CRITIQUE OVER COFFEE: DELHI’S ASPIRING WRITERS

“We call ourselves DAWG,” says Vineet Kalucha, 42, of the Delhi Aspiring Writers Group, which he founded a year ago. An IT entrepreneur and a writer, Kalucha says the group began when his hunt for other aspiring writers took him to meetup.com. Within a week, about 30 aspiring writers had joined Kalucha, a number that has since grown to more than 600.

Members meet twice a month at a coffee shop and critique each others’ writing, share ideas, and discuss the challenges of getting published. DAWG meetings work around specific genres, such as poetry, fiction or short stories, and anyone can propose a meet.

Once in a while, a published author or a publisher is invited to address the group.

Ira Singh, author of The Surveyor, was invited to speak in March. “Some of the members sent me their work for feedback. In a lonely business, where you are con- stantly ridden by self-doubt, such groups are very useful,” says Singh.

DAWG members come from diverse professions and include software engineers, architects, professors, and homemakers, a trend that Kalucha attributes to the rise of self-publishing.

“In the group, we discuss the right way to get published,” says DAWG co-organiser Hersh Bhardwaj, who says he managed to get a publisher (HarperCollins) for his book on marketing and branding only because of the “brainstorming sessions” he had within DAWG. “Members can also get suggestions and advice on related issues such as marketing.”

Finding space to hold meetings is a problem, though, so DAWG plans to go virtual and operate through Facebook, Google Hangouts and YouTube. “This would help more writers connect, share and gain from others’ experience,” Kalucha says.