By: Surabhi Kaushik
My love for writing is best expressed with this quote by Louis L’Amour:
“Start writing no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
It is the pure joy of putting words on a blank piece of paper that brings me unexplainable delight, comfort, and relief in good times and bad. My words have been my lifeboat in times of struggle. They’re also my sharpest tool when I am ready to sculpt my thoughts and display them to the world.
Why Write Together?
When the pandemic broke out early in 2020, I found myself writing more often and more spontaneously than before. It was one of the ways in which I was trying to cope with all the uncertainty, panic and social isolation that was drowning the entire world in a tsunami of emotions. It was at this time that my regular writing group became available virtually. This was the only way to stay connected to each other, despite social distancing.
The group was the one place where we writers uncovered our thoughts and feelings through our words. Poems, personal essays, and journaling flowed out of our pens and lined up on our computer screens as we brought out stifled emotions and bravely revealed more of ourselves to the page.
Fun to Write
Having discovered the power and magic of writing groups, I had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to start my own. Fate gave me a chance to make this wish come true. In May 2020, I started a writing group for a handful of teachers and teenagers who lived across the world in Bangalore, India. I called it Fun to Write because that was the idea. To enjoy the process of giving life to your thoughts through words.
The pilot session was hardly a glimpse of what was to come. Owing to the enthusiasm and interest of all the members, we started meeting regularly, despite hectic virtual schedules and confusing time zones. The writing, discussions and encouragement to each other’s writing flowed effortlessly. Motivated by their thirst for learning and aching to get better at their craft, I started teaching them different tricks and techniques of good writing.
I choose the themes carefully and try my best to tailor it to fit each of them irrespective of their age, experience, or background. Seven months into this, the energy of the participants is as good as new. We look forward to seeing each other in the virtual space. We’re also eager to listen to each other’s writing.
It fills me with pride and joy that Fun to Write is more than just a virtual writing group. Though I was nervous about the outcome, I am amazed at the way it has shaped up. I am humbled that I have been able to make a difference. I’m not just bringing like-minded people together but keeping them together in a time when we are alone, together.
Group Leader
As a facilitator, it has been a wonderful learning experience for me. It stimulated me to experiment with new ideas. The members in the group also involve themselves in coming up with prompts and presentations.
We now take turns in leading the group. Time and again, we have affirmed how much this space means to us and the ways in which we have bonded as fellow writers. Honing our skills, it also gives us a meaningful space to meet and support each other in these unprecedented times.
Move to Write<>Write to Move
The pandemic forced people to stick within the walls of their homes. Though a large number of people benefitted with more time on their hands, I observed the crippling anxiety that came along with that situation. I felt a strong urge to carve out another nourishing creative space. The aim is offering an avenue to release these emotions. I am a writer who likes to combine other arts alongside my writing.
This birthed the idea for the next venture. I reached out to my good friend, Jyotsna Srikant, a dance and movement therapist from Delhi, India. Together, we compiled a series of workshops combining writing and movement to help people find a safe and meaningful space to vent, cope or distract themselves during the pandemic. We called them Move to Write<>Write to Move workshops. Movement enhances creativity, and writing ignites expression.
This unorthodox combination of the two triggered the curiosity and attracted a fun-loving audience who were willing to engage in two powerful forms of expression in our ingenious space. We have worked on themes like self-awareness, self-love, and self-compassion, which we thought was the need of the hour.
We have now conducted more than 15 successful workshops. We’re amazed at how helpful the workshops have been to each of the participants. The high point of each workshop comes with the emotional responses and brilliant writing that they share.
Writers Beyond Borders
My newest adventure with the virtual writing world is Writers Beyond Borders. The success of Fun to Write and Move to Write built up an insatiable appetite to create more such groups. I wanted to spread the magic to writers across the world. I have always felt the need to talk about my writing as much as I love the act of writing.
Through this group, I am trying to achieve a healthy balance between writing and sharing our challenges with writing. The goal is to bring writers around the world together on a virtual platform. During each meeting, we write, share, discuss, and promote our projects.
I am working on spreading the word and hoping that serious writers from all corners of the globe to build a strong writing community. Having experienced the power of sharing a creative virtual space, I am hopeful that it will attract writers across genres and countries as the name suggests.
Takeaways
The pandemic brutally turned our lives upside down. Being an extrovert, strict social distancing has been one of the hardest things for me. I am glad that I found a way to navigate this maze of social isolation through something that I love doing.
The icing on the cake is that I am able to extend a helping hand to others like me in the safest way possible. Finding comfort with words during the pandemic has been a silver lining for me. Though it involves a lot of hard work and research to come up with compelling prompts or universal themes, it all feels worth the effort when we come together and write together.
I am grateful to the virtual platform and the gift if technology which has helped us to keep in touch with our loved ones and keep our creative juices flowing during this crazy time. As we prepare to return to our normal lives, as we once knew them, we have realized that in all the times we felt alone, we stayed bound together by a beautiful string of words and the emotions that embellish them.
About the Author
Words have always been my best friends, allowing me to find comfort and joy in playing the role of a copywriter, storyteller, poet, or essayist. Not necessarily in that order. My blog Writersmind.Surabhi has links to my work published in several websites in India and the United States. I am also a book addict. I love learning new languages, am a Carnatic music vocalist, and an active volunteer with public libraries in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Also check out Surabhi’s other guest post on LBB, I am JUST a Writer.
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Very nice Surabhi!!