I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again. There's nothing like inviting guests to my writing programmes. The energy, the fun, the enthusiasm ... Can you believe that every participant (except me) managed to create a comic strip during the session?Greystroke, an author, illustrator, filmmaker and entrepreneur, took us through the creation of a four-panel comic strip. I learned so much! Among other things, we discussed the importance of pauses, something I mull over whenever I'm writing. Where would you pause in the telling of a joke? How do we create the perfect build-up before delivering a punchline? Each comic artist might choose a different place, and this leads to a variety of structures. Tips and tricks to help draw characters and details, the visual appeal of a variety of perspectives, the similarities between a … [Read more...]
My Year in Workshops: 2021
The year 2021 was such an affirming year for me in terms of work! Since 2014, I've been freelancing. I've done workshops for children with the British Council, teacher training for Ratna Sagar, and I've been invited by schools and organisations to do workshops here and there. After nearly a year of the pandemic, these dried up. It isn't as if I didn't do workshops for other organisations; I did. But as I look back, only one paid workshop comes to mind - a session on my book, The Best Idea of All, for an online lit fest, Vishwarang.Everything else was an independent venture, and looking back fills me with joy and pride. I launched my reading and writing programmes for children in October 2020, and they've grown in leaps and bounds! Book Club for Ages 7 and 8 I just counted. In the year 2021, I read 21 books with 29 seven- and eight-year-olds from … [Read more...]
Art, Music and Movement with Veda Aggarwal
Yes. Each time I invite a guest to speak to my creative writing programme, I realise that the session is as much for me as it is for the children. As a writer, I am often caught in a capitalist circle, writing with a clear goal in sight. What is the purpose of a piece? What do I want my audience to feel?Yet, sometimes, writing is just writing. The arts are interconnected and once in a while, we need to be reminded of that.When we were children and teens, Veda and I spent hours talking about art, music and literature. We read Shakespeare and made notes (which I probably still have somewhere). We discussed Giotto and Matisse, Van Gogh and Gaugin. Veda painted and drew; I didn't. When Veda was ten (I think), she started playing the guitar and we began to listen to classical music together. We talked about Vivaldi and Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven. We thought about and spoke … [Read more...]
White Socks Only
White Socks Only is a stunning piece of literature and art, a charming book about a curious child eager to find out whether something she's heard is true. I revisited this book purely for the purpose of teaching it, and there's just so much to explore! Of course, the obvious choices would be to visit the themes of racism and segregation. But as a creative writing trainer, there's much more.The book opens with the young narrator wanting a story, and not just any story, her favourite story. And she knows just how to get her grandma to tell that story - by asking if she may go to town alone. She knows what the response will be - she may not go until she can do some good there. But she also knows that this will lead to the story of the time her grandmother sneaked out, went to town--and unwittingly did some good there.Without revealing why her grandmother went to town and what … [Read more...]
Staging a Script with Lav Kanoi
What an enriching scriptwriting session we had with Lav Kanoi on Saturday! Ah, there's nothing like a guest session to bring a fresh spurt of energy to our creative writing programme."What is a story?" That's the question Lav began with.I like the question. What is a story, really? As we talked about it, we came to the realisation that a story can be anything. Can't it? But that leads to the question, is there anything that a story cannot be?The discussion that followed led to the idea of form, which brought us to the idea that various forms - a song, a play, a story, a film script - are different because they serve different purposes. One thing led to another, and through all the excited exchanges, one conversation stands out."A play wants to be performed," Lav said. "Sure, you can read it. But reading a play is incomplete. It wants more. It's like a tape. It wants to be … [Read more...]
All About Research with Dr Shayani Bhattacharya
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...]
Creative Writing Workshops – Reflections and Resources
I spend hours scouring the internet for creative writing resources. I love those hours, even though sometimes I find myself panicking. There are so many wonderful ideas out there! What can I use? I want to use them all! At those times, I need to step away from my laptop and remind myself that I cannot do everything in twelve weeks. The weeks always fly by once I start a writing programme. I'm more than halfway through. Here are a handful of activities I used successfully this time! Rhyming Opposites This seems like an overly simplistic activity, but it works with people (I won't even say just children) of all ages. It is based on something I came across in the book Writing with Children, by Jackie Reilly and Vanessa Reilly and serves as a great way to begin a session on rhyme! How would you fill in the blanks? Musical Writing I have no idea … [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...]