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Writing about telling it like it is

Writing it like it is—a challenge for any writer. There is always that nagging tendency to explain, over-explain, describe, tell, inform, communicate—an insane inability to leave well enough alone.

I have been struggling the last few days to tell it like it is, without extra pose, poetry, pretense or opportunities to show off, and I can’t say for sure I’ve been managing it.

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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4 Comments

  • indigobunting says:

    I must admit, I generally end up taking out a bunch of words from a post before it gets posted. Usually, it’s a good thing. I try to let myself just to do whatever at first though, just to get something on screen. That’s a huge first step, and I’m lucky to get that far!

  • Sometimes direct and no embellishment is the best way.

    It is Annie, but just like the most simple-looking dishes are sometimes the toughest to cook right, writing simply is an art of the masters, not easily achieved.

  • Line Larsen says:

    I sympathize.

    I wish someone had given me advice regarding this before I started my first novel. Towards the end of it I finally grasped the concept of hinting at, not spoon feeding. Be it moods, sensations or parts of the plot – less is definitively more.

    I am making all my mistakes and doing all my experimentation before I start on my novel in right earnest.

  • DarcKnyt says:

    Honest, hard-hitting journalism. Hm. Sounds like quite a challenge, Damyanti, but if anyone can do it, you can.

    Me, I’ll stick with horror … and maybe I’ll try hard-boiled style to work UP to the honest, hard-hitting stuff. 😉

    Um, I just meant fiction. Fiction needs to be told like it is sometimes, and yes, it is hard to get it just right.