It all started two months back. I started writing a story to vent out my emotions and to put down the thoughts that were swirling in my mind. I had made a similar attempt many years back. But had lost focus after writing down a few lines.
This time it seemed the story wanted to be told - I could visualize the scenes, the characters. Writing a story in the Victorian era was a little challenging but I just could not think of any other apt setting for my story.
Giving names for the characters was a tough job. I changed the names twice. The draft version was pathetic. I had written it in a notepad and it took me several days to wrap up the story. Although I did edit it many times, I was careful not to change the plot or the climax.
After writing the story, I did not know what to do. I wanted to share what I had created with someone. I was reluctant to ask people to read it. Gathering up all my courage, I sent it to my friend H. I had to push my lazy friend to read it :) After sending her a reminder, she finally did read it and then told me she was surprised and liked it.
My confidence grew and I sent it to my other two friends - Re and Ra. I did not want to send them earlier since I knew they both were busy juggling with their family responsibilities. Still, friends would be there for you, no matter what happens. They read the whole story in a day and sent me their feedback. Well, I couldn't incorporate a lot of Re's comments. Why?? Simply because I was not that good a writer :)
H had told me "R, it is a good story. If the genre was not a romantic one, you could have sent it to all our friends."
Feeling even more confident and wanting a guy's perspective, I sent it to A after getting his confirmation that he was ok in reading a romantic story. Not getting a response from him for a week, I sent it to another friend RT after getting his confirmation. Not getting a response from him, I really did not know what to do 😔
Did they really read it? Did they read it and not like it? Did they read it but felt uncomfortable in responding to me because of the genre? After days, I could no longer stay quiet. I told myself that the worst thing that could happen was they blocking my number on their phone. Finally, debating if I was doing the right thing, I wrote to them. They were both too busy to read it although A did tell me it reminded him of Jane Austen's novels. Seriously, I wanted to strangle both of them. The whole time I was filled with anxiety on what could have happened.
When I mentioned about a story I had written to a colleague, she asked me if I had posted it on instagram or FB. She even told me that there were sites that would review and post stories, novels. Once the idea was planted, I couldn't let it go. I was excited as well as terrified.
After three to four weeks, I moved the story to a word document, edited a little and then sent it to my cousins - K and S. K responded immediately. She had read it in a few minutes and sent me her comments shortly. Very important comments. And then she popped the question - "R akka, have you thought about a title?" I had been sending the story to everyone with no title!!! It hit me then, that without a title no one would review or publish mine. In an hour, I had thought of the title. It just flashed in my mind. I wanted to hug K. I really love her. Without her I wouldn't have taken the final step.
I then edited my document one last time incorporating all her comments, made it look presentable, added a title and searched the internet for sites that were eager to take in stories of first time writers. I narrowed two sites and sent them my short story. What surprised me was how fast they were to respond. One of them told me politely that they did not think it was worthy of publishing. The other site responded saying they had published it and sent me the link. I had never expected them to respond and that too in just a few hours. I was a nobody who wrote something on a whim. Forget about the publishing, the acknowledgement was enough for me.
When I was behind my dad to read my story, he kept dodging them for days. Finally I threw up a tantrum and he had no other go but to read it. I waited calmly until he read and then looked at him for his feedback.
My dad: R, it was nice
Me: ok
My dad: The only problem was the character's names confused me. I did not know whether it was a girl or a boy.
**I couldn't help laughing.
My mom: Am telling you, you should do your MBA. You never listen
**I wondered what MBA had got to do with a short story :)
In the evening, my dad called me and said - "You know, R. I think your English is good. You should write to the "Letters to the editor" column in The Hindu newspaper. Parents will be parents :)
I sent the thank you mail to my friends - H, Ra, Re, A and RT along with the final version of my story. And guess what - A, Ra, Re read it immediately. Re and A sent me the small mistakes I had made in the story and Ra as usual sent in her love. Those guyz had the patience to read both the versions of mine - the draft and the final. That was when I realized how lucky I was to have such friends. They will always be there for me no matter what happens. Thank you guyz.
Writing the short story made me realize how much hard work and effort goes in writing stories, articles, novels. It also helped me appreciate the job of an editor, publisher.
It took me a while (almost two weeks) for the news to sink in - I actually had my first short story published. I shared it on my FB account for the whole world to see it.
Wondered why I did that after some time - was I looking for appreciation, was this a way in trying to tell everyone that I could also write and had accomplished something. I don't know. May be yes. I am just an ordinary human being at the end of the day. Still, I think I shouldn't have done it. It seems as if I was bragging about it
Nevertheless, the experience was great and I would cherish it.
This time it seemed the story wanted to be told - I could visualize the scenes, the characters. Writing a story in the Victorian era was a little challenging but I just could not think of any other apt setting for my story.
Giving names for the characters was a tough job. I changed the names twice. The draft version was pathetic. I had written it in a notepad and it took me several days to wrap up the story. Although I did edit it many times, I was careful not to change the plot or the climax.
After writing the story, I did not know what to do. I wanted to share what I had created with someone. I was reluctant to ask people to read it. Gathering up all my courage, I sent it to my friend H. I had to push my lazy friend to read it :) After sending her a reminder, she finally did read it and then told me she was surprised and liked it.
My confidence grew and I sent it to my other two friends - Re and Ra. I did not want to send them earlier since I knew they both were busy juggling with their family responsibilities. Still, friends would be there for you, no matter what happens. They read the whole story in a day and sent me their feedback. Well, I couldn't incorporate a lot of Re's comments. Why?? Simply because I was not that good a writer :)
H had told me "R, it is a good story. If the genre was not a romantic one, you could have sent it to all our friends."
Feeling even more confident and wanting a guy's perspective, I sent it to A after getting his confirmation that he was ok in reading a romantic story. Not getting a response from him for a week, I sent it to another friend RT after getting his confirmation. Not getting a response from him, I really did not know what to do 😔
Did they really read it? Did they read it and not like it? Did they read it but felt uncomfortable in responding to me because of the genre? After days, I could no longer stay quiet. I told myself that the worst thing that could happen was they blocking my number on their phone. Finally, debating if I was doing the right thing, I wrote to them. They were both too busy to read it although A did tell me it reminded him of Jane Austen's novels. Seriously, I wanted to strangle both of them. The whole time I was filled with anxiety on what could have happened.
When I mentioned about a story I had written to a colleague, she asked me if I had posted it on instagram or FB. She even told me that there were sites that would review and post stories, novels. Once the idea was planted, I couldn't let it go. I was excited as well as terrified.
After three to four weeks, I moved the story to a word document, edited a little and then sent it to my cousins - K and S. K responded immediately. She had read it in a few minutes and sent me her comments shortly. Very important comments. And then she popped the question - "R akka, have you thought about a title?" I had been sending the story to everyone with no title!!! It hit me then, that without a title no one would review or publish mine. In an hour, I had thought of the title. It just flashed in my mind. I wanted to hug K. I really love her. Without her I wouldn't have taken the final step.
I then edited my document one last time incorporating all her comments, made it look presentable, added a title and searched the internet for sites that were eager to take in stories of first time writers. I narrowed two sites and sent them my short story. What surprised me was how fast they were to respond. One of them told me politely that they did not think it was worthy of publishing. The other site responded saying they had published it and sent me the link. I had never expected them to respond and that too in just a few hours. I was a nobody who wrote something on a whim. Forget about the publishing, the acknowledgement was enough for me.
When I was behind my dad to read my story, he kept dodging them for days. Finally I threw up a tantrum and he had no other go but to read it. I waited calmly until he read and then looked at him for his feedback.
My dad: R, it was nice
Me: ok
My dad: The only problem was the character's names confused me. I did not know whether it was a girl or a boy.
**I couldn't help laughing.
My mom: Am telling you, you should do your MBA. You never listen
**I wondered what MBA had got to do with a short story :)
In the evening, my dad called me and said - "You know, R. I think your English is good. You should write to the "Letters to the editor" column in The Hindu newspaper. Parents will be parents :)
I sent the thank you mail to my friends - H, Ra, Re, A and RT along with the final version of my story. And guess what - A, Ra, Re read it immediately. Re and A sent me the small mistakes I had made in the story and Ra as usual sent in her love. Those guyz had the patience to read both the versions of mine - the draft and the final. That was when I realized how lucky I was to have such friends. They will always be there for me no matter what happens. Thank you guyz.
Writing the short story made me realize how much hard work and effort goes in writing stories, articles, novels. It also helped me appreciate the job of an editor, publisher.
It took me a while (almost two weeks) for the news to sink in - I actually had my first short story published. I shared it on my FB account for the whole world to see it.
Wondered why I did that after some time - was I looking for appreciation, was this a way in trying to tell everyone that I could also write and had accomplished something. I don't know. May be yes. I am just an ordinary human being at the end of the day. Still, I think I shouldn't have done it. It seems as if I was bragging about it
Nevertheless, the experience was great and I would cherish it.
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