You don’t need to train as a “journalist” to be a writer
Shi Min Xie I wish I had known that when I was younger. Some of my readers and friends may know that I used to be a so-called digital journalist, but I don’t…
writing
I’m not doing Nanowrimo this year.
Nanowrimo. The very competition that got me into writing my first full length novel. And it was full of rubbish. Not Nanowrimo. My novel, I mean. Back in 2006, when…
I Don’t Like Giving Bad Book Reviews
As someone who has always been an avid reader of books, I dislike it when I come across a book that I don’t like, or that a book I have…
Getting A Job In Which You Write Could Be Detrimental To You
I remember writing a grumpy, angsty post about how most writing advice is bullshit, but this bit of advice applies to me, as I’ve always thought that getting a job…
How do you find time to write?
While I was having lunch with a bookseller friend of mine, he asked me, “How do you find the time to write?” Writing is something that I do every day,…
The first thing I ever wrote
was a composition about a cat. I was six years old and in Primary One. I had no idea what the story we had read was about — I think…
How Dragonhearted came to be called, well, Dragonhearted
For the longest time, my book had no name. In fact, I went through most of the first draft without knowing what it was going to be called. Xin Long…
Pet Peeve: Readers Who Are Against Killing Characters
I have seen lots of posts on the internet where readers are all making sad declarations that their favourite authors always kill their favourite characters. I get it. I do.…
The Entitlement of Published Writers
One of the things that I have noticed in my country is that many writers are trying to come up with ways to write for a living, permanently. That’s not…
Shu Ping Was Originally Supposed To Be A Malay Girl…
Before Shu Ping was Shu Ping, she was supposed to be Aisyah, this Malay girl. This was a conscious decision I made because I wanted to have a little more…