Skip to main content

About the author

My name is Dinara and I am an author. I have written many a short story (and managed to have a few of them published even!), but I have always wanted to write a novel. Give me a harpoon and call me Ahab, because writing a novel is my white whale.

Needless to say, I partook in Nanowrimo (many, many times), and while it has been an invaluable learning experience - not to mention so much fun - the most important lesson I have learned is that writing a novel in only thirty days just doesn't work for me. I know my writing process and myself well enough to accept this fact. So, instead of one month, I'm giving myself one year. A whole year to write a finished, workable draft of my white whale.

Introducing The Year of the Novel! A new blog where I will be documenting this process, and share my creative joys and woes with the world. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy New Year, Sauletai Temirkhan!

 (originally published on my Wordpress site on 24.01.02.) I wrote in the About the author page that this blog is where I want to document my novel writing journey. But how much can you really share while the story is still being written? We authors are a peculiar bunch in that we feel very protective of our stories and our characters, and we rather not introduce them to the world until they are ready.  Then there’s the whole notion of the mystique and - dare I say - sanctity of the writing process that is very important to some authors. Others are less finicky about such dramatic notions. I myself fall somewhere in the middle. While I am open about my process (read: routines) I do feel protective of said process while I’m still in the middle of it. I’m happy to discuss any of my finished stories. A work in progress is a different beast altogether.  So, what exactly am I going to share on this blog? Where do I draw the line between information I am happy to share with you...
Post a Comment
Read more

Author POV: Choose writing exercises that work for you

Originally published on my Medium blog on 24.01.12.   Author POV is a new blog series in my ongoing project, The Year of the Novel. I see you. Yes, you. You’re a writer, aren’t you? You write a dozen short stories, even get a couple of them published, and you stop doing the writing prompts and exercises. That’s beneath you, right? You are a real writer now, and you’ve graduated from that silly stuff. Wrong! You’re never too advanced a writer to stop doing writing exercises or prompts. A more uninspired way to describe the importance of prompts is to liken them to a work-out. Keeping your creative muscles toned and stretching those artistic tendons. And while this analogy  is  tired, it’s still accurate. However, doing prompts and exercises can make your writing better in many other ways, too. For instance, often, when I get stuck on a story, writing exercises help me get… well, unstuck. And prompts give me ideas when I feel like the old well has run dry. They also help me...
Post a Comment
Read more

Author POV: In sickness and in health

  Originally pulished on my Medium blog on 24.01.09. Author POV is a new blog series in my ongoing project, The Year of the Novel. There are certain topics that we don’t talk enough about when we talk about writing. Health is one of them. It’s probably not the most uplifting topic for a first Author POV, but it is an important one. Furthermore, I started this blog so that I can have an honest conversation with you about the challenges of writing a novel. I’ve been dealing with digestive issues since I was 18. Stress, bad dietary choices, and genetic effing lottery have all played their part. It’s always just been a part of my life. Come 2018, and things were getting worse. On Christmas 2021, I had my second ever visit to the ER, with suspicion of appendicitis. And even though my appendix was perfectly alright, this little stint made one thing clear: I was not perfectly alright myself. Since then, these health problems were recurring at tighter intervals, putting a wrench in my dai...
Post a Comment
Read more