What an enjoyable writing workshop we had yesterday with Dr Shayani Bhattacharya! Every guest session is fun, and I keep realising that when a teacher plans a session, it is meticulous, detailed, excellent!We discussed what we research, how we research and why we research, but then we went on to something that's important to all of us as writers - how we share research findings. Sure, you're fascinated by time travel and wormholes. You read everything you can about them. How can you get your readers to be interested in the same things? When Shayani stressed the idea of finding our unique voice, my heart gave a little leap. It's so useful when a guest speaker brings up something I've addressed time and time again during my writing programmes!I also loved that Shayani explored the relevance of research in the context of both fiction and nonfiction. Bringing the workshop to travel … [Read more...]
The ART of Stories
And just like that, the third and last guest session at this edition of my online creative writing programme is over! This one was an illustration workshop, conducted by children's book illustrator and author Tanvi Bhat. As always, the participants had so many questions! Here are a handful.How do we create our own style of illustration?I loved how Tanvi explained that finding your own style is not as important as the content. Isn't that the same with writing too?I also found interesting the idea that an illustration does not have to be perfect; it has to carry the story. I think, here, the idea of 'perfect' is well worth examining. As a child, I was disturbed and annoyed by pictures that were untrue to the story, but if the big toe were on the wrong side of the foot, would I even notice?How long does the process take?The eternal question. Children are … [Read more...]
Pirates, Legends, and Historical Fiction
Yesterday's guest session was full of stories! While we are familiar with Long John Silver and Davy Jones's locker, how many of us are equally familiar with Kanhoji Angre and the pirates of the Malabar?We began with a discussion of myths, legends, and historical fiction, and this, I think, is an important idea that is well worth repeating. A myth is not history or historical fiction. It is a story created by human beings in an attempt to make sense of the world. Even if a myth helps us understand something about the time when it was created, it isn't a true tale.A legend is not true either! My mother, Dr Radhika Seshan, told us the story of the emperor Jahangir and his bells of justice. Legend says that a donkey rang one of the bells one day, and Jahangir proclaimed that a donkey deserves justice too. Is the story true? We have no idea, but legends are often built around people … [Read more...]
Writing about Cyber Crime
What a fun session we had with digital forensic investigator Shweta A. Chawla yesterday! The children had all kinds of questions, and all kinds of stories. Nearly every child had a story of a parent or relative receiving a call and asking for an OTP or bank details. It just shows you how close cyber crime is to us!One child said, "We should keep changing our passwords, but it's difficult to remember them. So I write them in an Excel sheet." Before Shweta could respond, he said, "The Excel sheet is password protected."And I found myself thinking, Do I even know how to create a password-protected Excel sheet?We spoke of how stories no longer need masked robbers going into banks with guns, and the fact that you are much more likely to encounter a hacker online than a smuggler. Sure, we love our Enid Blyton stories of smuggling and crime, but perhaps stories can reflect something … [Read more...]
Creating Memorable Characters with Sophie
And just like that, the third and last guest session for the current batches of my online writing programme is over. It doesn't feel like very long ago that I announced the programme, wondering whether there would be enough participants. I did not promise guest sessions because I knew it would depend on the response I received. It needed to be feasible to invite guest speakers, both in terms of the number of participants and in terms of my ability to pay the speakers. But here we go, two batches for two age groups are nearly over!Sophie's writing workshop was my third guest session, and it was lovely. Sessions where I learn something about methodology are always extra special. For instance, Sophie worked with excerpts from the classics, something I've never imagined doing. She chose tiny sections from Persuasion, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Lord of the Rings and Boy, amongst … [Read more...]
Creating Memorable Characters
Both batches of my online creative writing programme began in October. Two months out of three have flown by, and I can't quite believe that I've had eight sessions with each batch. We've had two wonderful guest sessions too - one with author Nalini Sorensen and one with Dr. Sreeja Nag. It's time to announce my third and last guest session for this batch, with a multicultural writer-friend, Sophie Gaden.About the FacilitatorSophie is a French-Brazilian writer, teacher, and translator. She spent her childhood in Brazil, but at the age of 12, she moved to India where she lived for eight years. As if three countries with three different cultures weren't enough, she took another step across the world and graduated in English Literature and Creative Writing from Lancaster University. She is now based in London, writing poetry, translating, and teaching English at a secondary school. … [Read more...]
Science Stories with Sreeja
What a whirlwind weekend I've had! With the Scholastic Writing Awards ceremony, a guest session at my online creative writing programme, and a weekend workshop for the ten winners of the Scholastic Writing Awards, the weekend has flown by in the best possible way!As with every guest session, yesterday was special. I've invited Sreeja before and I know how exciting conversations with her can be for a group of curious young writers. She's exciting, warm and generous with her interactions, never dismissing a question or an idea out of hand. For instance, there was a moment yesterday when a child asked her, "Could there be mermaids on some other planet?"Sreeja paused and then responded, "Why not?"Sreeja is a scientist at NASA and also leads a team at a start-up that is building and deploying what could be the first self-driving robotic fleet on public roads. She has a PhD in … [Read more...]