WRITERS’ BLOC
The emergence of writers’ groups across the country points to a growing number of aspiring authors and their willingness to critique and support each other
Writing, at its best, is a lonely life, said Ernest Hemingway. But for the growing tribe of writers in urban India, it’s time to bend the rules that the American author proposed for a “good enough writer”.
Going by the emergence of writers groups across the country — Mumbai’s Caferati, the writing group by Toto Funds the Arts in Bangalore and the Delhi Aspiring Writers Group in the Capital, to name a few — it would seem that many writers are rejecting loneliness and reaching out to the community to share their work, get feedback, and network.
Take the Delhi Aspiring Writers Group. Members are drawn from diverse professional backgrounds and include software engineers, architects, retired bureaucrats and homemakers too. “It’s difficult to get published, especially for first-timers. So while most writers are looking for an honest critique of their work, there are some who are just happy to have someone listen to and appreciate their writing,” says Vineet Kalucha, who founded the group a year ago.
Despite the ‘informal’ setting, as opposed to a more structured creative writing workshop, members are able to plan meets around specific themes and spare time for constructive criticism of each other’s work.
Parvati Sharma, author of Close to Home (2014), believes getting honest feedback or constructive criticism in a “safe environment” amongst one’s peers is just one of the high points of joining a writers’ group.
“Writers tend to be lazy, and sometimes, being part of such groups and knowing you have a dedicated audience really forces you to write,” says Sharma, who has been part of writing groups such as the Bangalore-based Toto Funds the Arts and the now-disbanded Delhi-based Riyaz.
However, writing groups may not work for everyone. “I know of many who feel uncomfortable being part of such groups. People can get very competitive,” Sharma says.
Of course, writers’ groups are not new. “Writers reaching out to each other and discussing their work has always been a known practice. For instance, Ismat Chughtai and [Saadat Hassan] Manto would always offer constructive criticism on each other’s works. But the presence of social media is perhaps making such groups more visible now,” says Arpita Das, who runs Yoda Press and is editorial director for the self-publishing imprint, Authors Upfront.
Besides writers themselves, such groups are also attractive to literary agents and those publishing houses who view writers as clients. But whether writers choose to selfpublish or are picked up by an established publishing house, they could benefit from the critiquing and support that’s part of the agenda of writers’ groups.
Perhaps Hemingway got it wrong; perhaps writing doesn’t have to be a lonely life.