#Program: Cyriac

[nanowrimo]

4 Tips on Completing a First Draft as a Young Writer

Completing a first draft is always full of challenges, but it can be especially daunting for a young writer tackling it for the first time! Today, Riya M. Cyriac, the Executive Director of The Young Writers Initiative, is here with a few tips to help young writers finish their first draft:

Packed with school, work, extracurriculars, and the impending doom of adolescence, young writers seem busy enough. Nevertheless, as The Executive Director of The Young Writers Initiative, I’ve seen so many amazing young writers submit their full manuscripts to our services, and others struggle to finish their first drafts. So what’s the secret? Here are 4 of my best tips on completing a first draft as a young writer.

1. Decide whether you count progress based on word counts vs. chapter counts.

For some people, setting daily goals based on word counts is their tried-and-true method to get words on the page. For others, that may not have the same effect. Whenever I face a milestone roadblock, I set goals based on chapters instead of word count. For me, writing a full chapter is longer than writing 1677 words. When I set a goal that is content based rather than numerically based, I feel more propelled to complete that chapter in one or two sittings. When I write with this thinking in the back of my mind, I’m able to get into the zone instead of obsessively checking to see if I’ve met my wordcount quota for the day. Evidently, my writing becomes more story driven, and I write more words. My enthusiasm is heightened and I’m able to get deeper into my workflow because I’m starting and stopping at a very natural place. Both methods have their pros and cons, so find which one helps you get in the zone.

2. Outline in chunks, not in full.

When I outlined my most recent novel-in-progress, I didn’t sit down and outline all 67 chapters at once. That was too daunting and inflexible to me, especially because I knew that I would probably change a crucial plot point or two that would drastically change the outline. Instead, I outlined my novel in chunks.

A chunked outline is when you break your story into parts and outline it chunk at a time. You outline part 1 first, then write that part. Depending on where the story is after part I, outline part II, write, and continue the process. In my experience, this makes my outline far more useful. As a young person, I have no idea how much my writing will grow, so I want my storytelling skills to grow with me. 

3. Make yourself fanfiction/fan art.

Young writers ooze with creative energy, but we also need to learn how to harness that.  If your book is starting to bore you, take a break from the conventional plot and write a scene you are super excited about, like the final battle or the love confession. The unfortunate drudgery of the middle is often where unfinished first drafts come to their end. You don’t have to write chronologically, so feel free to jump around. If you’re staunchly against that, write a scene that won’t appear in your book, like a pre-preface or alternative universe. When you do this, you’re getting your creativity flowing again, thus fighting off the boredom bug. You can also create moodboards, playlists, character sketches, and other creative outlets that get you back to loving your book. 

4. Find a strong community (like The Young Writers Initiative!).

Writing is often penned as a solitary art, but it doesn’t have to be! There are tens of thousands of young writers on Instagram, twitter, and other platforms that face the same struggles that you do, whether it be finishing a draft, publishing their work, or learning more about writing.

At The Young Writers Initiative, we aspire to educate, service, and inspire young writers. We get the struggles of taking on the writing and publishing world while being young, especially the financial and educational barriers. We offer free editing, beta reading, cover designing, book reviewing, and consulting to writers 25 or below. We also publish a quarterly literary magazine, Juven, publish anthologies, host contests, a summer camp, mentorship, workshops, and several events. If you’re looking for a community of writers, join our discord! There are so many opportunities out there that will support your endeavors as a budding novelist. You got this!

If you’re interested in The Young Writers Initiative, visit our website tywi.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @tywiorg.

Riya M. Cyriac is the Executive Director of The Young Writers Initiative. She is a 17-year-old budding novelist and poet. Her fiction has been published in a variety of literary magazines, like the Lumiere Review and Anser Journal. She is currently working on the third draft of her novel.

[antopatrex-blog]

20 flights and 50+ destination in a year of B-Tech all sponsored!

You might be saying, Anto how on earth is this even possible? Though i had no clue how all this happened, one thing is for sure that it all started with a small dream. Let me take you on my humble journey on how i did this in the 3rd year of my college.

The Dreamer!

I was born in a nuclear family. If you are an Indian you might think “how unfortunate!” as most of you have lived with your entire families. I agree that such a life can offer tons of fun but my life offered me a unique path of loneliness that later helped me develop my special talent of dreaming. I was a dreamer my entire school life, there were times that i even imagined of conquering the world! I know that you didn’t come here to read my bragging so lets get to the point!

A college dreamer is always a loser,probably because they spend their entire day dreaming either in the dorm or in class rooms. specially with the huge fucking load of assignments and seminars which need to be completed on impossible dead lines. Secondly the college girls like a Do’er and not a dreamer ;)

At one point in my college life i thought to myself like any other fellow that i cant just sit on the bed and dream some stupid shit rather its time to do something in life. That’s when i met my Co-Founder Thomas cyriac who was partially a nerd but also an awesome guy. I will write about our entire startup story in another blog. We did a lot of projects together. My habit of applying in every mail that i receive got us a fund of 2 lakh Rupees with which we traveled 50% of our journeys as business tours.

One best way to get money in college is by networking to as many people as you can, i used to talk to every business person, shopkeepers and kids of business people which allowed me to establish good connections with them. Then i used to take orders for college events and programs and told them if i could get stuff done at a cheaper rate i get to keep some profit. That way the professors knowingly assigned me the purchasing tasks and i used to clear the bill with them. I collected that money for some travel.

Now you might be wondering how i got sponsored trips? well my college or other organisations used to send me for events. firstly i made sure to them that i was worth a shot or else i would kick their asses if they wouldn’t send me (jk). While my peers imagined of trips to Goa i got chance to enjoy 3 day trip to Goa completely sponsored by INK talks and guess what we got to spend our days at Grand Hyatt! and i had a good company of friends with me just to booze up ( well after all whats the point of going to Goa and not getting some alcohol in your system).

Another way is by cheesing up your relatives a bit, it can be hell of a task but in the end its worth it. I got 3 trips sponsored by my uncle in Canada all under a month just because i promised him that i will take care of my little cousins throughout the trip, Of course i got them in trouble sometimes, but i bribed the way out of it by buying them fried chicken.

I have also raised money by winning inter college competitions like during fest and stuff. But most importantly i lost several amount of money by investing in MLM(multi level marketing), so folks avoid that!

#travel #business #student

[deepakkankani-blog]

Deepak Kankani GST and Trade

As we expect that the new program GST will have a substantial influence on the Indian Trade and can have a great effect on your day to day business founded in India. Mr. Jose Cyriac, Additional Secretary (Earnings) Ministry of Fund said in the Workshop sorted out by the Banglore Chamber of Industry and Business that GST will be "Trade Friendly."

Regarding to FM, a fresh GST regime will create the targeted profits with the minimization of exemption. It'll broaden the duty bottom part and lower the duty rates. GST is dependant on destination principle, therefore the distortions will be reduced fostering a typical market in the united states. The conformity cost should come down and our trade and industry can be more competitive resulting in a rise in exports and lower charges for domestic consumers.

We will discuss in simple, the imposition of GST in several sectors/fields associated with Indian Trade.

As we realize in GST, major Central and Express fees will be subsumed and complete, extensive tripped of type goods and services and phasing out of CST would reduce the price tag on local created goods and services. This will likely improve the competitiveness of Indian goods and services in the international market and so supercharge to Indian exports.

In GST, Exports would be zero scored. Because of this, the exporters will meet the requirements to promise the refund of the eligible insight tax credits at the mercy of conditions, restriction and types of procedures. Similar benefits may get to Special Economics Areas (SEZs). Such benefits is only going to be permitted to the processing areas of the SEZs. No profit to the Sales from an SEZ to Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) will be allowed.

Both CGST and SGST will be levied on Transfer of goods and services in to the country. The occurrence of tax will observe the basic principle of destination based mostly duty. The SGST of this Condition will be suitable where in fact the goods and services are used. Full and complete set-off will be accessible on the GST paid on imports on goods and services.

In GST, the comfort is directed at whom those people who have Small businesses. They may be from the purview of the GST, means that the firms with an twelve-monthly turnover of significantly less than Rs 10 lacs would be exempted from their state GST. This limit does apply for both goods and Deepak Kankani Chartered Accountant.

Additionally, in the interest of small professionals and small size industries and avoid dual control, the Expresses considered that the threshold for CGST for goods may be held at Rs 1.5 crore and the threshold for services also needs to be correctly high.

The IT facilities need will be distributed by the Central Federal government by using its IT infrastructure service. The problems of tying the State System facilities with the Central facilities as well as further improvement of the Expresses own system, including TINXSYS, is currently to be resolved expeditiously and in a period bound manner.

Alcohol consumption would be retained from the purview of GST. Sales Duty / Vat could be stayed levied on alcohol consumption as is prevailing in today's. There is absolutely no objection if some Claims impose Vat onto it if impose excise obligation that could also never to be affected.

Alternatively, cigarette products would go through GST. Centre may be permitted to levy excise responsibility on cigarette products in addition to GST.

As far as petroleum products are worried, it is set that the container of petroleum products, i.e. crude, motor unit soul (including ATF) and HSD would be held outdoor GST as is the prevailing practice in India. Sales Duty could continue being levied by the Areas on the products with prevailing floor rate. Likewise, Centre may possibly also continue its levies.

Your final view whether GAS should be placed beyond your GST will be studied after further deliberations.

To conclude these, the GST gives more pain relief to Industry and trade through a far more detailed and wider coverage of type tax tripped and service taxes tripped, subsuming of several central and Condition fees in the GST and phasing out CST. The clear and complete string of place offs that will bring about widening of taxes platform and better taxes compliance could also lead to minimizing the duty burden on the average seller in Industry and trade.

[nanowrimo]

How To Write A Healthy Relationship

Writing healthy love is hard! Finding a balance between engaging conflict and fulfilling romance is not an easy task, but it is worthwhile. NaNoWriMo Programs Fellow, Riya Cyriac, offers insight, advice, and examples on how to write healthy relationships.

Throughout my time as a reader and a writer, I’ve encountered an abundance of romances that range from swoon worthy to absolutely disastrous. This is not discounting either end of the spectrum: they have their place. However, there seems to be a noticeable lack of representation for healthy, fulfilling relationships in literature. This is particularly evident in Young Adult literature, where the portrayal of healthy relationships is particularly essential. If you are interested in writing a healthy relationship and filling that void, here are some observations, suggestions, and tips to do that

Obsession and Anger are not Expressions of Healthy Love

As a young adult, I often read books that romanticized obsession and anger. If the love interest punched someone who shows interest in their partner, that is not an indication of passion or love. On the contrary, it should be a glaring red flag. If a character relentlessly pursues their love interest despite resistance, it is not love. It is an obsession, and a clear sign that the character views the other as their property. It’s tempting to use these actions as expressions of passion because it is easy and bold. 

And sure, you definitely can! But avoid romanticizing them and claiming that they are normal in a healthy relationship. If you do, you run the risk of letting your readers glorify and pursue an unideal version of love (especially if you write for younger readers). If you do use these, acknowledge the toxicity and danger.

I say this because I once was one of those impressionable readers who viewed love as obsessive, passionate, and possessive. This caused me to develop an unhealthy ideal of what a secure relationship should look like. Now, I’m in a healthy relationship, but it took a lot of self-insight and reflection to override those influences.

Security, Trust, and Communication are Expressions of Healthy Love

Healthy relationships are founded on security, trust, and communication. Your character’s healthy relationships should also represent these key values. First is security. Attachment theory shows that dependency is normal in healthy relationships. After all, you are giving your heart to someone. Therefore, there should be an inherent trust laying at the foundation. Your characters don’t have to flip over a table if the other partner got lunch with a work colleague. Sure, they can be jealous, but there are healthy ways to express jealousy. 

If you're aiming to write a healthy relationship, consider this solution to the problem. Communicate why character B grabbing lunch with a colleague made character A feel a certain way. Maybe it’s because they’re insecure? If that’s the case, the character B can reassure them. If it’s because the other person has made suspicious advances before, then character B can respect character A’s feelings and create distance with the colleague. Obviously, characters are flawed. They aren’t programmed to communicate well, and relationships put characters in a very vulnerable position. Thus, it’s necessary to show both lows and highs in a healthy relationships

Healthy relationships Have Lows and Highs

Healthy relationships take time and effort to form. Couples in real life rarely adjust quickly to opening up their heart, so why should your characters. A healthy relationship is bound to have arguments, disagreements, worries, and insecurities…particularly in early stages. Maybe your characters disagree about where to eat dinner. Maybe they feel like they aren’t getting enough affection and attention from their partner. There are many different relationship conflicts to explore. Here is a list of a couple common ones. It’s perfectly okay to include conflict in the story of a healthy relationship. After all, it mimics real life! It’s also okay for characters to resort to unhealthy methods of responding to conflict as long as you, the author, emphasize that it’s not healthy. 

How do you do this? You don’t have to outright break the 4th wall and say, “by the way, this isn’t healthy.” You can have the character shocked by the behavior. You can have a friend or loved one tell the character that the habit isn’t okay. Sometimes, this revelation won’t occur until later. But as a rule of thumb, if something feels wrong, it is likely to be wrong. Trust your gut.

Lows make the drama, but highs make the swoon worthy moments that compensate for those lows. Typically, healthy relationships should have a magic ratio of 5:1; 5 good moments for every bad one. These moments can be buying flowers, getting dinner, reconciling a conflict, or even something as small as receiving a kiss on the forehead. These moments don’t have to be big scenes in your novel, but it should be clear to the reader that the relationship still has its shine.

Healthy Relationships Are…Boring?

Maybe the reason healthy relationships aren’t as featured in novels is because they can be a little boring in the context of the book. Relationship highs and lows keep a reader on their seat, which is why many writers are drawn by the lure of a toxic relationship. It keeps things moving! 

This can also explain why many healthy relationships are reserved for auxiliary characters. But I argue that a well-written healthy relationship can be just as exciting and balancing.

For one, the relationship you’re writing about doesn't always have to be healthy. The characters can start off having a toxic dynamic. Through effort and time, they can unlearn their habits and end the story while being in a fulfilling relationship. This is just as impactful as showing healthy behaviors throughout, and arguably, more influential and inspirational to readers and the plot. 

A healthy relationship can balance out a heavy plot. If your story has a heavy plot with intense worldbuilding and fight scenes, consider balancing it out with a healthy and stable relationship. It can bring light to dark moments and cause the reader to ship your characters endlessly. 

Not Every Relationship Needs to be Healthy

Not every relationship in your story needs to be healthy. Some stories will be about abuse. Some stories will be about learning to love. Every story will require a different relationship dynamic, so don’t feel bad if you’re not writing a healthy relationship. However, good relationships should be striving towards being healthy, while bad relationships should be acknowledged as bad. Too many times have I read books where unhealthy relationship habits were normalized and romanticized. As writers, it’s our responsibility to be accurate to our readers, especially if we write for young readers.

Riya Cyriac is the 2022 Programs Fellow at NaNoWriMo. She is also the Executive Director of The Young Writers Initiative. She attends the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently working on a fantasy novel. She writes more advice on her blog. 

[nanowrimo]

Introducing Our 2022 Programs Fellow, Riya Cyriac!

We feel super lucky here at NaNo HQ to meet and work with some incredibly talented people. Today, meet our first-ever NaNoWriMo Programs Fellow, Riya Cyriac! Riya is a long-time NaNoWriMo participant and the founder of The Young Writers Initiative. If you join our upcoming Virtual Write-Ins, you’ll be getting to know her better throughout our Camp NaNoWriMo sessions, but today she’s here to tell you a little bit about herself:

In elementary school, I was married to my little notebook, in which I would scribble down a string of words that slightly resembled a sentence. I refused to divorce my little notebook for the shinier, more logical computer until 8th grade. By making this transition, I found the glory of the online writing community. I also found out about NaNoWriMo.

I watched from the sidelines for years. 50,000 words seemed daunting, not because I was incapable, but because the fear of failure was overwhelming. Then finally, a young, 15-year-old version of myself sat nervously in front of her computer, creating her first NaNoWriMo account.

While I can’t say that I’ve actually written 50,000 words in the month of November, I can proudly say that I’ve tried. Sure, I may have bent some rules here and there, but I believe the essence of NaNoWriMo is to do the best you can and then some. To me, NaNoWriMo, and writing, are about consistency, discipline, and challenging yourself. But NaNo means something different to everyone, and that’s what makes it so beautiful and universal. There is no “failing” NaNoWriMo as long as you started. After all, every novel starts off as nothing but an empty page and an idea.

I’m excited to be NaNo’s first Programs Fellow, and through my work, I hope to help inspire fellow Wrimos (especially young Wrimos) to write their stories and challenge themselves. Outside of NaNo, I’m the Executive Director of The Young Writers Initiative, where we provide free resources, education, and services to young writers all over the world. I’m also a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin studying Business, Plan II Honors, and International Relations. This year, I’ll try NaNo again. I can’t promise that I won’t break any rules, but I do promise to push myself, and I hope you’ll join me!

Riya Cyriac is a student at The University of Texas at Austin who is joining NaNoWriMo as a Program fellow this spring and summer. She believes that anyone can write, and has a particular passion for encouraging and supporting young writers. She is the Executive Director of The Young Writers Initiative and is excited to continue empowering writers through her work with NaNoWriMo.