Whats in a Story?
The Jaipur Literature festival this year was brought to the limelight on account of injustice to Mr. Rushdie. But what also happened there was that people flocked united in the search of the next big story. No not the press, media hype kind - but the real McCoy, the real deal - the quest of a story. There even was a discussion with a set of very esteemed panellists including Javed Saab on ‘Kahani Kisse Kehtein Hain’. I must add here that I did not attend the Lit Fest this year, but I write nevertheless about it – such is the power of words, you can experience, retell, dream about something, anything real or not.
What lies within a story? In the last 6 months I interacted with writers across the world in a forum by the Oxford University on Creative writing. The forum was not so much about ‘learning’ to write good stories (can you?) but about interacting with authors who come from various walks of life. We all gathered and talked about stories we read and each one of us always had a different take on the works of the said author. Virginia Woolf's Kew Gardens – is it about beauty? Or are the details tiring? Or The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - what works in that story? Is it the desperation of the woman stuck within the walls of her room, is it her imagination or is it actually her insanity that we read about, spiralling out of control?
In the last 6 months I also had a chance to move from being an author to wearing the hat of an editor. Grey Oak Publishers had a novel idea – a collection of stories on the theme of love. But no, not the mushy variety, but love in all its hues. Stories that broke your heart. Stories that were set in ‘our’ world. The Pièce de résistance? The opportunity to work with debutant and seasoned authors. The Landmark and Grey Oak short story competition had brought to light several new authors and their stories, and this was the chance to work together and build something out of nothing.
So the question then was what makes a story? How do you select a story out of a heap of gems? And more importantly, the writer inside me asks – what sort of story should one write? To answer this would be tough. So I read. Satyajit Ray, Manto, Haruki Murakami, Ruskin Bond.. Then I read more – Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, W.W. Jacobs. And then I returned to the stories shortlisted for the collection written by so many talented authors.
What I found was this. A story is something that has soul. It could be a familiar place that you travel to. Or a new one. It could be a horrible character or an endearing one. It could be past tense or present. It could be something that stays with you for days. Or it could leave you, resolving the story’s inherent conflict, in the moment that you read the last line. In all of this and in any of this alone, lies the heart of the story. The reason why it was written. To exist as a person, as a being, with its own magical identity.
This year I’ve been published twice with 2 books and 3 stories. Turning Editor has helped me ‘see’ things I once glanced over – this includes grammar, punctuation etc but more importantly includes tuning my mind to the world and its stories in a more holistic way. The marketer in my brain is cueing me to tell you about the books I’m in and here they are – ‘Urban Shots Bright Lights’ and the valentine special ‘Urban Shots – The Love Collection’ also edited by me. Please pick these books up. If not for me then to read new authors and have a new experience through those pages.
Have my own stories hit that mark? I don’t know. But as with any author – new or old- we must discover and explore our worlds in the hope of putting to paper something that we processed through the sieve of our perception. And then we must write of it nakedly. Therein lies the soul of the story. Therein lies the key to answering ‘Kahani Kisse Kehtein Hain”.
The Jaipur Literature festival this year was brought to the limelight on account of injustice to Mr. Rushdie. But what also happened there was that people flocked united in the search of the next big story. No not the press, media hype kind - but the real McCoy, the real deal - the quest of a story. There even was a discussion with a set of very esteemed panellists including Javed Saab on ‘Kahani Kisse Kehtein Hain’. I must add here that I did not attend the Lit Fest this year, but I write nevertheless about it – such is the power of words, you can experience, retell, dream about something, anything real or not.
What lies within a story? In the last 6 months I interacted with writers across the world in a forum by the Oxford University on Creative writing. The forum was not so much about ‘learning’ to write good stories (can you?) but about interacting with authors who come from various walks of life. We all gathered and talked about stories we read and each one of us always had a different take on the works of the said author. Virginia Woolf's Kew Gardens – is it about beauty? Or are the details tiring? Or The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - what works in that story? Is it the desperation of the woman stuck within the walls of her room, is it her imagination or is it actually her insanity that we read about, spiralling out of control?
In the last 6 months I also had a chance to move from being an author to wearing the hat of an editor. Grey Oak Publishers had a novel idea – a collection of stories on the theme of love. But no, not the mushy variety, but love in all its hues. Stories that broke your heart. Stories that were set in ‘our’ world. The Pièce de résistance? The opportunity to work with debutant and seasoned authors. The Landmark and Grey Oak short story competition had brought to light several new authors and their stories, and this was the chance to work together and build something out of nothing.
So the question then was what makes a story? How do you select a story out of a heap of gems? And more importantly, the writer inside me asks – what sort of story should one write? To answer this would be tough. So I read. Satyajit Ray, Manto, Haruki Murakami, Ruskin Bond.. Then I read more – Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, W.W. Jacobs. And then I returned to the stories shortlisted for the collection written by so many talented authors.
What I found was this. A story is something that has soul. It could be a familiar place that you travel to. Or a new one. It could be a horrible character or an endearing one. It could be past tense or present. It could be something that stays with you for days. Or it could leave you, resolving the story’s inherent conflict, in the moment that you read the last line. In all of this and in any of this alone, lies the heart of the story. The reason why it was written. To exist as a person, as a being, with its own magical identity.
This year I’ve been published twice with 2 books and 3 stories. Turning Editor has helped me ‘see’ things I once glanced over – this includes grammar, punctuation etc but more importantly includes tuning my mind to the world and its stories in a more holistic way. The marketer in my brain is cueing me to tell you about the books I’m in and here they are – ‘Urban Shots Bright Lights’ and the valentine special ‘Urban Shots – The Love Collection’ also edited by me. Please pick these books up. If not for me then to read new authors and have a new experience through those pages.
Have my own stories hit that mark? I don’t know. But as with any author – new or old- we must discover and explore our worlds in the hope of putting to paper something that we processed through the sieve of our perception. And then we must write of it nakedly. Therein lies the soul of the story. Therein lies the key to answering ‘Kahani Kisse Kehtein Hain”.
