I was always creative, even as a child. At the age of ten, I wrote a few short stories. But I was too shy to show it to my parents or teachers. All I did was narrate them to my sis and cousins; and since they were all younger to me, I did not get much input from them. So, in absence of any motivation to continue writing, I quit after a few attempts. Though whenever there was a contest at school, I tried my hand at writing; but I never took it too seriously.
In my teenage years, there was a poetry writing competition held at my school. I got some ‘consolation prize’ and my poetry was much appreciated by my teacher of English. She went to the extent of calling me a ‘born poetess’ and was I flattered! Needless to say, this admiration inspired me to compose more poems and I became a poetess. In the beginning, I started off with simple and superficial poems. Later, my poetry became complex and deep. I wrote on life, inspiration, nature, emotions and patriotism. I also composed some romantic poems but did not show them to anyone, for the fear that they might wrongly assume me being in the influence of love (being from a traditional family, I was not allowed to fall in love before marriage). So whatever romantic poems I wrote, I hid them. Sometimes, I even used to tear them off and throw them away. I now wish I had a computer at that time so that I could have preserved my work. Though I did compose quite a few poems and still have them with me, there are a number I have lost. After I got married, there was no restriction to compose love poems, so I composed a number of such poems and used to give them to husband to read. Many a times, he appreciated and I composed more. But after some time, my interest in poetry faded away, and I stopped writing about a couple of years ago. Perhaps, something to do with my state of mind, or may be I simply lost the creativity to express myself in prose. Also, if you feel like writing poetry, you HAVE to write whenever it comes to your mind, otherwise words are lost. And this kind of urgency is sometimes not possible with young kids. So that was the end of the poetess in me. Since then, all poetry I have composed is a few lullabies and may be one or two poems for my kids.
Meanwhile, after the birth of my daughter, I started keeping a diary for her. I wanted to keep a year book, but the writer in me wanted to experiment with words, not pictures. So, I started writing to my daughter. It was not a typical diary, but more like personal letters addressed to her telling her about what was going on with her and me, and how she was growing. I continued this for about 2.5 years and had planned to do something similar for my son, who was six months then. But then I realized, if I wrote two such diaries, it would be just repetition (and double the work, for which, unfortunately, I could not find time) and if I wrote only one, I would be unfair to my son. So I decided to stop it altogether!
Then, through a friend I got introduced to blogging. I read many people’s blogs and noticed they wrote about anything and everything. There was no restriction on the writing style, topics, content etc. It was just like an online diary, or even a scrapbook of your thoughts. Since the writer in me was getting itchy again, I started blogging. In the beginning, I was apprehensive about opening myself up on an online forum where the information would be visible to anyone who wished to have it; but then, these doubts melted away. And as I wrote more, I realized how easy it was to express myself through writing.
When I quit my job to move to Qatar and started staying at home full time, the blogs became more frequent as it was my respite from the routine household chores. The day I got my first follower, I was very happy…someone was interested in reading what I wrote! Since then, I have sent the link to my blog to many people and they come back to read it, which means progress, however small. Alongside blogging, I am trying to write a novel. I mention trying as it is coming out slow and I keep changing certain details. Perhaps, this form of writing will help me improve my skills.
My daughter has now started demanding to listen to new stories every night before going to sleep, and I do not narrate to her the traditional ones as I want to eliminate any details which she is too small to understand. So, I have started composing short stories now…talk about coming a full circle in life!
My first work got published in the magazine ‘The Woman’ just a couple of months back. And now, I am officially a writer. Do you know how it feels when you dream, lose it on the way and then find it back again; and if the dream has now become a reality? It feels awesome! Many people who have made me realize my dream are not even here to share my joy. Yet, I feel grateful to them and wish I could tell them I do.
In my teenage years, there was a poetry writing competition held at my school. I got some ‘consolation prize’ and my poetry was much appreciated by my teacher of English. She went to the extent of calling me a ‘born poetess’ and was I flattered! Needless to say, this admiration inspired me to compose more poems and I became a poetess. In the beginning, I started off with simple and superficial poems. Later, my poetry became complex and deep. I wrote on life, inspiration, nature, emotions and patriotism. I also composed some romantic poems but did not show them to anyone, for the fear that they might wrongly assume me being in the influence of love (being from a traditional family, I was not allowed to fall in love before marriage). So whatever romantic poems I wrote, I hid them. Sometimes, I even used to tear them off and throw them away. I now wish I had a computer at that time so that I could have preserved my work. Though I did compose quite a few poems and still have them with me, there are a number I have lost. After I got married, there was no restriction to compose love poems, so I composed a number of such poems and used to give them to husband to read. Many a times, he appreciated and I composed more. But after some time, my interest in poetry faded away, and I stopped writing about a couple of years ago. Perhaps, something to do with my state of mind, or may be I simply lost the creativity to express myself in prose. Also, if you feel like writing poetry, you HAVE to write whenever it comes to your mind, otherwise words are lost. And this kind of urgency is sometimes not possible with young kids. So that was the end of the poetess in me. Since then, all poetry I have composed is a few lullabies and may be one or two poems for my kids.
Meanwhile, after the birth of my daughter, I started keeping a diary for her. I wanted to keep a year book, but the writer in me wanted to experiment with words, not pictures. So, I started writing to my daughter. It was not a typical diary, but more like personal letters addressed to her telling her about what was going on with her and me, and how she was growing. I continued this for about 2.5 years and had planned to do something similar for my son, who was six months then. But then I realized, if I wrote two such diaries, it would be just repetition (and double the work, for which, unfortunately, I could not find time) and if I wrote only one, I would be unfair to my son. So I decided to stop it altogether!
Then, through a friend I got introduced to blogging. I read many people’s blogs and noticed they wrote about anything and everything. There was no restriction on the writing style, topics, content etc. It was just like an online diary, or even a scrapbook of your thoughts. Since the writer in me was getting itchy again, I started blogging. In the beginning, I was apprehensive about opening myself up on an online forum where the information would be visible to anyone who wished to have it; but then, these doubts melted away. And as I wrote more, I realized how easy it was to express myself through writing.
When I quit my job to move to Qatar and started staying at home full time, the blogs became more frequent as it was my respite from the routine household chores. The day I got my first follower, I was very happy…someone was interested in reading what I wrote! Since then, I have sent the link to my blog to many people and they come back to read it, which means progress, however small. Alongside blogging, I am trying to write a novel. I mention trying as it is coming out slow and I keep changing certain details. Perhaps, this form of writing will help me improve my skills.
My daughter has now started demanding to listen to new stories every night before going to sleep, and I do not narrate to her the traditional ones as I want to eliminate any details which she is too small to understand. So, I have started composing short stories now…talk about coming a full circle in life!
My first work got published in the magazine ‘The Woman’ just a couple of months back. And now, I am officially a writer. Do you know how it feels when you dream, lose it on the way and then find it back again; and if the dream has now become a reality? It feels awesome! Many people who have made me realize my dream are not even here to share my joy. Yet, I feel grateful to them and wish I could tell them I do.
Thats great...so the journey as a Professional Writer has already started. Do keep a track of everything that happens on the road to being a Novelist...I might need some tips..few years down the lane :D
ReplyDeleteYou know .... Jush was the first one to whom I gathered courage to narrate my first poem and I had to tear it off cos her reaction to it was very bad... with the poker she asked "ye poem hai??"