First Draft Club – A charitable, online writing community

This community of writers and poets helps you do more.

Community helps, whether you’re a poet or a writer.

The trope of the lone grim figure hunched over a clackety typewriter is a bad cliche’. Typewriters are passe, loneliness is a disease, and your characters could be grim, but you don’t have to be. Most writers we meet are happy, functional people. In large groups they are supportive and inspire each other.

And its not just writing. Over 27 First Draft Club (FDC) editions:

Poets have used to it finish multiple poems, even anthologies.
Writers have used it to edit and polish first and subsequent drafts
Of course, many First Drafts have been created, published and won awards.

I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box, so that later, I can build castles.
Shannon Hale Tweet

How this community works

You set yourself a writing / editing / creating goal for five weeks.
Write / edit regularly through these 29 days and update your word-count on the tracker we provide. Ignore if editing / writing poetry.
At the Laid-back Lit Fest (LLF), we meet authors/ poets/ publishing experts every weekend (Sundays, 5 PM IST). The line up is here.
Writing sprints (groups writing together online) meet for an hour at various times everyday. You can choose one or more slots that suits you.
You’ll be added to the FDC #28 WhatsApp group (optional) with other poets and writers. It is full of energy, useful information and encouragement.
The FDC funds the awesome, NGO-run Chirag School. To join the FDC you donate INR 950 (more is welcome) to the Chirag School.

We accept 100 writers/poets in each edition of the First Draft Club. The 28th edition starts on 6th September (details coming soon…).

If you have more questions, you can check out the FAQs at the end.

Note: In case you have trouble submitting the form, please click here.

Dear poet/writer, we'd love to know you better.
What are you writing?

Prose

Poetry

Both

In prose, you prefer...

Fiction

Non-fiction

To stay informed about articles related to poetry writing,
would you like to get emails from us?
We don't spam and you can unsubscribe any time.

In prose, you prefer...

Fiction

Non-fiction

To stay informed about articles related to fiction writing,
would you like to get emails from us?
And we're happy to throw in two free courses, too
We don't spam and you can unsubscribe any time.

To stay informed about articles related to prose and poetry writing,
would you like to get emails from us?
And we're happy to throw in two free courses, too
We don't spam and you can unsubscribe any time.

To stay informed about articles related to non-fiction writing,
would you like to get emails from us?
And we're happy to throw in two free courses, too
We don't spam and you can unsubscribe any time.

The 28th Edition of the First Draft Club:

Starts on 6th September.

If you want to learn Creative Writing , you can consider joining our Creative Writing Workshop (This workshop is for people who want to write stories or memoirs).

If you are looking for guidance on how to write articles and blogs, you can consider joining our From Idea to Article.

Divya Dugar & Shivya Nath
September 6

Ashwini Iyer Tiwari
September 13

Rheea Mukherjee
September 20

Arshia Sattar
September 27

Neha Dixit
October 4

Somak Ghoshal
July 05

Note: In case you have trouble submitting the form, please click here.

We request that you attach a screenshot of the payment confirmation page with the form.

The Chirag School and First Draft Club

The FDC raises about 30% of Chirag’s annual budget, and is helping the school grow into a high school. Grade 6 was added this year.

In the Chirag School teachers don’t raise their voices. they encourages curiosity instead of subduing it. The Chirag School is one of a kind: a small-budget, rural school run on the principles of J Krishnamurti. Here village teachers teach village kids in Hindi, and deliver great learning and results.

The small class size translates to personal attention for every child. This results in higher than average reading levels, and extraordinary results in school-leaving exams.

The fees parents pay is Rs 150/- per month. It covers less than 7% of the operational cost. The school depends upon the goodwill of generous donors like you for the rest.

We request you to support this wonderful school generously.

You can learn more about the Chirag School and donate HERE.

The Himalayan Writing Retreat has NO stake /ownership / direct or indirect financial benefit from donations to the Chirag School. Since HWR’s co-founder’s children studied in this beautiful school for four years, it gave them a first-hand appreciation of this schools magic.

What Writers Have to Say about the First Draft Club

ACEing the Himalayan First Draft Club (FDC): lessons from FDC’s 1 to 8

Does a Writing Buddy help you Write Better, Write More?

Writing notes from 40+ published authors and editors

Shalini Mullick has participated in almost 10 sessions of the FDC, including the first one in 2020. In fact, the first draft of her first book (Stars from the Borderless Sea) was written in the First edition of the first draft club! And recently, she was one of the experts on the Sunday evening sessions! Truly a full circle!

While FDC has gained momentum, Shalini has written (and published) 3 books, had her work acclaimed in different fora, including being on the longlist of the AutHer Awards, and won the prestigious IGF Archer Amish Award.

Read the full article here.

For our Sunday Literary Sessions, click here to check out the Speaker list.

Literary Experts

Shivya Nath & Divya Dugar

September 6

Shivya Nath is an award-winning travel writer and bestselling author. She spent nearly seven years living out of two bags, spending time with local communities from Iran to Patagonia. Her words have appeared in BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveller and Lonely Planet, among other publications. She is a recipient of the prestigious NATJA and Lowell Thomas travel journalism awards. Her latest book, Rootless and Restless, is based on 9 life-changing adventures in some of the world’s remotest places, reminding us of our shared humanity in an increasingly divided world.

Divya Dugar is a journalist and storyteller with over 15 years of experience covering news and producing long-form documentaries. Born in Calcutta, she studied at the Asian College of Journalism before producing over 60 reports and documentaries for European broadcasters, primarily ARTE. She also worked as a journalist for four years with France 2, covering news across India, with a focus on stories at the intersection of culture, society, and human experience.

Her writing—spanning features and personal reflections—has appeared in numerous publications and often draws from her love for animals, heritage architecture, train travel, and places just off the beaten path. Now based in Southeast Asia, Divya lives with her two young children, Marius and Elora, and their two dogs—Marcopolo and Pari—who are equal parts companions and chaos agents. She is also actively (and endlessly) convincing her partner to rescue just one more.

She is currently working on a project that brings her children into the wild—to experience wildlife in its natural habitat, slowly and mindfully. Along the way, she is mapping train routes no one asks about and quietly nurturing a not-so-secret ambition to witness every great animal migration on Earth.

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

September 13

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is an Indian filmmaker, writer, and artistic producer whose work is celebrated for its emotional depth, nuanced storytelling, and profound understanding of human relationships. A gold medallist in Applied Arts from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, she spent over a decade in advertising, crafting compelling narratives for leading brands across India and Southeast Asia before transitioning to cinema. Her acclaimed body of work includes Nil Battey Sannata, Amma Kanakku, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Panga, Ghar Ki Murgi, Ankahi (anthology), Faadu, and System. Across films and streaming, her storytelling has earned widespread critical acclaim and numerous national and international honours for its emotional authenticity and layered narratives. Her debut novel, Mapping Love, further established her as a storyteller whose voice transcends mediums. Recognised by Forbes India in 2020 and 2024 as one of India’s self-made women, Ashwiny is the co-founder of Earthsky Pictures, where she develops original stories while championing emerging creative voices. Beyond filmmaking, she founded Roots, an initiative documenting the untold stories of Indian art, craft, and design. Guided by empathy, curiosity, and a deeply mindful perspective, through her films and creative initiatives, Ashwiny continues to champion stories rooted in the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.

Atika Gupta is a PR and Brand Communications Consultant with vast experience in varied industries like academia, publishing, hospitality, retail and CSR. She has successfully spearheaded the launch of luxury boutique hotels, bookstores and an art gallery. Her passion for art and literature has led to effective curation and strategising of events across various international platforms. She also co-chaired the Managing Committee of Kumaon Literary Festival and was one of the founding members of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival. Born out of a love for books, her boutique PR & Brand Communication consultancy has a specialist expertise in the publishing sector.

Rheea Mukherjee

September 20

Rheea Mukherjee is the author of Liar, Liar (HarperCollins India, 2026); The Body Myth (Unnamed Press & Penguin India, 2019), which was shortlisted for the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award, and The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love (Penguin India, 2023). Her books linger where desire, disillusionment and rebellion collide, charting the brutal, tender and often ridiculous ways we try to love, grieve and make sense of ourselves. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, Electric Literature, Scroll and Southern Humanities Review.

Raised between India and the US, Rheea writes from the uneasy intersections of place, memory and cultural expectation. Her diasporic lens is sharp, unsentimental and alive to the contradictions of Indian urban life while casting a critical glance at the brittle promises of the American Dream.

She currently co-runs Moonbird Creative, a creative communications studio in Bangalore. Rheea’s public work focuses on mental health, justice and the small, stubborn rebellions that keep us human.

Arshia Sattar

September 27

Arshia Sattar works with the epics and storytelling traditions of the Indian sub-continent. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has translated the Valmiki Ramayana from Sanskrit into English. She has written several books of commentary and interpretation on this ancient text. More recently, she has retold myths and classical stories for younger readers. Her book, “The Mahabharata for Children” won the Children’s Literature Award from the Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters.) Arshia writes, speaks and teaches about classical Indian literatures at home and abroad. Along with DW Gibson, she founded and runs the Sangam House International Writers’ Residency Program in Bangalore, India. She also runs the Yali Project at Sangam House which nurtures and mentors translators working with Indian languages. Yali commissions newer translators to work with experienced translation mentors and brings them together for an intensive residential workshop to create a final draft of the work. In 2023, the Government of France honoured Arshia with the rank of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contributions to Indian Literature.

Neha Dixit

October 4

Neha Dixit is an independent journalist and author based in New Delhi. For over two decades, she has reported on politics, gender, labour, and social justice in South Asia, producing investigative, narrative, and long-form journalism for Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Caravan, The Wire, and others.

Her work has exposed extrajudicial killings, hate crimes, human trafficking, unethical clinical trials, and sectarian majoritarian violence. She has won over a dozen national and international awards, including the International Press Freedom Award (2019) from Committee to Protect Journalists, the Chameli Devi Jain Award (2017), and the Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalism (2011).

Her book, The Many Lives of Syeda X (Juggernaut), traces 30 years in the life of a migrant Muslim woman navigating Delhi’s informal labour economy, holding over 50 jobs without minimum wage. The book, a vivid portrait of urban India’s invisible workforce, was named Book of the Year 2024 by The Hindu and the Deccan Herald among others. It won the Ramnath Goenka Sahitya Samman and Kalinga Best Debut Award and a Special Jury Mention by the CG Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing.

Appupen

July 12

George Mathen, popularly known as Appupen, is a noted graphic novelist and artist from Bangalore, India. Renowned for his allegorical world-building, he is best known for ‘Halahala‘, a shifting universe critiquing power, greed, environmental collapse, and human excess. His work has appeared in many magazines such as Tehelka, Rolling Stone India, India Quarterly and more. Armed with a skewed vision of the world, darkly vivid art and a satirical bite, he is a unique voice in Indian comics and comics in general.

Note: In case you have trouble submitting the form, please click here.

Watch expert sessions

A peek into the previous FDCs

FAQs

When did the Himalayan First Draft Club start?

2020 was the first time we decided to become a part of NaNoWrimo as a community. This led to the creation of the Himalayan First Draft Club.

On some weekends, amazing authors like Damyanti Biswas ( Author of You Beneath Your Skin- Simon & Schuster India, 2020) and Jenny Bhatt( Author Ratno Dholi- Harper Collins India, 2020) joined us. They shared tips on writing and also talked about their own experiences of NaNoWriMo.

In April 2021, we had best-selling authors like Vish Dhamija , Kiran Manral, Arjun Raj Gaind and Kanchana Banerjee joining us on weekends and sharing their journeys as writers.

In November 2021, the guest speakers included poet, fictionist and translator Rochelle Potkar, Shreya Punj (Commissioning Editor, Penguin Random House India), Dipanker Mukherjee (Publisher, Readomania), and author Tanushree Poddar.

We loved it so much, we decided to host it four times a year instead of just once.

So, we created the Himalayan First Draft Club which is held in February-May -July-September

How does the First Draft Club work?

It is fairly simple.

Step: 1

You sign up for the Himalayan First Draft Club through this form.

Please note, you will have to clearly mention your commitments in this form. So, before clicking on the form, think about these questions:

What are you expecting from this exercise?
How many words can you commit?
At the end of the one month, what do you see as your achievement?

We request all the writers who want to participate in FDC #27 to make a donation to educate underprivileged kids at the Chirag school, a wonderful school in the Uttarakhand Himalayas.

The Chirag school is a cause we support. Please donate a minimum of INR 950/- (more is better) to the Chirag School. This will help underprivileged students here in Uttarakhand get a great education.

(Note: The Himalayan Writing Retreat has NO stake /ownership / direct or indirect financial benefit from donations to the Chirag School. However, we know and believe in the work it does. Know more about our Community Work.)

You can learn more about the school, and donate HERE.

The school may take up to a day to acknowledge the payment. So we will accept a screenshot of the payment confirmation page attached with the form.

Please note, this donation is to participate in the current FDC. Every FDC needs a separate donation to be made to the Chirag School to participate.

Step: 2

We will evaluate your application and confirm your membership to the club. (Yay!)

Furthermore, we will add you to the WhatsApp/Signal group created exclusively for the members to share regular updates. (You will not be added if you have opted out of it in the form in Step:1.)

And you are done! (Well, not yet but almost there.)

We will share a Google sheet which will basically be a tracker. You will have to update your word count in that tracker on a regular basis for us to keep a note of it.

What is the focus of the First Draft Club?

The focus of this group is to make writing a habit. You will discover fellow-writers who dabble in the same genre. You might also find valuable critiques for your writing.

As a member, you have a chance to interact with some of your favourite authors apart from finding writing buddies who could be dabbling in the same genres as yours. You never know, you might end up creating a writer’s group in your own city after discovering fellow writers around you.

What should I expect after I join the First Draft Club?

Join us every weekend on Zoom to discuss and share our experiences of writing during the week. These sessions will also have some inspiring authors as guest speakers, where they will share tips and tricks on writing effectively.

We will share a weekly dose of positivity ( a.k.a updates and writerly motivation) to keep the demon (Writer’s Block) away.

This is a Writer’s Support Group. There is no teaching involved.

You can connect with writers to find a writing buddy. (Know more about it here: Discover a Writing Buddy at the Himalayan First Draft Club), create a local writers group of your own (based on people living in the same city), plan meet-ups (physical or virtual) and find your tribe!

The Chirag School website reads we need INR 2350/- to sponsor a child's education for a month. How are you insisting on INR 950/- only?

INR 950/- is the minimum donation requested by us. You can donate more also if you are comfortable. INR 2350/- is the figure required to sponsor a child’s education at the Chirag School. However, they also welcome donations in any amount.

I am working on my final draft. Am I still eligible to participate in the FDC?

Yes, you can.

We have had poets, novelists, essayists, translators, and screenplay writers participate in the previous FDCs and they have found it productive. At the same time, writers have been working on their revisions, second, third or even the umpteenth draft in the FDC too.

The goal of FDC is to make writing a habit. You could be working on anything or are planning to. You could join in to find some writerly energy or work on the writing prompts we share to tickle your inspiration.

What happens after the FDC is over? Do I stay connected?

Once done, you’ll join what is probably India’s largest writing support group – the mega FDC WhatsApp group. Here over 600+ active members answer questions, share experiences, do writing sprints and much more.

Can I view recordings of the expert sessions later?

We prefer people to attend these sessions live. So we post only Excepts and snippets of the expert sessions on our YouTube channel . That too after a month.

+91 7303516665

( 11am - 5pm )

Email: info@himalayanwritingretreat.com