Today was our last session at the Oxford Bookstore. Richa discussed Story Starters (everytime she discusses A story starter or a plot setting or a monologue or whatever, I itch to write something myself. Richa, where were you when I was twelve?)
Anyway, Richa started off with talking about the "hook" to a story- a story needs to begin in a way that the reader wants to know more. In other words, the story must be gripping and ensnare the reader.
Richa talked about ideas and how one is always influenced by the television and the newspapers and how incidents can act as "triggers" to our thought process. "The best way to learn is to eavesdrop on a conversation" she said. "For instance, when you're on a bus and you hear people talking amongst themselves and for some reason,you cannot follow the entire conversation, that is where your imagination comes into play."
Then Richa made the kids write down the word "red" and asked them to jot down anything that came to their heads. One little boy quipped, "But does the hook have to tell the rest of the story?" when Richa explained that "The hook element in the story is extremely important but it does not have to do with the central theme of the story. The fact that it is connected to the story is sufficient."
Then she made the kids write down a story with lines Beginning with Fortunately and Unfortunately and in my opinion, some of the kids did a fantastic job. I'll be putting them up on the site as well, so those of you that are interested and go and have a look.
The last exercise involved the children writing a story with the name of a place, the name of some kind of food, the name of an Author, the name of a Song, the name of a Car and a dialogue.
All the exercises were group activities and the session which began at 4 p.m ended at 6 p.m.
There are going to be more Workshops so please do keep checking this space. Members will be mailed as and when workshops are held.
Reeti Roy
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
25.5.2008
Today was my first day at work. As a part of Seagull's Youth Leadership Programme, Choice, Bishan and I had been discussing the possible list of organisations that I might have been able to work with, given that my focus was Creative Writing. After a few sessions of brainstorming, Megha's name cropped up.
Bishan informed me that Megha and Richa were looking for an intern for their Creative Writing Organisation, WritehereWritenow.
I went to meet Megha at Seagull's resource centre last week and after chatting for a bit, she asked me if I could come to Oxford Bookstore Junior, where WritehereWriteNow was conducting a workshop next week.
Today,as I walked into Oxford bookstore, I met Megha and Richa. "Is that Reeti?" she asked me, to which I replied in the affirmative. (I have a niggling suspicion that my new bright red spectacles made me unrecogniseable). Megha introduced me to Richa and then the two of them asked me whether I over ate (Yes,OF COURSE!!!) and whether I was left-handed (which I am!). I am truly delighted and honoured to be working with fellow lefties and fellow over-eaters.I'm sure it's going to be fantastic working with you :)
At around four-thirty, I noticed that there were children trickling in,one by one, with their parents. Most of them were members of WritehereWriteNow and there were two cute kids from Class II. Most of the kids were from classes IV, V and VI.
The theme for the Workshop was "Create your Own Superhero". Richa asked everyone if they read comics that had superheroes. One of the kids remarked that he doesn't like "the animated form", which possibly means that he likes fleshed out, human characters to portray Superheroes. They would have to write a story on how their Superheroes could combat the Villain-the monstrous Big Bad Bookworm.
Richa asked all the kids to come up with a Bio Data (otherwise called a Backstory). Each child would create a sort of CV for his/her character and give him/her a Real Name, a Real Age, a Superhero Name, a real Job, his greatest human strength, his greatest human weakness,his Superhero strength, his Superhero weakness, his worst memory as a human being (scars from his childhood, etcetera) and his Supercharacter, among other things.
Farham and Chirayu talked about Don and Krissh, their superheroes (Chirayu was sincerely asking me for the spelling of 'sunglasses' and 'acting' and he's an awfully cute kid) while Garima and Ruchira talked about Jayman and Johnnyman. All of the children will be putting up their superhero stories on The Website.
The workshop ended with Megha handing out bookmarks and registration forms and talking to the Children about WritehereWritenow.
At WritehereWritenow, we encourage children to write stories,poems and articles as well as read other children's writings. Information about the workshops are also posted on the Website.
The next Workshop is scheduled to be held at Oxford Bookstore (Junior) on the 8th of this month.
As I sign off, let me just say that I'm delighted to be on board and I look forward to my stint here at WritehereWritenow.
I've always been fond of writing myself and the tie-up of writing and Social Concerns is one that appeals to me immensely. I'll also be putting up the photographs taken during the course of the workshop, as soon as possible.
Reeti Roy
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Adieu - 27.04.08
The second Oxford Junior workshop started off ominously with absolutely no registrations! However, we were soon flooded with young children, eager to participate.This workshop was based entirely on character development. So, after a brief introduction to the site by Megha, Richa began the session by talking about the importance of developing a character in a story. Her favourite example, and indeed a favourite for most children, Harry Potter of course, helped everyone understand the true need for making a character real to the reader.
It wasn't long before Richa was telling the participants a story of a girl, who meets with an accident, and when rushed to the hospital, the following are found in her pockets - a little toy doll, one earring, a couple of buttons, a pendant and a rose.
The participants, who were sitting in pairs, were asked to describe the girl. They, then, took turns reading out their descriptions. And weren't they fascinating? Though everyone was given the same objects, the character was vastly different depending on the perception of the group that had developed the character.The next activity required all the participants to write the story of Paula, a woman who visited a certain place frequently. The place in question was contained in postcards that each group was given. No two postcards were the same. All the participants were asked to write about Paula, her life, and the reasons for her frequent visits to this particular place.When the groups, now in new pairs than in the earlier activity, read out their stories, we were amazed at the diverse descriptions they had. Paula was sometimes rich, sometimes poor; for some she was a young teenager, for others, she was an old woman; some saw her as lonely, others, social and vivacious.
The final activity required the participants to break off into age-groups but to work individually. Richa told them the story of a man, lost, disoriented, completely uncommunicative; found roaming on Park Street by a police officer who had no choice but to deduce the man's character by the contents of his bag - 3 business cards, a picture of a child, a torch, Kingfisher airline headphones, a key and a couple of parking tickets.The participants went about their task of "helping" the policeman identify the man very seriously. This activity took the longest amount of time, and Richa was generous with it, as well. Once everyone had finished writing, they took turns reading out their stories to each other.The session was enthralling and exciting and was a wonderful farewell for Mon and myself, who will not be returning to WriteHereWriteNow after today.
We wish to thank Megha and Richa, for giving us this opportunity to write an Oscar speech. It has been a pleasure working in WHWN (as we like to call it).
To all our members, farewell, and thank you for the memories.
Best of luck for the future. Live long and prosper.
Monday, April 21, 2008
19.04.08
After weeks of talks, WriteHereWriteNow's Saturday Club workshop was underway. We had a grand total of about 40 children attending.The workshop was held at the usual time, 4pm in the Phoenix hall. Mon and I had reached the Club early and Megha arrived shortly after, laden with a gigantic bag full of WriteHereWriteNow folders. Richa was next to arrive, exhausted and just a little peeved at not finding any parking space for her car.
However, we had a hall to arrange and we got to the task as quickly as possible. While Megha sorted out where the advertising banners and the WriteHereWriteNow banner should be kept, Richa, Mon and I went about placing the folders on the tables.
The children soon arrived and by 4:20 we were ready to begin. All the children were divided into age-groups of 3 or 4.
After an introductory speech from Mrs. Kapoor, Richa gave the children their first task for the evening - write a short paragraph on everything you see around you. Most of the children spoke about the dreary walls, the blue curtains, the young teachers around them and the people sitting at the back. They had a way with words.
Then we got down to the main activity. The children were asked to jot down points on all the things they could see.
They were then asked to jot down points on everything they could hear. There was some controversy over whether the chatter of fellow table-mates should be included in this section. However, Mon managed to clear their doubts.
The sensation of Smell elicited excited responses due to the food at the side of the hall.
Touch followed next. There was plenty of banging on tables and pulling of hair during this segment as everybody searched for that elusive word to explain how exactly they felt.The last of the senses was Taste. Richa was at her grossest best here, asking all the children to fill their mouths with saliva and write down what they could taste. All the children took this task very seriously. One child even tasted ink to add variety to his list while others turned to the more conventional lip-gloss for variety.
The children were then asked to write a paragraph describing themselves in the Phoenix hall while incorporating all their points. Several students then stood up to read out their paragraphs. Once again, their command over the language was impressive.
For the next activity, each table was given a plate of fruits. Each child was asked to pick the fruit of their choice and write a brief description of the fruit, incorporating the use of all five senses.
When it came to taste, it was up to the four defenders of language to do the dirty-work. The situation was further complicated by the fact that not all the fruits had been washed! We had to be extra careful while cutting the fruits so as to avoid the peel.
After most of the children had devoured their fruits, they got down to the serious work of describing the fruit.The final activity required children of different fruit-groups to stand up and describe their fruit. This session was entertaining and certainly left one with a healthy appetite.
And not a moment too soon. After a brief introduction to the site and a vote of thanks, the children and the four of us headed towards the snack bar.
The evening was enjoyable and educational, for all concerned.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
13th April, 2008
Our tie-up with Oxford Junior had a good start with nearly 20 children attending. The session started on time and all the children were squeezed onto the second floor, looking terrified and expectantly at Richa.Richa started off with asking all the children to listen to the sounds around them in the bookstore. The sound of people walking about, paper rustling, people talking, the air conditioner humming were some of the sounds the children heard.
The next exercise required everyone to observe what was around them. The children mentioned the books, the wallpaper, the cds, the air conditioner but they all forgot to mention the only animate things in the store - people! Richa kindly reminded them about that.
The main exercise required the children to look at a picture of a carnival and write about the sights, sounds, tastes and tangible objects that they would experience when at a carnival. They jotted down points and then as a group wrote a short story on a 'hot summer's day at a fair'.
The stories were entertaining and well-written and we were all very impressed.
The next activity required the children to look at another picture, this time of a park with an empty table and empty benches around it. They were asked to write another story, individually, this time about imagining themselves in this park all by themselves.
After a brief introduction about the website, Ron and Richa divided the children into groups of three so that they could read out their stories to each other.
After an enjoyable and interactive session the excited children bade us farewell.
The next exercise required everyone to observe what was around them. The children mentioned the books, the wallpaper, the cds, the air conditioner but they all forgot to mention the only animate things in the store - people! Richa kindly reminded them about that.
The main exercise required the children to look at a picture of a carnival and write about the sights, sounds, tastes and tangible objects that they would experience when at a carnival. They jotted down points and then as a group wrote a short story on a 'hot summer's day at a fair'.
The stories were entertaining and well-written and we were all very impressed.
The next activity required the children to look at another picture, this time of a park with an empty table and empty benches around it. They were asked to write another story, individually, this time about imagining themselves in this park all by themselves.
After a brief introduction about the website, Ron and Richa divided the children into groups of three so that they could read out their stories to each other.After an enjoyable and interactive session the excited children bade us farewell.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Scripting The Future - 23/03/08
With almost everyone's exams done and dusted, WriteHereWriteNow organised a workshop to bring the members back into the fold.
Over a rather enjoyable lunch, Richa, Megha, Mon and I decided that script-writing would be a good idea for our next workshop. There were some minor changes after that, but it had little impact on the final product - a workshop on scriptwriting for advertisements. Mon and I were in charge of this one, solely because I was confident we could conduct it successfully.
Having had some experience studying advertisements and script-writing, Mon and I began our research and decided to include a comprehensive lecture on advertising, the essential elements of television advertising, the essential elements of a script and the classification of shots. We would end the session by dividing the members into groups and asking them to write an ad script for a product that we gave them.
After great thought and endless emails to-and-fro, we also decided to include a couple of television advertisements into our lecture so as to give our members a clear idea of what we wanted. For this particular aspect of our lecture, Mon turned to man's latest friend - Youtube! After exhaustive research, and much disappointment, Mon discovered four ads that we could show the members, time permitting.
The date was set for the 23rd of March, a Sunday and that too, the Holi/Easter weekend. We were unsure of the turnout, but were set for the session, nonetheless.
Despite having everything ready, we approached the day with trepidation. We reached Megha's aAkriti office just as the first of our members arrived, Reejh. A host of members arrived after that and were all graciously ushered upstairs by Megha. In total, we had 9 members.
The session started a little late, but it took off quite swiftly. Advertisements are everywhere and most of the members didn't waste time pointing out the ads that annoyed them the most.
The first lecture was far more interactive than we expected. All the members had questions, most of them extremely pertinent to the topic of discussion. Plenty of views were exchanged and all the essentials of television advertisements were dissected and trisected by our all-too-knowledgeable members.
After the first session was over, we played two advertisements for the members - a Gatsby men's perfume ad featuring a-ha from the 1980's, and the highly amusing Nokia N93 ad featuring Gary Oldman.
We then went on to the second part of our lecture and explained the different columns that the members would have to use in their scripts. We also explained the use of the columns and gave them some pointers on how to put forth their information as concisely and precisely as possible.
To explain the classification of the three different types of shots, we asked for a volunteer. Advay's hand was the first up and hence, we used him to classify Long shots, Medium shots and Close-ups.
The lecture over, we divided the members into three groups. The first group were given Cell Phones; the second, chocolate and the third, most begrudgingly accepted furniture.
It was a noisy half hour that ensued with the members asking various types of questions. Finally, when the parents came knocking, we bid them goodbye with a cool glass of squash and a request to put their scripts up on the site.
Over a rather enjoyable lunch, Richa, Megha, Mon and I decided that script-writing would be a good idea for our next workshop. There were some minor changes after that, but it had little impact on the final product - a workshop on scriptwriting for advertisements. Mon and I were in charge of this one, solely because I was confident we could conduct it successfully.
Having had some experience studying advertisements and script-writing, Mon and I began our research and decided to include a comprehensive lecture on advertising, the essential elements of television advertising, the essential elements of a script and the classification of shots. We would end the session by dividing the members into groups and asking them to write an ad script for a product that we gave them.
After great thought and endless emails to-and-fro, we also decided to include a couple of television advertisements into our lecture so as to give our members a clear idea of what we wanted. For this particular aspect of our lecture, Mon turned to man's latest friend - Youtube! After exhaustive research, and much disappointment, Mon discovered four ads that we could show the members, time permitting.
The date was set for the 23rd of March, a Sunday and that too, the Holi/Easter weekend. We were unsure of the turnout, but were set for the session, nonetheless.
Despite having everything ready, we approached the day with trepidation. We reached Megha's aAkriti office just as the first of our members arrived, Reejh. A host of members arrived after that and were all graciously ushered upstairs by Megha. In total, we had 9 members.
The session started a little late, but it took off quite swiftly. Advertisements are everywhere and most of the members didn't waste time pointing out the ads that annoyed them the most.
The first lecture was far more interactive than we expected. All the members had questions, most of them extremely pertinent to the topic of discussion. Plenty of views were exchanged and all the essentials of television advertisements were dissected and trisected by our all-too-knowledgeable members.
After the first session was over, we played two advertisements for the members - a Gatsby men's perfume ad featuring a-ha from the 1980's, and the highly amusing Nokia N93 ad featuring Gary Oldman.
We then went on to the second part of our lecture and explained the different columns that the members would have to use in their scripts. We also explained the use of the columns and gave them some pointers on how to put forth their information as concisely and precisely as possible.
To explain the classification of the three different types of shots, we asked for a volunteer. Advay's hand was the first up and hence, we used him to classify Long shots, Medium shots and Close-ups.
The lecture over, we divided the members into three groups. The first group were given Cell Phones; the second, chocolate and the third, most begrudgingly accepted furniture.
It was a noisy half hour that ensued with the members asking various types of questions. Finally, when the parents came knocking, we bid them goodbye with a cool glass of squash and a request to put their scripts up on the site.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Happy Birthday WriteHereWriteNow!
We're officially a year old! Yesterday, that is. But today was our grand celebration for the momentous occasion. After a week of planning games, and after endless phone calls to members to inform them about the party, we finally met at Megha's aAkriti office at 3:30. Mon and I reached a little late, unfortunately (traffic and all, you know) but Richa and Megha were there. Richa was enthusiastically putting up streamers with the help of a very early Priyadarshini. We were soon joined by more members, all a little lost as to what the celebrations were for!
Introductions were made though most of the members had met each other countless times before. The festivities finally began at around 4:30, with around 10 members. Ahaan, who could not stay for long, brought a card for WriteHereWriteNow (at least someone remembered!).
Richa, Mon and I had planned 4 games for the members to play. We started off with a toughie. Richa had brought a poem that she jumbled up and the members' task was simple: unjumble the poem!
Easier said than done! In the end, the first prize went to the person with 10 correct lines out of 22, Sohini. Oh well, they tried.
The second game was 'The Pairs Game". After great pondering, Mon and I found some interesting pairs that the members might have actually heard of! Each of the twelve members was given a chit with the name of a character and the game required them to ask all the other members 3 questions to ascertain who their partner was. Some of the pairs were Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and The Beast, Laurel and Hardy, and the winners, Batman and Robin, who were actually Rhea and Sohini.
The third game was "Odd One Out". This was a fun, though challenging game. Most scored quite highly but the final winner was Rhea who scored a perfect 10.
After a recess of about 10 minutes, during which time Sushant displayed his Yogic talents, much to the enjoyment of the members and Megha!
The last game was "The Kolkata Quiz". Most of the members were flummoxed by the questions! In their defense, we had included some trick questions. However, we had a clear winner in Sohini who scored 9 out of 10.
Then came the interesting part... the food! Indeed, the food was good. Richa had ordered the cake (all four pounds of it) from a well-known lady in the city and it was delicious! The members were extremely enthusiastic to get their hands on the stuff. Fortunately, Megha managed to ward them off till the final moment.
We had the pleasure of being joined by Megha's father (who's premises we were so efficiently destroying) for the "cake-cutting". However, he was not able to stay for long, though he did try a very small bite of the cake.
Thanks to Mon organising the members into a line, the cake was finally cut in an orderly fashion. We are still to figure out why Mon and I (who only joined in November last year) were cutting the cake! However, we aren't complaining!
Megha had edited the videos from our workshops at the Nature Study Park and at the Victoria Memorial which she played for the members while we enlisted the help of Sushant (or is it Tanmay, Mon would ask) to serve the members cake, chips and Megha's superb home-made vegetarian (bird flu, you know) burgers. Never had the members been as quiet than when they were munching on the delicious fare.
After seconds and thirds were had by all (especially Richa and the two of us!) the members dispersed, thanking us and of course, receiving further instructions to contribute to the site, this time with book reviews. Here's hoping!
Richa, Mon and I had planned 4 games for the members to play. We started off with a toughie. Richa had brought a poem that she jumbled up and the members' task was simple: unjumble the poem!
Easier said than done! In the end, the first prize went to the person with 10 correct lines out of 22, Sohini. Oh well, they tried.
The second game was 'The Pairs Game". After great pondering, Mon and I found some interesting pairs that the members might have actually heard of! Each of the twelve members was given a chit with the name of a character and the game required them to ask all the other members 3 questions to ascertain who their partner was. Some of the pairs were Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and The Beast, Laurel and Hardy, and the winners, Batman and Robin, who were actually Rhea and Sohini.The third game was "Odd One Out". This was a fun, though challenging game. Most scored quite highly but the final winner was Rhea who scored a perfect 10.
After a recess of about 10 minutes, during which time Sushant displayed his Yogic talents, much to the enjoyment of the members and Megha!
The last game was "The Kolkata Quiz". Most of the members were flummoxed by the questions! In their defense, we had included some trick questions. However, we had a clear winner in Sohini who scored 9 out of 10.Then came the interesting part... the food! Indeed, the food was good. Richa had ordered the cake (all four pounds of it) from a well-known lady in the city and it was delicious! The members were extremely enthusiastic to get their hands on the stuff. Fortunately, Megha managed to ward them off till the final moment.
We had the pleasure of being joined by Megha's father (who's premises we were so efficiently destroying) for the "cake-cutting". However, he was not able to stay for long, though he did try a very small bite of the cake.
Thanks to Mon organising the members into a line, the cake was finally cut in an orderly fashion. We are still to figure out why Mon and I (who only joined in November last year) were cutting the cake! However, we aren't complaining!Megha had edited the videos from our workshops at the Nature Study Park and at the Victoria Memorial which she played for the members while we enlisted the help of Sushant (or is it Tanmay, Mon would ask) to serve the members cake, chips and Megha's superb home-made vegetarian (bird flu, you know) burgers. Never had the members been as quiet than when they were munching on the delicious fare.
After seconds and thirds were had by all (especially Richa and the two of us!) the members dispersed, thanking us and of course, receiving further instructions to contribute to the site, this time with book reviews. Here's hoping!
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