Five

 Pishi had five kittens this morning.

Sensory Boost

One way to improve our writing is to give it a sensory boost, by replacing a basic description with a sensory detail.  

For example, instead of...
The coffee was strong.  
... we can say:
The coffee stung the back of her throat, bitter and bold.

And instead of...
It was a hot day.
... we can say:
Heat shimmered off the pavement. 

These changes help us show more and tell less. 

Countdown: 10

My Current Projects

On January 23, I announced that a few new projects were in the works... and that I would share more soon: 
https://afarinrava.blogspot.com/2025/01/new-projects.html

I

Pishi Pooch finished writing her second book a while back...
and she gave it to me so that I could edit and illustrate it.
So I did, and I then formatted it.
Last night, we submitted it and requested a proof copy.
The cover will be revealed on the 13th. 
I don't know why this almost black cat loves that number...

II

Some of you may know that I've been working on my very first fiction.
Last year, I finished the first draft, and now I'm editing my manuscript.
It's a first for me, and the process is very slow, so it will take a while:
months, years, decades, ...
Who knows?

III

I've been working on a collection of essays.
Right now, each of the pieces has its own status:
one edited, two first drafts, three outlines, and one idea.

Women's Day

#WomanLifeFreedom

unify
 celebrate
 mothers
 sisters

 wives

daughters

 global awareness

 inequality...

abuse...

violence...

 all females

of all ages

 in every country...

A Persian Grammar Lesson

Some languages maintain a close relationship between their written and spoken forms, while others differ significantly in how words connect in speech. 

For example, languages like Spanish and Japanese tend to follow their written structure more closely in speech, with few contractions or reductions.

In contrast, in English, written words often merge or change in casual speech. Phrases like should have or going to become shoulda and gonna in everyday conversation. French also transforms spoken sentences — je ne sais pas (meaning I don’t know) is often shortened to chais pas.

Understanding these differences helps language learners adapt, especially in conversational settings where spoken language may not match the textbook.

A few days ago, I wrote an update on an old post about a Persian song on my other blog (nooshasblog.blogspot.com). The name of the song is Roosarito, meaning Your Scarf. 

As I was analyzing the title to explain the meaning, the grammar lover in me added "It's the object form of the word." 

This started a Persian grammar lesson...

The word roosarito is made of three parts: roosari + t + o

roosari = scarf 

The word roosari is made of three parts:
roo (short for rooye) means on top of
sar means head
i (in this case) connects the two words above together.
The connected parts become a noun meaning the (thing) on the head.

t (added to the end of a noun) = your

o (spoken form of ra) makes the word roosarit (roosari + t) an object.
In Persian, the postposition ra ("را")  is a direct object marker. It shows that the word before it is the specific object of the verb.

The full sentence in the song titled "Roosarito" is Roosarito dar biar.
Roosarito dar biar. = Take off your scarf.

In the above sentence, your scarf is the object of the sentence, as is roosarito in the Persian sentence.

You can listen to the song on YouTube. It has English subtitles... and it's by Mehdi Yarrahi, who went through hell for making and singing this song. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ChZablq2OY

#MehdiYarrahi

Negative Space

Just as silence in music can be powerful, what isn't written matters. Leaving room for interpretation, subtext, and ambiguity lets the reader engage more deeply. Sometimes, what’s unsaid carries more weight than what’s on the page.

Word Swap

Avoid tired descriptions.

Take a cliché phrase and rewrite it in your style.

Example:

"cold as ice" → "cold enough to bite"

"silent as a grave" → "silence thick as dust"

The Window

A Whisper Unheard

Stephen King

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
Stephen King 

March 2025