Fiction & Nonfiction

Dear Me (2018)

Dear me

It’s New Year again! How fast flies the time! It is special for me because it brings in new hope, joy and dreams to be a good writer. This year I wish to make those dreams come true. So I change them into resolutions and goals to reach for. Before we talk about achieving them, I feel the need to look at what I have done during the past year with regard to writing, reading and reviewing fellow writers of WDC. I think the past with its positive and negative points plays a key role in shaping my present thoughts, imagination and efforts to realize objectives that I have set for the present year.

Last year, if you recall dear me, we participated in a particularly interesting contest hosted by wannabee entitled, “Daily Writing Challenge.” Amazing as it was, the activity brought out the hidden writer in us. You and I, partners in every venture, had woven one tale after another for four months with intermittent intervals. Wasn’t that crazy and wonderful? It was a rewarding experience, which boosted my confidence in writing at a steady and fast pace. The above contest started with 25 words per day and ended on a word limit of 2000 by the end of the fourth and the final month of the contest. Occasionally, I go over these months of writing- delight to remind me of my ability to write. I also note that we never felt either fatigue or pain of writing continuously for a month at a time. It assures me of my love of writing and the desire to write.

The few poems I penned during the span of last year were satisfying. They differed in style and content. One of them was written for WDC’s official writing contests, namely, “Short Shots.” Two more were placed in two different contests.
Now, with the encouraging experience of the past, I look to future writing with hope and pleasure. I know I can’t stop writing despite the many impediments that crop up from time to time from various corners of life. I take them as opportunities to think of events from a writer’s point of view. In other words, I keep pondering on how to fictionalize moments of joy and sorrow that I go through in daily life. The spectrum of life that I travel through encourages me to visualize various people, places and things as parts of the stories I intend to pen.

Recently, a friend of mine met me after a long gap of twenty years. We greeted each other with breathtaking eagerness and joy. We talked of things we shared, the school we attended and the teachers we had the chance to study under. We exchanged news about our classmates. I realized that one of the most important reasons why we were happy during the innocent days of school was the sense of equality and freedom. There were no differences of culture, religion, color or creed. The meeting with my dear friend made us contemplate on issues deeper and dividing in our society, which prompted me to put pen to paper soon after she left. Does it sound weird? Well, that’s the way we are.

Coming to the present, I have a few stories and poems at various stages: some just started, some half completed and a few almost done, in my journal.  My first and foremost goal for 2018 is to complete them and post them in my WDC portfolio.

Daily writing is also a goal I have set for myself for this year. Reviewing helps me in this direction. So, I am sure my reviewing will be much more than it was in the previous year. The stories, poems and articles penned by my fellow authors are often insightful and prompt me to review them. I find reviewing is also twice blessed. Hats off to you WDC for providing a platform for numerous budding and experienced writers!

Although I have been writing for a while, I know, I need to work hard to improve my style, my narrative method and developing elements of fiction and poetry writing. What better way than to read as much as I could to fulfill this goal?  As you know I don’t have a reading schedule. You are well aware dear me, that as a busy housewife, time is not at my disposal. However, I am going to use every single opportunity to read.  Aside from reading novels or newspapers we read other reading materials such as medical and science journals and even movie magazines. I tell myself to make discrete choices of reading material. Right now, I am enjoying a doctor’s book named, “Grain Brain.” I also have two more books to be completed. One of them is a translation of a book of stories, by Haruki Murakami named, “Men without women.” It is an insightful volume on human behavior. It prompts me to go to his other literary works.

One of the most cherished goals of mine in the coming year is to write poems in accordance with the changing trends of language and style. A few poems impress me with their brief and crisp expression. I would like to pen poems that have truth said in an appealing manner.

With the above goals in our mind, let’s take the road to progress towards the winning line.
Good luck dear me!

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