I am
the kind of person that buys more books than clothes. I don't buy make-up or
any of those girly-thingies that most women make a beeline for.
Perhaps, I'm
abnormal. Or maybe just a writer, pursuing my dreams. All I need to make
my day perfect is a good book, a steaming cuppa and eventually, a few blank
pages with a pen and I'm sorted.
I have
attempted to find a publisher for my novel of 84,000 words, that I had penned
three years ago. This is despite the fact that I was one of the top 10 authors
selected out of more than 2000 entries (from all over the country and abroad)
to pitch my book at the Bangalore Literature Festival, LitMart, 2015.
And now,
while my book lies in the back burner for no convincing reason that I can come
up with, I've joined a Write-club, (a brain child of renowned author,
Sharath Komaraju) in the recent past, where I've been trying my hand at short
stories, which has given my writing a new lease of life.
A host of
events have been happening in Bangalore in the recent past.
The bookworm-author in me gravitates
me towards all those events related to books and of course, writing.
The #WomenWritersFest
was one such event that was held on the 24th of August, 2017.
It was
with great enthusiasm that I landed at the BFlat bar in Koramangala. One is
bound of wonder why a bunch of women would discuss books and writing in a pub,
of all places. But that's exactly what happened.
After all,
who needs booze to get a high, when there are books and authors to give you
company?
The venue
was jam-packed when I arrived. Three of my Write-Club buddies made it to the
fest as well.
Here is a
short review of each event in the order of occurrence. I have also taken the
liberty of letting you know what I found to be the main takeaways for me as a
writer, at the end of some topics.
A] Blogging:
The first
discussion on Blogging had inputs given by the queen bloggers on the panel:
Nandita Iyer, Monika Manchanda, Vidya Sury and Charukeshi Ramdurai. The
discussion answered many questions of the eager crowd, the more
interesting ones pertaining to the monetary repercussions of
blogging.
Main Takeaways:
The
importance of self promotion of our work or brand on social media, despite the
brickbats, cannot be undermined.
Build a
thick skin to deal with trolls, social abuse, nitpicks, etc.
Don't stop
writing, learn to move on.
B] Mythology: Does gender influence the narrative?
The second topic of discussion was something that most of us
identified with. Mythology writers Arshia Sattar, Anuja Chandramouli and Soumya
Aji discussed the various nuances of mythological characters that they had
recreated in their respective books. They brought out the fact that Valmiki's
Ramayana is open to various interpretations and our own exposure to it is based
on who narrated the stories to us.
The most
interesting part was when it was pointed out that some things that women talk
are understand by all other women despite the cultural, country, economic
differences that divide them. The same is true for men as well. We, as writers
need to be aware of this crucial fact.
Main takeaways:
Stop using
common words in your writing. It makes you a better writer, because you look
for synonyms when you do that.
There is
no single version to a story, because it is always a reflection of the time,
characters, etc.
C] Be Seen, Be Heard : Storytelling, Positioning
& Networking Workshop
The
pre-lunch workshop conducted by Ameen Ul-Haque of the Storywallahs fame was
truly amazing. Mr. Ul-Haque who initially seemed the shy guy amidst a bunch of
women quickly showed us his true mettle, when he engaged us in interactive
writing exercises that involved self-analysis and soul-searching
probes. He also gave us encouraging inputs on publishing.
The real
highlight of the workshop was when he ended it with a poem. The classic
rendition in Hindi seemed to reach into each one our souls to rejuvenate
hope...hope to never give up, hope to carry on till the end, to success. It was
apt for the scores of aspiring unpublished writers that had assembled there.
Main Takeaways:
Publishers
look for authors who already have a following. Build an audience or readership.
Rejection
is part of life. Do not lose hope.
Self-publishing
is not about publishing, but about selling.
D] Finding that funny bone: Women writing humor
After a
short rejuvenating post-lunch speech by the Curator for Women Writers
Fest, Ms. Shaili Chopra, the next session was underway. This was the most
humorous part of the whole day, because it was about, well, humor.
The queens
of comedy writing namely Jane D'Souza, Rachna Singh and Itisha Peerbhoy left
the audience in splits. On a serious note, it also brought out the dearth of
women humor writers in the country.
Humor is a
sign of intelligence. THe feminists in the crowd had a ball when it was
revealed that women have a far better sense of humor than men do. Its just that
men take more shots at humor, though they are less funnier than women.
The social
conditioning attached to women being humorous, such as judgements, reactions,
stereotyping, expectations, tendency of living upto patterns, etc were
discussed.
Main takeaways:
Humor is harder to write than we think it is.
Sarcasm
versus humor is a tight rope walk.
Make fun
of someone in a way that it is not offensive.
Self-deprecating
humor is funny.
E] Graphic Novels: Pop culture or Literature redefined?
The next
discussion was something that I could not identify with on a personal level. I
was raised devouring comics and novels for most part of my childhood and
continued the same recipe through my adult life.
Graphic
novels have never been my cup of tea, which was why I found the session rather
boring, no offence intended to the panelists Shweta Taneja, Kaveri
Gopalakrishnana, Devaki Neogi, Aditi Dilip and Milan Vohra. We did glean some
useful inputs about the amount of sheer hard work that went into the making of
graphic novels, which probably explains the elevated cost of the same.
F] Igniting
Young minds: Why stories still matter to children.
The next
session brought back the waning energy of the audience. The panelists Mala
Kumar, Aparna Arthya, Priya Muthukumar and Vidya Mani got most of the mothers
in the crowd to pick up their ears and indulge in animated interactions about
the importance of storytelling in their children's lives.
Main Takeaways:
Best way
of earning for children is through Storytelling.
Tweak the
stories in accordance with the changing times and contexts.
Answer the
'why'. Build the concept and context, irrespective of the subject.
G] The Eternal Short story: Why short stories work and how
place contributes to the narrative.
This was
the session was that I had been waiting for all day, here was the topic of my
main interest at last.
We sat at
the edge of our seats, all ears, when the panelists, Shinie Antony, Rheea
Mukherjee, Gita Aravamudan and Jahnavi Barua began to discuss the various
nuances of short stories.
I missed
most of the next session, which was a replica of a fireside chat with Priyanka
Pathak, author of the (in)famous book, 'Godman to Tycoon' on Baba Ramdev.
I stepped
out for a cup of tea and to my absolute delight, I got to chat with Mrs. Gita
Aravamudan for quite sometime. Her work on her book on female infanticide in
Tamilnadu and her subsequent book on the topic of surrogacy held me
spellbound.
It was
with a sense of fulfillment and elation that I exited the venue that
evening. Our Write-clubbers' discussion, spilled over to almost another hour of
course (on the pavement, no less).
I'm
already looking forward to the next edition of the Women Writers' Fest, 2018.
Hope it arrives next year, with more amazing discussions and more authors to
glean knowledge from.
Until
then, I continue to write and chase my dreams...
*****
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