A few years ago, when I first took the tentative steps into the world of writing, the First Draft Club became my constant companion. I have participated in almost 10 sessions of the FDC, including the first one in 2020.  In fact, the first draft of my first book (Stars from the Borderless Sea) was written in the First edition of the first draft club!! (Isn’t that a lovely mouthful?). And recently, I was one of the experts on the Sunday evening sessions!! Truly a full circle!! It is heartwarming to see how the FDC has gained momentum since its first edition and is now a much sought-after writing community. I, meanwhile, have written (and published) 3 books, had my work acclaimed in different fora, including being on the longlist of the AutHer Awards, and winning the prestigious IGF Archer Amish Award.

{Check out Shalini & Ramajaneya’s post about how Writing Buddies can help you on your writing journey}

Let us begin at the beginning (where else?)

It was 2020 (yes, the year of the Pandemic). I had been writing short stories for about a year. Some of these had been published. A few had also won me awards or been anthologised.  I had a few more short story ideas, and one of these (which later became Humraaz, the last story in Stars from the Borderless Sea) had homed itself into my heart and soul.  Not just this, the ambitions of the story seemed to exceed mine! While the protagonists of the story were not happy about being restricted to a 3000-word page count, their author had no experience in crafting longer pieces. 

While randomly scrolling (what else do writers do when they are stuck?), I chanced upon a post by the Himalayan Writing retreat, announcing a writing community on the lines of the NaNoWriMo.

I was sceptical. I had tried NaNo a few months earlier and had failed spectacularly. But I was also lonely —a combined result of the strangeness of the post-lockdown world and my not having anyone to understand my writing struggles. My need to find a community where I could interact with other writers emerged stronger than my doubts. I signed up for what would eventually be a month of writing and learning. At the end of November 2020, when FDC 1 ended, I had written for more than 25 of the 30 days, clocked up more than 40,000 words and had a first draft ready. It was a draft that I would redo and edit multiple times before it would finally be published in February 2022. I had also discovered valuable nuggets of information about the writing process, techniques, devices and much more. These came from the expert sessions, as well as the conversations on the WhatsApp group.  That edition of the FDC also sowed the seed for some relationships which have deepened and strengthened with time. I found a writing buddy in Ramanjaneya Sharaph, who is a very talented and focused writer. I also found fabulous friends like Salini Vineeth, Namrata and Pooja Sharma. Salini is a prolific and inspiring writer and was one of the beta readers for The Way Home. Namrata, who effortlessly coordinated so many things at HWR, has been most generous in her advice and in championing my work. Pooja Sharma, a fellow writer and social entrepreneur, in an amazing example of the serendipity of the universe, actually attended the IGF Archer Award ceremony in London, thereby earning the distinction of being the first person I hugged after receiving the award!!

{Check out Ramajaneya’s post about ACEing FDC}

Sharing some highlights of the FDC, which were instrumental in my growth as a writer:

The Tracker

The beauty of the tracker is in its simplicity. Passively, it waits for you to enter how much you wrote. The Excel sheet stands sentinel to your dreams of writing your book. It doesn’t judge you. Instead, it is a gentle nudge towards the fact that you have to carve out the time to write regularly.  It keeps you accountable, not to an external force, but to yourself. The entries on the Excel sheet are not just numbers. They are proof that every bit of writing counts. That you will have good days and bad days and great days. Just as days become weeks and months, the words will add up to become a draft, a manuscript, and finally, a book. 

The Expert sessions: In a world where everyone has gyaan to offer on writing and where self-styled consultants abound, how do you separate the grain from the chaff? I was fortunate that I didn’t have to. The Expert sessions in the FDC are a wealth of information. Interacting with them in the ‘Q and A segment’ is a unique and invaluable opportunity.

{Check out this post on The Creative Process: How to turn Ideas into a reality.}

The community

That mental image you have of a writer writing alone in a café? Well, that’s only partly true. Writers are solitary creatures. But they also love company. In other words, we write alone; but we don’t like to feel alone. Having fellow writers to brainstorm with, letting other people suggest how to deal with plot holes, a WA group buzzing with posts about the craft of writing, the art of plotting, the constant struggles of finding time and space for writing,  and the vagaries of publishing — the take aways from a month of FDC will walk long and strong with you into your writing journey!