Creative writing, that many would love to hone, brings in a certain kind of joy, and pride to the writer. Rajorshi Chakraborti’s session on a breezy Sunday morning was packed with exercises that not only helped budding writers develop skills but also experienced writers go back to the basics. Chakraborti was born in Kolkata and grew up in Mumbai. He currently lives in Wellington, New Zealand. He is the author of 4 books, two of which have been nominated in different categories for the Crossword Book Award. The fifth one is due in Australia and New Zealand in March 2018, and is titled ‘The Man Who Would Not See’.
Chakraborti emphasized on three important aspects of creative writing which were tapped in the exercises later- introspection, invention, and communication. The first exercise required participants to pen down three sentences about themselves, of which one would be a lie. The young, the old, the experienced, and newbies- all tried a hand at the exercise and read out the sentences, where the rest had to guess the lie. A good amount of contemplation, fabrication, and reading out went into each of these, pushing each mind to think actively!
The second exercise saw participants try their hand out at poetry. A poem by Langston Hughes had to be modified with the replacement of one or two lines. What stood out in the exercise was the participants’ ability to beautifully blend in self-experience with the choice of words. These lines came not only from seasoned writers but also from those who resisted writing poetry!
Chakraborti brought out the writers, and thinkers from the participants; certainly a good start to creative writing!
About the Author – Shobhana Ramesh is a writer who immerses herself in books, her favourite being those that bring subtle magic into everyday living. She also writes poetry that she curates in her blog ‘Thinking;inking’, and is often lost in the words of other poets too. She currently writes for Bookstalkist.