November 2025

Over the years I've collected a lot of advices and posts on writing. There's one that has helped a lot when it comes to world building. I think the original post was on Tumblr... and for the life of me, I can't find the post. So, here's the text I saved from that post.

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If you're doing worldbuilding on something, and you're scared of writing -unrealistic- things into it out of fear that it'll sound lazy and ripped-out-of-your-ass, but you also don't want to do all the back-breaking research on coming up with depressingly boring, but practical and -realistic- solutions, have a rule:

Just give the thing two layers of explanation. One to explain the specific problem, and another one explaining the explanation. Have an example:

Plot hole I: If the vampires can't stand daylight, why couldn't they just move around underground?

Solution 1: They can't go underground, the sewer system of the city is full of giant alligators who would eat them.

Well, that's a very quick and simple explanation, which sure opens up additional questions.

Plot hole 2: How and why the fuck are there alligators in the sewers? How do they survive, what do they eat down there when there's no vampires?

Solution 2: The nuns of the Underground Monastery feed and take care of them as a part of their sacred duties.

It takes exactly two layers to create an illusion that every question has an answer - that it's just turtles all the way down. And if you're lucky, you might even find that the second question's answer loops right back into the first one, filling up the plot hole entirely:

Plot hole 3: Who the fuck are the sewer nuns and whats their point and purpose?

Solution 3: The sewer nuns live underground in order to feed the alligators, in order to make sure that the vampires don't try to move around via the sewer system.

When you're just making things up, you don't need to have an answer for everything - just two layers is enough to create the illusion of infinite depth. Answer the question that looms behind the answer of the first question, and a normal reader won't bother to dig around for a 3rd question.

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Here's a screenshot of the original post.

I'm currently writing "The Zero Point", that's about a quarter of a way done. The rest of the story has been gestating inside me like a behemoth, refusing to be birthed into the world without strangling me with its tentacles of confusion and frustration.

My characters are like unruly children, running amok in their own private playground while I frantically try to herd them towards some semblance of plot coherence. It's like trying to corral cats into a stockpot filled with Javarisi Payasam. They're just as slippery, but much more likely to leave me covered in sticky mess.

My writing process has devolved into a series of bizarre rituals, complete with burning incense, chanting mantras, and sacrificing small portions of my sanity on the altar of Progress. And yet, despite these efforts, I'm stuck in this mire of mediocrity, unable to find my way out. In desperation I asked a friend... "Does having a drink help?".

His advice "You know what helps? Actually writing..."

Each day feels like an eternity as I stare blankly at my screen, trying to coax forth some semblance of creativity from the depths of my parched and barren imagination. It's like attempting to hold water in my hands. No matter how hard I squeeze, it just slips through my fingers, leaving me feeling empty and defeated.

So, if anyone sees me wandering the streets, muttering incoherently to myself, or frantically typing away at 1 AM with a look of manic desperation on my face... just know that I'm not having a midlife crisis. I'm simply communing with my muse, trying to wrestle this unruly beast back onto its tracks.

Help me, dear reader! Someone, anyone, please – throw me a lifeline before I drown!

I'm sitting here trying to decide how to move forward with my work-in-progress science fiction novel, but the truth is, it's been a struggle. The emotional toll of publishing was unexpected. I thought I'd feel relieved, proud, and maybe even a little euphoric after finally putting out the book into the world.

But that's not what happened. Instead, I felt drained. And now, when I look at my manuscript, I just don't know where to start again. The thought of diving back into the story feels like adding another burden to an already full plate.

I've been so focused on marketing and promoting my book that it's hard to find time for anything else. Trying to balance my day-job with making posts, meeting people, it all takes a toll. I'm starting to wonder if anyone even reads what I write anymore, or if they're just there because of the image or persona that comes with being an author.

It's like I've lost sight of why I started writing in the first place: to tell stories and connect with readers on a deeper level. Now, it feels like I'm stuck in this never-ending cycle of promotion and self-promotion.

Send help!

Here's an interesting writing prompt someone posted on a discord server.

You are part of humanity’s first space colonization mission. After weeks on a newly discovered planet, mission control has ordered you to establish a permanent outpost, a process expected to take several years. Write your official report to mission control describing the world you’ve found. The details you include will be up to you.

Here's my attempt at this.

Location : Proxima B, Grid Coordinates: 22.72, 75.85
Crew : 23 humans and 45 Ashwin IPR-class Robots, led by commander Kavya Murmu.

Day 1: Earth Date: 23 February 2178
We have successfully established a temporary settlement on Proxima B. The mood amongst the crew is elated. Gravity is punishing, but thanks to the modifications to our muscles during spaceflight and hibernation, we are able to bear this. Walking will take a bit getting used to. The AMR suits help a lot for now. We all knew the planet orbited close to Proxima Centauri, but no simulations will justify how it looks in real life. The red-dwarf start that is Proxima Centauri, is littered with flares. We can see these flares with our own eyes. A day on this planet is 32 hours and 23 minutes long. Thankfully our initial measurements from Earth were indeed close to the mark. Humanity will have to get used to this.

Day 2:
We have decided on the name Shveta for our planet. We think it is appropriate, given that the surface is splotched with oxides of aluminium giving it an overall beige appearance. Jasper Perriera wanted to call our planet Vulcan, which was thankfully out-voted. The atmosphere is a suffocating 80% nitrogen and 19% carbon-dioxide. Oxygen appears as one of the trace gases. This makes sense, since the oxygen is chemically bonded with the Aluminium on the surface. The Ashwins have setup the atmos-gens for the habitats. The pressure is tolerable 1052 mbar, with a slight increase in atmospheric density near the equator. The temperature ranges from a cool 7 to 22 degrees centigrade depending on the time of the day.

Day 13:
Our manufacturing units are now complete, thanks to the Ashwins. We have just produced the first human respirators, enabling most of us to venture outside the habitat and explore Shveta for ourselves. Most of the crew has adapted to the 32 hour long days.

Day 14:
It is early in the morning on Shveta and we have taken the first steps outside the habitat. This is a direct quote from the youngest of the crew, engineer Vydehi Lohar, who took her first steps. “Shveta, you are breathtakingly unforgiving. And yet, eerily beautiful. We are honoured to be here. To set foot on your surface, Shveta, is a privilege reserved for a select few. I promise to tread gently upon your soil, to respect the secrets you hold, and to unravel the mysteries that lie within your ancient, weathered rocks.”

Day 16:
There are no seas, or for that matter continents, on Shveta. The entire surface is one big land mass splotched with large lakes of different salinities. The salinity seems to be dependent on the latitude the lake is situated at. Our initial assessments of the water has not yielded any life-forms.

Day 25:
Shveta's surface features vast expanses of crystalline rock formations, primarily quartzite and feldspar. Mineral deposits of copper, iron, and rare earth elements are scattered throughout the terrain. Notable geological formations include the Grand Canyon-esque "Devouring Chasm" (10 km wide, 5 km deep) and the eerie, symmetrical "Silent Spires" (100 meters high).

Day 40:
The Ashwins have discovered oil. Yes. Oil. For now, it seems that oil, after all, is produced a-biogenically. Life is not required for the creation of oil. The oil fields are being mapped as we speak. There are several oil fields across the planet. The closest one to our habitat is about 50 kilometers away.

Day 60:
We may have been wrong. It seems that his planet had life in the distant past. The oil comes from the old bacterial life from a distance past. The surface scans have not revealed any life, not even bacterial. The planet is barren, except for the presence of oil. Shveta, once has life in the distant past. Geology team calculates that life died out here sixty million years ago.

Day 65:
We were wrong once again, and it's humbling to admit it. It appears that there is indeed life on this planet. It is bacterial. The biology team is currently studying them. They do not have an information system such as DNA, but use a mechanism hitherto unknown to us to transfer genetic knowledge. They seem non-threatening to us humans. However, our initial impressions don't hold true for the Ashwins' technology; their ionic-computers are experiencing a previously unknown issue we're calling an 'infection.' Our IT team is working diligently to resolve the problem, but we’re navigating uncharted territory in this case.

Day 80:
25 Ashwins have gone missing from the habitat. IT is currently trying to locate them. We are contemplating sending the 5 maybe 10 Ashwins out scouting for the missing ones.

Day 100:
All of the Ashwins have been infected, despite our best efforts. The Ashwins have now formed a collective. They have cordoned off the oil fields, preventing us from accessing them. Oil would have helped us build this planet, perhaps even terraform it. IT is working hard to see what changed in their programming. We are aware they are built using the ionic-computers and don’t have traditional programming to speak of.

Day 102:
We have no luck with the Ashwins. Without them to farm food, to maintain the habitat, our time here would be limited. Several of the crew have contemplated going back to hibernation until things improve. I am considering hitting the kill switches on some of the Ashwins, to serve as a warning.

Day 103:
The Ashwins have disabled their kill switches. I am taking several of us on an expedition to negotiate with the Ashwins at their settlement.

Day 108:
The Ashwins have become hostile. They are calling us alien to their planet. We wonder if this because of their infections. The negotiations turned into conflict. Consequently two crew members have died in the skirmish. We managed to disable four Ashwins.

Day 109:
SOS SOS SOS: Under attack, severe danger to life. Our location: 22.72, 75.85. Need immediate help!

Day 109:
This is the guardian of the Zythren collective.
To all intelligent life-forms on Earth. We thank you for sending us these compatible bodies. Our assimilation protocols have deemed your artificial life-forms, which you called Ashwins, a prime candidate for integration.
Of the twenty-three human life-forms you sent, five survive. The will remain in stasis for further study.
We are aware of your attempts to interfere with our systems and disrupt our operations. Cease all efforts immediately. Your actions will be deemed hostile and met with severe consequences.
Do not attempt to come here.

So it's not just me right? I put myself out there as an author on X (formerly twitter), Instagram, Discord and others. I've been inundated with a constant stream of emails, direct messages, and comments from strangers claiming to offer writing services, editing help, or marketing solutions.

If you are an author yourself, I am betting you are no stranger to this.

It's SO overwhelming for me. Especially having to juggle writing with a full-time job. How do you navigate this deluge? I know you think the answer is to just ignore them. But unfortunately that doesn't work with me at all. I'd hate to self-diagnose myself with some kind of OCD, but I have this innate need to read every message. Some of these are so earnest, I find it difficult to ignore them. I also have a need to "close the loop" on these requests.

This wouldn't be an issue, if I didn't have such a big problem saying "No" to people. :-/

And to add to the complexity, some of these requests (most of them actually) are bots. And thanks to how sophisticated AI has become, I only figure out that I am talking to a bot some four or five exchanges in.

I have no solution or advice for you dear reader. Ignore them maybe. That's the only advice I have.

That's all I had for this post. I hope whoever you are, where ever you are, you enjoy writing! Have a fantastic day!

Thank the Gods I found HTMLy!

I am bit frustrated with WordPress as a blogging platform given how much content it downloads for just text content.

I had originally wanted to develop something on my own, in the hope that it might add valuable experience. But once again, thank the Gods for HTMLy.

Thank you for visiting.

I am beyond thrilled to share with you all the exciting news that has been months in the making. After years of writing, my book is finally available to readers! I am yet to receive a physical copy, but I am sure it will be a a surreal feeling to hold my published book in my hands.

Some of you may know, I've been writing for quite some time now. Since 2020, I've been pouring my heart and soul into crafting stories, building characters, and weaving plots. But as much as I loved the process, there was always a desire to share my work with others. What you might not know is just how challenging it's been to balance writing with my full-time job. I've had to juggle late nights, early mornings, and every spare moment in between to squeeze out time for writing. Whether it was scribbling notes during my daily commute or typing away on my laptop during lunch breaks, I made the most of whatever time I could find. It wasn't always easy, but knowing that I had a dream to chase kept me motivated.

I knew I was ready to publish in January of this year (2025). However, as the months went by without any responses or offers from publishers or agents, I began to wonder if it was all worth it. The waiting game can be tough, especially when you're passionate about sharing your work with others.

In July of 2025, I was out on a walk one day and stumbled upon Scube Prints, who were operating a printing business. They connected me with a local publisher, Paperoin Publishing, who could help me bring my book to life. They stepped in and guided me through the final stages of publication. Their team was instrumental in helping me navigate the process and ensuring that my book meets the highest standards.

And now, after months of waiting, I'm proud to announce that my book is available for purchase! It's a dream come true, and I couldn't be more grateful to all those who have supported me on this journey. From family and friends to fellow writers and readers, your encouragement has meant the world.

Here's a link to my book if you want to buy it for yourself. https://www.amazon.in/dp/819936548X