Writer, book lover, civil engineer, YouTuber, aspiring talk show host — not always all of them. Not always in order.
Hi there!
I’m Ana. I’m 28 years old and was born in a small town called Jorhat in Assam — a hilly Indian state nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. English is my fourth language, but somehow the love for the language is rooted deep in my heart.
When I was young, my friends had dreams of becoming astronauts, movie stars, or pilots. I always wanted to be a writer.
There wasn’t even a single doubt in my head. It was my one true love.
I wrote my first poem when I was only four-years-old. When I was ten…
Habits for Smart Writers
This is how I got on a writing streak of 2,000+ words daily for seven straight months (but the word count is not the point).
Since March, I’ve been on a writing streak. I spent the first two months of self-isolation working on my novel and finished the first draft (87,000+ words). I was also writing a few articles here and there, but then, once my novel was complete, I started writing one article daily.
Aside from the blog posts, I was also writing regular newsletters and working on my upcoming collection of short stories.
People from the Northeast are as much Indians as the people from the rest of the country
I was born in Assam — a state in the northeastern part of India. Aside from Assam, there are six other states in this region — Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Tripura — that are collectively known as “the Seven Sisters.”
Ethnically, the people from the northeastern part of the country have different features from the people in the mainland. We have fairer skin, straight hair, more slender build, and epicanthic folds in our eyes. As the book North-East India: Land, People and Economy makes clear:
“While the original settlers were the Mongoloids, the Indo-Aryan and other groups…
And how you can apply them to become a highly paid online writer.
When I started taking online writing seriously at the beginning of January 2020, I used to make INR 3000 per month (about $35 US). Back then, I’d be over the moon if I could make INR 10000 (about $150 US) per month by year-end.
By the end of the year in December 2020, I was making more than $3000 US per month. What started as an experiment in online writing turned into a thriving business in less than a year.
This article discusses three important lessons that I learned from my journey that helped me fuel my online writing career.
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Science-backed reasons why aiming too high can be harmful. Bonus: The psychology of setting more achievable goals.
A few days ago, I had to stop myself from writing “I’m a failure” over and over again in my journal.
The urge was strong, but my will prevailed, and I could finally calm down.
I’d set myself a deadline of one hour to finish two articles. At the end of two hours, I’d completed only the first draft of one. For a while, I couldn't stop blaming myself, using harsh words like “too slow,” “loser,” and “not good enough.”
Looking back now, the reason seems so childish. …
Powerful books you can finish reading in a single day.
It feels great to say you’ve read 100+ books in a year.
But given how many tasks we plan on a daily basis, it’s difficult to actually get much reading done amidst all the hustle of life.
That’s where short books come in. A book less than 200 pages can be easily completed in a few days, no matter how busy you are. And if you’re a fast reader with a relatively free schedule, you can finish a 200-page book in a single day.
But there’s a perception in the reading community that short books aren’t too good, and most…
Bonus: Tips for new writers to turn Vocal.Media into a viable income stream.
Over the past few days, several writers have asked me if Vocal.Media is a potential alternative to Medium.
The answer is a little complicated because there are some very different parameters for success on both platforms.
But if there's one thing for sure, it’s this: simply reposting your Medium stories on Vocal won’t make you much money, especially if you write about topics like self-improvement, psychology, or personal stories.
So what is Vocal.Media and why are writers all over the world so excited about it? This article explores exactly that. It also addresses some important questions most beginners would have…
They taught me to get all my tasks done and achieve more without feeling overwhelmed.
If you’ve been following my articles for a while, you’d know that I’m not really a fan of self-help books. Fiction gives me sustenance and I love reading books that help me think out of the box.
But every once in a while, even the most hard-core fiction lovers come across some self-help books that totally changed their lives. This post lists four books that did the same for me.
I’ve always been obsessed with productivity. …
And why you need to read them.
A lot of people have asked me for books that blew my mind.
That’s a rather difficult question to answer because, of late, I’ve been so meticulous in my book choices that almost every book I read has blown my mind. I even wrote a post about the books that I didn’t expect to like, but ended up loving anyway.
This post is different.
This post lists six books that are so good, that whether you love reading or hate it, you’re guaranteed to love them. …
I didn’t expect a full year of working from home to completely change my approach towards work.
I’m an assistant professor of civil engineering at NIT Silchar, an institute of national importance in India.
Before the pandemic hit the country, my job was pretty interesting. The regular interactions with the students were an enriching experience. The discussions and exchange of ideas with them were intellectually stimulating.
The pandemic changed all that.
Compared to walking into a lecture hall packed with students, doing online classes feels like watching a cooking show to sate your hunger when you’re famished. Nothing beats the adrenaline rush of seeing a hall full of appreciative faces at the end of a good lecture.
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