD) Name Your PC Day Pay Back Your Parents Day Peanut Butter Fudge Day (International) Survivors of Suicide Loss Day (Sat before Thanksgiving) Transgender Day of Remembrance Sun, 21 Alascattalo Day (International Day of the) Bible (no fixed date, apparently) Crystal Skull World Day (fourth Sun of Nov) False Confession Day (World) Fisheries Day Gingerbread Cookie Day (World) Hello Day Mother Goose Parade Day (Sun before Thanksgiving) Red Mitten Day (World Day of) Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims Stir-up Sunday (last Sun before Advent) Stuffing Day (World) Television Day (Also read: 10 Downton Abbey moments that make it the best TV show ever) Totensonntag UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) Awareness Day Mon, 22 Cranberry Relish Day Go for a Ride Day Housing Day Humane Society Anniversary Day Love Your Freckles Day* (National) Sovereignty Day (Argentina—Mon closest to 20 Nov) Start Your Own Country Day Tue, 23 Cashew Day Doctor Who Day Eat a Cranberry Day Espresso Day Fibonacci Day Rudolf Maister Day Wolfenoot Wed, 24 Brownielocks Day Carménère Day Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day DB Cooper Day Drinksgiving (USA) Jukebox Day (day before Thanksgiving) Sardines Day Tie One on Day (Wed before Thanksgiving) Use Even if Seal is Broken Day Thu, 25 Blasé Day (National) Blood Donor Day (Brazil) (Day of the) Covenant (251st day of the Baháʼí calendar year) (International Day for the) Elimination of Violence against Women Family Health History Day (same day as Thanksgiving) (National Day of) Mourning (USA—fourth Thu of Nov) Parfait Day Play Day with Dad Day Shopping Reminder Day Thanksgiving (USA—fourth Thu of Nov) #3YearsOfPiKuAurViRu (Buy/download, read, and review it here. It’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited) Turkey-Free Thanksgiving Unthanksgiving Day (USA—fourth Thu of Nov) White Ribbon Day (Australia) Fri, 26 Black Friday (Fri after Thanksgiving) Buy Nothing Day (fourth Fri of Nov) Cake Day Constitution Day, a.k.a. National Law Day (India) Flossing Day (day after Thanksgiving) Fur Free Friday (same day as Black Friday) Good Grief Day (World) Lewis Day (Day of) Listening (USA—day after Thanksgiving) Maize Day (day after Thanksgiving) (National) Milk Day (India) Native American Heritage Day (day after Thanksgiving) Sinkie Day (day after Thanksgiving) (International) Systems Engineer Day (last Fri of Nov) 26/11 Remembrance Day (India) You’re Welcome Day Sat, 27 Ascension of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá (253rd day of the Baháʼí calendar year) (International) Aura Awareness Day (fourth Sat of Nov) Bavarian Cream Pie Day Craft Jerky Day Electric Guitar Day Lancashire Day Pie in the Face Day Pins and Needles Day Small Business Saturday (Sat after Thanksgiving) Turtle Adoption Day Sun, 28 Advent Sunday (fourth Sun before Christmas) French Toast Day Make Your Own Head Day Red Planet Day Russia’s Mother’s Day (last Sun of Nov) Small Brewery Sunday (apparently, Sun after Thanksgiving) Mon, 29 Chadwick Boseman Day Chocolates Day Customer is Wrong Day Cyber Monday (Mon after Thanksgiving) Electronic Greetings Day Isdal Woman Day Lemon Cream Pie Day (International Day of) Solidarity with the Palestinian People Square Dancing Day Throw out Your Leftovers Day (I wouldn’t recommend that) Tue, 30 Cities for Life Day Computer Security Day GivingTuesday (generally, Tue after Thanksgiving) Mason Jar Day Meth Awareness Day Mousse Day Perpetual Youth Day Personal Space Day (Day of) Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare St. Andrew’s Day Stay Home Because You’re Well Day *Unconfirmed Sources: Checkiday, Days of the Year, Holidays and Observances, National Day Calendar, National Today, There is a Day for that

Create delicious copy nobody can get enough of, using these tips in the final post of my #FoodWritingFestival series Image: Spencer Davis | Unsplash In my previous blog post, I spelled out my favourite food moments in literature, followed by a (hopefully) delicious excerpt from my book, PiKu & ViRu. (Buy/download, read, and review my baby here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited!) If you’re wondering how I wrote the food scenes and descriptions in my novel and how you can come up with your own, I’ve lined up some quick must-dos for you. Obviously, I cannot speak on behalf of the master storytellers featured in that blog post. But I can share the methods that have worked for me and will also likely do for you if you practise them regularly. Here are the 5 things you need to do if you wish to nail food writing and paint toothsome pictures using the power of words. Don’t try to impress Do you know the #1 reason readers can’t get enough of an author’s writing and always polish it off in one go and even come back for second helpings or more? It’s the writer’s uniqueness—their distinct personality and voice—that they bring to the table. That’s why it’s essential if you aspire to be a writer that you speak up your mind and stay true to your likes and dislikes. If you feel a much-celebrated delicacy isn’t worth the hype, while others around you can’t stop raving about it, don’t hesitate to say you found it lukewarm. Yes, have a healthy regard for the painstaking process that goes into making a meal. But if the end result isn’t up to your taste, feel free to admit it. Here’s a tip to hone your straightforwardness muscles. Pay attention to the first thoughts that pop in your head at the sight, mention, or taste of a dish. Is it a simple adjective—“gobsmacking,” “out-of-this-world,” “jhakaas”? Or do you blurt out a popular meme or one-liner from a movie or TV show? Or are you reminded of a fictional food experience from a book or film (say, the Hogwarts feast)? No matter what they are or in what language or form, jot down your thoughts somewhere. They’ll come in handy when it’s time to write your story. If you’re worried about appearing irreverent or offensive, you can always show your work to a friend or editor for an opinion. Or come up with a workaround without the need to alter your original thought. But please try to stick to your take. The only thing you need to get right here is to convey it respectfully. I’d highly recommend Anthony Bourdain’s works for your practice in this department, especially his tell-all memoir Kitchen Confidential. I love how the late chef never minced his words while serving his opinions, and at the same time, retained his humility. You can strike this balance only if you’re a good human being, so yes, that’s the first thing we should all aim for. Change, after all, happens from the inside out. Do read the 50 business lessons I’ve gleaned from this book here. Use your imagination—and feed it, too I seriously wish to have JK Rowling levels of imagination—especially whenever I come across all those gorgeous food descriptions in Harry Potter! Now, I’m not sure about the process she uses to hone her creativity, nor do I think following it is going to bring me anywhere even remotely close to her levels of awesomeness. But I can elaborate on the one I swear by for whatever level I’m at. Check out my post on creativity exercises here and apply them right away. The age-old advice to “think like a kid,” too, is applicable in this regard. And yes, read and even write fiction. Not only would you end up filling up your reserves of language and imagination. You’d also be able to do as much amount of justice to your routine writing job or gigs. You could maintain a swipe file of your favourite food descriptions, but given the time and effort required, I suggest you don’t push yourself to do this. In addition, staying updated about the food industry through long-form food articles, trend pieces, newsletters, books, blogs, etc., is a highly useful pursuit. You’d end up exercising your opinion-forming muscles this way. And most importantly, hit your kitchen, shop for ingredients (preferably at a store rather than online if possible), learn to bargain, inventory your supplies, ensure cleanliness and hygiene, and of course, whip up as many dishes as you can. There’s no better way to understand the world of food than by managing and helming your own cooking. Ditch the need for perfection, and enjoy the process. Trust your gut Yes, plotting a story is important—so is research. But after a point, you need to let go and allow your inner wisdom and imagination to take over. It knows better than your logical mind, so speed-writing without pausing to edit is a great, time-saving way to get your first draft done. Trust that your imagination and subconscious mind will come up with all the meaty details, drama, conflict, and emotional elements needed in your food story to keep your readers engaged. Remember the rule: “Dump now, plot and edit later.” May I also recommend mind-mapping for your plotting? I’ve used this technique for a few chapters of PiKu & ViRu, and I’m amazed at how it simplifies the process even more! List out your most memorable food experiences and ask yourself why they’re special When writing food scenes, it pays to go back in time and revisit your favourite food experiences and the factors that make them endure in your memory. Where did you have these experiences? When? With whom—or were you all alone? Did they involve home-cooked food or restaurant meals? Were they a lavish, expensive affair or simple, humble street-side fare? Get as many details as possible. Don’t forget to jot down the sensory information, too—sight, colours, aromas, tastes, textures, and the sound of the bite or sip. It’s also important to note that bad, unpleasant food experiences tend to elicit more vivid descriptions from us than the good, epic ones. List them down, too. You never know how they’d go on to shape your next narrative. Don’t force yourself to have certain kinds of food experiences, especially those that are out of your town, country, budget, or comfort levels right now. Trust that life’s bringing you and taking you to the exact ones you need. Remember: Every food story is special. Of course, you should also visualise your dream meal and where you’d love to have it. Let your imagination go wild for this one! Practise these writing prompts If you feel stuck in your writing, what’s better than writing prompts to unstick you? Here are 170+ of them, so you won’t have a dearth of writing ideas. Mix and match to come up with a unique food story of your own. Try to write at least five days a week (I write for six, with Mondays off). What are the tips and techniques you swear by for crafting food literature of your own? Share them all in the comments below. I love hearing from you about your feedback and experiences!

In the third blog post of my month-long #FoodWritingFestival series, here’s a list of my favourite food moments in literature When food finds its way into books, it’s a sensory treat all the way. We get to imagine the pleasures of a hearty meal beautifully woven into an already intriguing plot. And if one succeeds in painting these mouthwatering visions through words, every other form of food writing becomes a piece of cake for them. Here’s an attempt to learn from the best through a compilation of my favourite food moments in books. I’ll add more to this list as and when I come across more such gems. For now, here are my top 7 picks. ‘Harry Potter’ by JK Rowling No list of food scenes in books can ever be complete without even a mention of the out-of-the-world feasts at Hogwarts, arguably the most famous wizarding school in the world of fiction. The spread of “roast beef,” “roast chicken,” “pork chops,” “lamb chops,” “sausages,” “bacon,” “steak,” “boiled potatoes,” “roast potatoes,” “chips,” “Yorkshire pudding,” “blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of,” “apple pies,” “treacle tarts,” “chocolate éclairs,” “jam doughnuts,” “trifle,” and more is just as captivating as the magic at play in the seven-plus books. Also, right outside Hogwarts’ majestic walls, stands the sweet haven of Honeydukes, a chocolate and confectionary shop in the adjacent village of Hogsmeade famed for its “creamy chunks of nougat,” “shimmering pink squares of coconut ice,” “fat, honey-coloured toffees,” “hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows,” “Every Flavour Beans,” “Fizzing Whizzbees,” “levitating sherbet balls,” and “Special Effects sweets,” including “Droobles Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-coloured bubbles that refused to pop for days),” “fragile sugar-spun quills,” and “exploding bonbons,” to name a few. Phew. The Twins at St. Clare’s by Enid Blyton Blyton’s joyful food descriptions are what most of us have taken away from her iconic works. My school-time favourite, however, was her St. Clare’s series. While I’ve forgotten most of the story, the “midnight feasts” at the fictional boarding school, complete with their “ginger-beer,” still remain fresh in my memory. “Golly! Pork-pie and chocolate cake, sardines and Nestlé’s milk, chocolate and peppermint creams, tinned pineapple and ginger-beer!” said Janet. “Talk about a feast! I bet this beats the upper third’s feast hollow! Come on—let’s begin. I’ll cut the cake.” I’ve been too partial to the St. Clare’s series to read other Blyton novels, which is why I’ve missed the numerous delights she immortalised in those pages. I’ll make it a goal to devour these remaining works, despite their alleged failure at aging well. In any case, who wouldn’t want those midnight feasts 24x7?! Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom I sought inspiration from this book; instead, it left me with a lot of hunger. Hunger to make the most of my life, as well as the one anticipating the arrival of scrumptious food, such as the potato salad, macaroni salad, bagels, apple cobbler, and baklava the author would get for his teacher Morrie during his visits. Drooling already, aren’t we? The Food of Love by Anthony Capella This Italian romance reminiscent of the Madhuri Dixit-starrer Saajan has its male characters working at a Michelin-starred restaurant. So, it’s obvious to expect some glorious Italian food gracing its pages. In fact, the very first chapter describes the workings of a ristretto machine, capable of producing a “red-brown ooze with a hanging quality like honey dripping off the end of a butter knife, with a chestnut-coloured crema and a sweet oily tang that required no sugar, only a gulp of acqua minerale and a bite of a sugar-dusted cornetto”. My favourites, though, are the parts involving the chef character, Bruno, and the chapter showing the workings of the restaurant. The book has been divided into acts as if they’re meal courses—Antipasto, Primo, Secondo, Insalata, Dolci, and Ricette. If you’re looking for a #foodporn novel without much regard for the actual plot, this one’s worth your time and taste. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Despite its issues, this bestselling memoir leaves no stone unturned in whetting our appetite. The author’s goal during her first of three life-changing trips, which is to Italy, is to simply enjoy its culinary side and scoop up as much of it as possible. Thanks to Gilbert’s unique voice and style, we, too, end up lusting for the gelato and Neapolitan pizza. Then I went for a walk and ate some pistachio gelato. Which Italians consider a perfectly reasonable thing to be eating at 9:30 AM, and I frankly could not agree with them more. The Godfather by Mario Puzo This gangster novel is perhaps the last book anyone would think of when it comes to food scenes, but legendary storyteller Mario Puzo certainly knew how to mix the gritty with the delicious. It’s mostly simple and home-style fare here, including a “sloppy sandwich” of fried peppers, rustled up by Santino Corleone, with “hot olive oil dripping from his fingers”. And that’s actually the best thing about the book. Tom Hagen was given a hot dish of spaghetti with oily rich tomato sauce, the taste of which he had never forgotten, and then given a metal folding bed to sleep on. Even the movie has its fair share of deliciousness, made even more tempting with some gorgeous cutlery-on-crockery sound effects. The Wedding Tamasha by Sudha Nair Among the Indian novels that make things drool-worthy for readers, is this 2017 Pen to Publish winner, which amps up the food quotient with its scrumptious wedding spreads. Going by the descriptions of how the payasam and ada are prepared, it certainly is #foodcoma in a book! And of course, PiKu & ViRu by Yours Truly! Time for some self-promotion now, hehe. While my baby isn’t an out-and-out food novel, it certainly has its share of delicious moments—from PiKu enjoying one of ViRu’s characters’ favourite golgappas in Delhi to her savouring a fully loaded thali in ViRu’s make-up room in his presence. The vendor filled a small orange-brown UFO-shaped puri with a mixture of chopped boiled potatoes, boiled chickpeas and tamarind paste. He then dipped the puri into a steel barrel of green chutney water, with coriander leaves floating on top. I stuffed the puri into my mouth and let its crisp texture and piquant notes captivate me. I hope to learn from the aforementioned master storytellers and inject even more deliciousness into my next novel. For now, buy/download, read, and review PiKu & ViRu here if you haven’t yet; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited. More on my devour list Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel Chocolat by Joanne Harris More than Just Biryani by Andaleeb Wajid The Crunch Factor by Andaleeb Wajid Lallan Sweets by Srishti Chaudhary Sorry Fugu by TC Boyle

In the second post of my #FoodWritingFestival series, I list out 170+ ideas and writing prompts that will make food content writing a feast Image: Heather Ford | Unsplash We understand why you want to be a food writer or blogger. (Or a food YouTuber or content creator for that matter.) It’s a colourful, scrumptious, and tempting world, with the opportunity to taste a host of treats along the way (because why not). Besides, food brings the world on your plate when travel takes a backseat. Who doesn’t like being the person who sums up these mouthwatering experiences in the most delicious words and sends them straight to everyone’s reading devices? Even as a fiction writer, you’d want to be able to describe the sensory aspects of the culinary world like a pro. (If you’d like to see how I’ve done my food scenes in fiction, check them out in my book PiKu & ViRu. Buy/download, read, and review it here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Do post a review on how you found the book and its foodie moments.) And if you can get paid to write about food, it’s like the proverbial cherry on the icing. Recipes and long-form stories have always been the most popular and sought-after avenues for food content writing. But not only are you going to need a huge bank of ideas for your pitching process. You should also keep your options open for other lesser-known but equally rewarding avenues. That’s where this big list of food content ideas, formats, templates, and writing prompts comes in. Take whatever you need, mix and match, or make some tweaks to come up with something on your own. Or use more than one format to conjure multiple story angles for the same idea. You can also give one of your previously published stories a fresh lease of life by adapting it to a different template. In short, there are several ways of using this list. It’s a neverending one, as I’ll update it with more ideas as and when they strike me. Do share your ideas, too, in the comments. So, here it is, without further ado. Let me know in the comments how it works out for you. In any case, food writing will become a piece of cake for you if you follow this one. 001. Essay spotlighting a particular dish 002. Essay spotlighting a particular ingredient 003. Essay spotlighting a particular cuisine 004. Feature on a particular restaurant 005. Essay spotlighting a cooking technique 006. Essay spotlighting a cooking equipment 007. Essay spotlighting a cooking tradition or practice 008. Feature on a specific food career 009. Profile of a food business 010. Feature on a food/eating lifestyle 011. Chef profile 012. Chef interview 013. Chef biography 014. Food entrepreneur profile 015. Food entrepreneur interview 016. Food entrepreneur biography 017. Restaurant, café, or bar review 018. Restaurant, café, or bar preview/first look 019. Restaurant, café, or bar profile 020. Restaurant, café, or bar comparison 021. Best restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination 022. What to eat in a particular area or destination 023. Where to have a particular local food/beverage (e.g. where to eat the best biryani in Hyderabad, Mumbai’s tastiest vada pavs, best hot chocolate in Switzerland) 024. Best restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination for a particular cuisine 025. Best breakfasts in a particular area or destination 026. What to eat for breakfast in a particular area or destination 027. Food & drink pairings 028. Best street food in a particular area or destination 029. What street food to eat in a particular area or destination 030. Food product review 031. Food equipment review 032. New food products and equipment 033. Meals with a view 034. Best rooftop restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination 035. Best alfresco restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination 036. Best new restaurants, bars, cafés 037. Recipes (of course!) 038. Food tips and hacks 039. Food explainers (what is foie gras, what is sous vide, why cocktail is called so, how is latte different from a cappuccino, etc.) 040. Food memories 041. History of a dish 042. History of an ingredient 043. History of a cuisine 044. History of a restaurant 045. History of a cooking technique 046. History of a cooking equipment 047. History of a cooking tradition or practice 048. History of a specific food career 049. History of a food/eating lifestyle 050. Fun facts about a dish 051. Fun facts about an ingredient 052. Fun facts about a cuisine 053. Fun facts about a restaurant 054. Fun facts about a chef 055. Fun facts about a cooking equipment 056. Fun facts about a cooking technique 057. Fun facts about a cooking tradition or practice 058. Fun facts about a food career 059. Fun facts about a food business 060. Fun facts about a food/eating lifestyle 061. Food trivia 062. Food trivia quiz 063. Food personality quiz 064. Best books to read on a particular food or food-related topic 065. Anything about food in ‘numbers’ 066. Food memes 067. Food puns 068. Food quotes (can also be used on merchandise such as mugs, plates, and coasters) 069. Food events and days (like how I’ve compiled for October 2021) 070. Food photography tips and tricks 071. Personal experiments 072. Personal campaigns (for example, eating only one kind of food for a year to support a cause and then documenting the results in a series of articles or on your blog) 073. Photo essay 074. Food-related etiquette and dos and don’ts (for example, what to bear in mind during Japanese tea ceremonies, Russian vodka drinking, English afternoon tea, etc.) 075. Food souvenirs to bring back from your trips 076. Foods to take on your trips 077. F&B (food and beverage) industry news & updates 078. Best farm-to-table/eco-friendly meal experiences 079. Food-related quirks and oddities 080. A food-related problem you’ve been facing and how you’re solving it (or have solved it) 081. First-hand narration of a food-related lifestyle (e.g. searching for vegan food in a predominantly non-vegetarian place) 082. Food trends 083. Opinion on a food trend or news development 084. Column or diary based on your personal food experiences 085. Food fiction 086. Food poems 087. Food-focused travelogues 088. Tracing the timeline of a food 089. Tracing the timeline of an ingredient 090. Tracing the timeline of a cuisine 091. Tracing the timeline of an heirloom recipe 092. Tracing the timeline of a restaurant 093. Tracing the timeline of a cooking equipment 094. Tracing the timeline of a cooking technique 095. Tracing the timeline of a cooking tradition or practice 096. Tracing the timeline of a food career 097. Tracing the timeline of a food business 098. Tracing the timeline of a food/eating lifestyle 099. How-to articles 100. Food-related case studies, white papers, or research 101. Food-themed blog campaigns 102. Food-themed SM posts and campaigns 103. Obituaries and ‘In Memoriam’ stories 104. Scenarios—predictions of future events based on current trends or developments 105. Food tech 106. Food app review 107. Food app preview/first look 108. Food app profile 109. Food app comparison 110. Food polls 111. Food contests 112. Food show or video—concept, research, script 113. Food event—concept, research, script 114. ‘A to Z’ food stories 115. Press releases 116. Teaching stories for food techniques 117. Teaching stories for food equipment operation 118. Ad & product copy 119. Advertorials 120. Translations 121. Infographics 122. Tables, charts, diagrams 123. Transcripts of commentaries, event panels, talk shows, podcasts, etc. 124. Website & app content 125. Menus 126. Catalogues, brochures, manuals, and other promotional materials 127. Mission, vision, and purpose statements for a food business 128. The first, last, best, worst, smallest, largest in food 129. Shopping lists 130. Pantry & kitchen showcases 131. Celebrity food experiences & recos 132. Food experiences and recos by chefs or any other food expert 133. Exploring the science behind a dish, equipment, cooking tradition, or technique 134. Food farming stories 135. Health & nutrition 136. Best (and worst) cooking shows 137. Cooking show review 138. Interview with the team of a cooking show 139. Dream breakfast, lunch, and dinner 140. Most memorable breakfast, lunch, or dinner 141. Dream kitchen and pantry 142. Bucket list of restaurants 143. Bucket list of foods 144. Wish list of food and cooking products 145. Your diet plan 146. Cooking and eating routine 147. Favourite (and least favourite) cookbooks 148. Cookbook reviews 149. Cookbook author interviews 150. Face-off between two foods 151. Best foods for a given season 152. Best foods for a given reason (such as heartbreak, grief, exams) 153. Foods for specific kinds of travel (for example, treks, picnics, camping) 154. If you could have only food for a year or lifetime 155. Weird, unusual foods 156. Your dream wedding spread 157. Nutritional profile of a dish 158. Breaking convention (for example, having dessert as your first course, eating Maggi with dahi or pickle, ordering a mac-and-cheese ice cream) 159. Word clouds 160. Tasting notes 161. Review of a tasting session 162. Nutritional pros and cons of a dish, ingredient, cuisine, technique, equipment, or lifestyle 163. Best restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination within a specific budget 164. BTS of an iconic restaurant dish 165. Tracing the birthplace of an iconic dish (and if possible, interviewing its inventor) 166. The best cameras and/or smartphones for food photography 167. Camera/smartphone review for food photography 168. Best food scenes in movies and TV shows 169. The most expensive food experiences 170. The cheapest food experiences 171. Comparing the cheapest, mid-priced, and most expensive versions of the same food 172. Food-themed newsletter

Get this mega serving of 150+ food and drink holidays and events in the first blog post of my month-long #FoodWritingFestival series Images: (From L to R) Jaeyoon Jeong | Unsplash; Chad Montano | Unsplash; Kobby Mendez | Unsplash Are you a food blogger, vlogger, or photographer constantly seeking topical ideas for your content? Are you a food writer looking to email timely story pitches to your favourite publications? Or are you a collector of delicious food-related trivia from all and pantry—sorry, sundry? No matter who you are, you are sure to benefit from this October 2021 food calendar I have compiled. With 150-plus food holidays and occasions from India and around the world, this big list has all the inspo you need for your blog stories, social media posts, article pitches, books, and more. The more topical your content, the higher its chances of raking in the numbers. So, bookmark this calendar for your food stories. You’re unlikely to find anything like this anywhere else! Also, do keep an eye out for my blog posts on all things food and food writing, including the ones for October’s #FoodWritingFestival, right here. You can access the larger October 2021 content calendar here. Month-long events American Cheese Month Apple Month Applejack Month Bake and Decorate Month Caffeine Addiction Recovery Month Caramel Month Chili Month (World) Chocolate Awareness Month Consumer Information Month Cookbook Month Cookie Month (Eat) Country Ham Month Cranberry Month Dessert Month (Also read: Turn your #IceCreamLove into a bestseller with these 25 cool ideas) Eat Better, Eat Together Month Gourmet Adventures Month Non-GMO Month Pasta Month Persimmon Month Pescatarian Month Pickled Peppers Month Pineapple Month Pizza Month Popcorn Poppin’ Month Pork Month Pretzel Month Pumpkin Month Rhubarb Month Sausage Month Seafood Month Spinach Lovers Month Tackling Hunger Month (World) Vegetarian Month, a.k.a. Vegetarian Awareness Month Multiple-day events Sun, 3–Sat, 9 – Healthcare Foodservice Workers Week Mon, 4–Fri, 8 – Malnutrition Awareness Week Tue, 5–Thu, 7 – Pchum Ben Thu, 7–Fri, 15 – Mysore Dasara Thu, 7–Fri, 15 – Navratri Mon, 11–Fri, 15 – Durga Puja Mon, 11–Fri, 15 – School Lunch Week Sun, 17–Sat, 23 – Forest Products Week (third full week of Oct) Single-day events Fri, 1 (International) Coffee Day Homemade Cookies Day Pudding Season starts Pumpkin Spice Day Vegan Baking Day (World) Vegetarian Day Sat, 2 (International) Chole Bhature Day Fried Scallops Day (World) No Alcohol Day Research Maniacs Food Day Sun, 3 Caramel Custard Day (World) Communion Sunday (first Sun of October) Country Inn Bed & Breakfast Day (first Sun of October) (Global) Smoothie Day Mon, 4 Cinnamon Bun Day, a.k.a. Cinnamon Roll Day Feast of St. Francis of Assisi Taco Day Vodka Day Tue, 5 Apple Betty Day Fruit at Work Day (first Tue of Oct) Wed, 6 Canadian Beer Day Coffee with a Cop Day (first Wed of Oct) Garlic Lovers Day Kale Day (first Wed of Oct) Mad Hatter Day Noodle Day Orange Wine Day Pumpkin Seed Day (first Wed of Oct) Thu, 7 Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Day Frappe Day Fri, 8 (World) Egg Day (second Fri of Oct) Fluffernutter Day Pierogi Day Salmon Day Sat, 9 (International) Beer and Pizza Day Moldy Cheese Day (International) Pinotage Day (second Sat of Oct) Submarine Hoagie Hero Grinder Day Sun, 10 Angel Food Cake Day Cake Decorating Day (World) Porridge Day Squid Day, a.k.a. Cuttlefish Day, a.k.a. Squittleday Mon, 11 (World) Dulce de Leche Day Sausage Pizza Day Thanksgiving (Canada—second Mon of Oct) Tue, 12 Cookbook Launch Day Farmer’s Day (USA) Gumbo Day Pulled Pork Day Wed, 13 Durga Ashtami M&M Day Take Your Parents to Lunch Day (the Wed of the second full week in Oct) Treat Yo’ Self Day Yorkshire Pudding Day (USA) Thu, 14 Chocolate-Covered Insect Day Dessert Day (International) Prokupac Day Fri, 15 Cheese Curd Day Chicken Cacciatore Day Dussehra Mushroom Day (USA) Roast Pheasant Day Shawarma Day Fri, 15 OR Fri, 22: Champagne Day Sat, 16 (World) Bread Day (World) Food Day Liqueur Day Sweetest Day (mostly, third Sat of Oct) Sun, 17 Four Prunes Day Pasta Day (USA) Mon, 18 Chocolate Cupcake Day Kati Bihu Meatloaf Appreciation Day Tue, 19 (International) Gin & Tonic Day Id-e-Milad Seafood Bisque Day Tue, 19 OR Wed, 20: Sharad Purnima Wed, 20 Brandied Fruit Day (International) Chefs Day (PiKu & ViRu 2 may have a plot revolving around chefs. Can you guess what it could be? Meanwhile, if you haven’t got your copy of the first PiKu & ViRu book yet, buy/download, read, and review it here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited!) Office Chocolate Day (World) Osteoporosis Day Thu, 21 Apple Day (USA) Garbanzo Bean Day (Global) Iodine Deficiency Disorder Prevention Day, a.k.a. (World) Iodine Deficiency Day Mezcal Day (International Day of the) Nacho Pumpkin Cheesecake Day Fri, 22 Eat a Pretzel Day Nut Day Sat, 23 Boston Cream Pie Day Canning Day Sun, 24 Bologna Day Food Day (USA) Good & Plenty Day Karak Chaturthi (World) Tripe Day Mon, 25 Greasy Foods Day (World) Pasta Day (World) Pizza Makers Day Sourest Day Tue, 26 Chicken Fried Steak Day Mincemeat Day Pumpkin Day Wed, 27 American Beer Day Thu, 28 Ahoi Ashtami Carignan Day (last Thu of Oct) Chocolate Day (USA) Wild Foods Day Fri, 29 Breadstick Day (last Fri of Oct) Oatmeal Day Sat, 30 Candy Corn Day Haunted Refrigerator Night Sugar Addiction Awareness Day Sun, 31 Caramel Apple Day Halloween Sources: Bank Bazaar, Days of the Year, Holidays and Observances, Holiday Insights, National Day Calendar, National Today