2020 was a tough year, such a tough year that it’s become rather redundant to say it. Many of us had to step out of our comfort zones and do things differently.
For me, of course, it was no different. For several years now, workshops have been my prime source of income. I’ve had my writers’ club at St. Mary’s School, teacher training sessions for Ratna Sagar, and the odd workshop here and there with libraries. When my fifth year at the Writers’ Club came to an end in February last year (was it really not even a year ago?), I was all set for a short vacation, before getting to work again. April and June are often busy months at Ratna Sagar. I conduct teacher training sessions all over the country, and so, I usually find myself travelling and working right through these months with few breaks in the middle. In fact, I already had workshops scheduled for May and June, so I was making plans around them, figuring out when to go to Bangalore, thinking about sessions around Sisters at New Dawn and Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells…
And everything came to a grinding halt.
What kept me going?
In the beginning, I think most of us just waited and watched. I didn’t know what to do, so I wrote as much as I could. Just like last year, I found wonderful, supportive online groups, where we shared information and experiences. I listened to writers talking about their journeys and editors discussing the effect of coronavirus on the publishing industry. Children’s writers also got together and did book readings, using the delightful hashtag #ThodaReadingCorona. I did one too, reading out a chapter of Sisters at New Dawn!
Soon, it was time to do more. Physical workshops were (and still are) out of the question, so I needed to move online. The release of Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells at this time was ideal, for I began to conduct online sessions for Scholastic as part of their virtual book fairs. I designed an online model that worked well, and slowly began to navigate all the challenges that surround virtual author interactions.
Often, I felt like I was talking into the void because many children keep their videos off. Yet, the process was rewarding. Thanks to the chat box, I found that children were less inhibited. They could just post their questions without stuttering, stammering or even showing their faces, and this got me thinking.
At school sessions, it is impossible to interact with everyone because of the sheer numbers of children. If I launched something on my own, I could do things differently. I’ve done more workshops than I can count, and I’m familiar with the technological space, so I had two arrows in my quiver already. My husband was more than willing to create a secure online forum for me, where children could share their work and give and receive feedback.
So, in the first week of October, I launched, with great trepidation, my online creative writing programme.
I had so many questions when I set out.
- Would the fee be acceptable to parents? I knew the kind of work I would put in because children would share writing on the forum every day. I had to provide meaningful feedback to each piece submitted.
- Would children stay engaged online when everything is now online?
- Would the forum appeal to children who are so familiar with online social interactions anyway?
- Would internet snags and technological problems keep cropping up?
Yet, I launched it. And I love it.
The stories, the poetry, the fun – nothing changes in the online model. It’s just as exciting as my writers’ club. In fact, I would say it’s more exciting because I have children from all over the country, and one child from another country too! Over and over again, I come across wonderful pieces of writing. Look at these, for instance!
As the writing programme went on, I began to notice how many parents with children in the age-group 7-8 wanted a creative writing course for their children. However, working online with children in that age bracket would be so challenging as to become meaningless. Yet, this got me thinking. I wouldn’t be a writer today if I hadn’t spent my childhood surrounded by books. I’ve also worked with the reading challenge at the British Library for several years and thought about all the things I would do differently. And so, I launched yet another programme – my online reading programme. I also decided to tie up with independent bookstores for it, and I’m so glad I did!
2021 promises to be full of activities. I’m not hopeful about offline workshops in the near future, but the online model is delightful, at least for me!
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