I love to try new things. As I try the new things, I will now be cataloguing my experiences. This section contains all my experiences from the past and the present. You should try new things. It will make life worth living.
Did I rewrite a classic? No. I used a classic to practice writing about the present.
Many of us forget how fiction is often a response to truths one cannot voice out loud without dire consequences. Oscar Wilde is an author who faced those consequences. If one reads beneath the surface while referencing the history of that time, you can see what he is also writing about in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
In Wilde’s book, Dorian’s beauty gets idolized early in the novel, describing him as “made of ivory and gold” whose mere smile (“the curve of your lips”) alters reality itself… ::read, reshaping the past/any crimes/etc.::
An anonymous admirer writes something similar in a letter to Dorian who is much older in the novel then and is looking at his corrupted youth with different eyes. He sees his beauty as the thing that inspired his moral decay, and he smashes a mirror that reflects this beauty.
I am Indian, and you try to criticize anything, people will bring up sanskar (values), culture, and scripture. We will treat each other and the country horribly, but we cannot say that using the exact words because India is pretty and prosperous. The nationalistic pride (no duties) overrides ethics, trapping us in the seductive influence of a past none of us was alive to see.
It makes me angry when the older generation spews so much vitriol towards the younger generation for trying to move towards the possibility of a future. The fixation on the beauty of the Indian identity and the instinct to not embarrass the country because look at India’s rich, rich past seems…reductive. We don’t like to talk about it, but I wish they saw the past for what it was in its entirety and not just the trade and artistic prosperity.
We are Indians; an amalgamation of many small kingdoms that unified under different empires and then got colonized. Every version of history people remember tells us homogenization is a tool for erasure. It is so extremely un-Indian and yet, here we are.
Fiction will do this to you… allow you to express yourself without talking up to or down to people. You can go blah-blah-blah, or you can simply say something like:
“I saw the stain of history and painted over it with mythology.”
-Binati Sheth
It is the same thing.
If you’ve ever wondered how writers learn to express what you feel in your heart and your head, this is how we learn. We overthink. We overwrite. We delete most of it. We read something. We feel. We look around us. We pick up our pen. We write. We set it free.
Try that.
No writer’s block will touch you if you stay in touch with the world you live in, and the worlds preserved in the pages of many books.
This is an audio recording of the blog, in case you prefer to listen.
Life sometimes throws us into walls that don’t crack. We feel only pain. In those moments, this pesky little thing called love shows up. Sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, often silly, but always steady. This blog is me showing up for Prachi.
Two Parallel Lives
My dear friend, Dr. Prachi Thakur, is living two lives at once. Like a pendulum that swings from the left to the right, she is swaying from happiness to sorrow, from joy to pain, from bliss to guilt, from planning for the future to dreading it.
One side has her father, her hero, Shyam uncle, battling stomach cancer, the kind that makes doctors look you in the eye and say, “There’s not much we can do now.” On the other side, she just started a new life with her husband.
How do you keep swinging without losing your footing? How do you crack Newton-Apple jokes while fundraising for your terminally ill father’s care? You do it by being Prachi.
The Secret Power of Humour (and LinkedIn 😆)
We met via the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program, an ambitious place where getting attention means someone else loses it. Prachi, Riddhi, Mrinal, Supriya, Rahul, and Jatin were not this (for me). We cared more about laughing with each other than growing on LinkedIn. We roasted ourselves and our creations. We have collaborated to make funny videos. Basically, we are all Chandler Bing. All the Chandlers found each other and laughed as much as they could along the way.
One day, Prachi said she was coming to meet me. I did not think she would come, but Prachi came. Lipstick on point, laughing all the way. We ate, we went around the city looking at Gujarati snack aisles, and we slithered on my cool stone tiles. I don’t know much about life, but I do know this: when you find someone who will chill on the floor with you, hold on tight and don’t let go.
Prachi, I am not sharing those photos here. I will burden you with that decision. #JustCreatorThings
Prachi is a survivor. When your life has been a fight, you learn to laugh and disassociate. That is how you keep going. The strength and sass you see come from her upbringing. It is a testament to what supportive parenting does to a person.
Like all dads, Shyam Uncle waited for his prize fighter to find her match, the son-in-law of his dreams. All this joy he had longed for finally arrived, and so did the damn cancer. It is trying to kill him, but Uncle is like, “Nope, we are not doing this today. I am soaking in the joy of the moment. I will keep living.” He hopes, so does his entire family. Life is carrying on as usual, with added visits to the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai.
One side is grief. The other side is joy. People on both sides are smiling.
Now we Talk about Rhu-Rhu
I didn’t want to burden Prachi by attempting to make her laugh. I hate when people facing sadness have to put on a show to make the rest of us comfortable. But I reached out and eventually told her about rhubarb. Yes, the plant. Don’t judge me: I am a book editor and a nerd who also gardens. Yes, I am a proud cliché.
Home gardeners usually cover the rhubarb plant with a bucket when it is growing. Rhubarb grows sweeter in the dark. The bucket blocks out all the light, but Rhu-Rhu is determined to find the light. It believes in the presence of light, and this determination makes it grow taller. When the bucket is finally lifted, Rhu-Rhu shoots up: vibrant, red, and alive.
I think Prachi laughed when she said, “So, Rhu is like my soul plant.” I said, “Yup. Nutritious. Gorgeous. Thrives in darkness. Thrives in light. Turns into jams and pies. Can be poisonous if not prepared right.“
Honestly, it fits Prachi well. She is in her rhubarb era.
Why I am making You Read This
This blog isn’t just a tribute to our friendship. It’s a character certificate. It’s a public letter vouching for Prachi’s integrity, her strength, and her humanity.
Yes. She is real. Her father’s illness is real. Her pain is real. Her courage is unmatched. Her humour is on point. And her need is urgent and important.
Help!
If you have someone who makes you laugh or hold space for your mess, someone who lifts people up, now’s the moment to lift back. Donate.
I’ve donated and shared her fundraiser in every circle I know. If your budget allows, I’m asking you to do the same.
This damn disease takes so many from the world. Love deserves to win, damn it. I will hold on to my Rhu-Rhu, hoping these dark times will lead to something sweet when the bucket lifts. People rallying around this beautiful family is a joy to behold. When all else fails, the light, people, show up.
This is the tale of a human storyteller. A new Dave Chappelle special has dropped on Netflix and the twitterati are buzzing with outrage. Some want him cancelled. Some want the critics cancelled. The rest are busy living normal lives. Everyone knows about ‘The Closer’. As always, the arrow hit its target and as an artist working among an increasingly fragile audience, this one was magnificent. Dave Chappelle is a genius. Whether you like him or not (on account of his comedy and/or opinions), there is no denying the genius of this comic. He jokes about everyone and everything. To quote everyone, “Nobody is safe!”
What do people really expect when they go to a Chappelle show I wondered? I think I have an answer. Stories. People go for the story. Chappelle recites jokes but what he does so well is storytelling. He talks to his audience, even the ones watching on Netflix. He draws us in with a cult leader-esque persona. Chappelle talks softly, then screams, dances, and sings. He doesn’t force the audience to listen – he makes them want to listen. Like a skilled magician who changes cards with a sleight of hand, Chappelle uses storytelling to do the same with his audience’s thoughts.
Familiarity
He sings familiar songs or mutters popular catchphrases before he cracks the tough-to-digest jokes to engage the audience and ease them into the painful yet hard-hitting premise of the joke. These jokes are the pointers leading to a social premise.
Relatability
He talks about someone he knows (from high school, within his personal circle of friends and family, at the comedy store, from some random bar on the road, et cetera). He does this to draw the audience into his life, making them feel as if they are one of his people. People like to belong in a tribe (especially when it is the tribe of someone famous). He makes use of relatable tropes to bond with his audience. This conditioning makes the blow from the premise softer when it comes.
Surprise
He uses the gift of ambiguity. Using reflective humour, Chappelle introduces the main premise of his special (which is often a social issue relating to race). He dodges the issue (mostly) by making things about himself (and not the issue per se). There is a shock value to his humour, a shock value that comes and slaps you in the face. These hard-hitting jokes encourage the audience to be human, even in the face of inhuman behaviour.
The Format
Chappelle says whatever he wants to say while saying he can’t say this out loud (making the appearance of the outrage around his humour and the cancel culture mob seem prophetic). He connects the outrage with empathy conveying the message of humanity to most people (who watch the whole thing). If you skim and scan though, you will only experience the outrage, you won’t notice the empathy, and the humanity of it all will be lost on you. If you watch a little clip, you will be triggered because the language he uses is fiery, sometimes incendiary.
Do you remember the jesters from a King’s Court from back in the day? Their job was to act silly, crack jokes and poke fun at the powerful people present in the court. Since time immemorial, comedians have been allowed to discuss and joke about subjects that are (morally) wrong and/or (socially) risqué in order to focus on the greater truths (whatever those are). Now though, comedians cannot say certain things. People pay money, go to shows or click on the shows and then, they call for it to be cancelled just because they didn’t like what they heard/saw.
To quote Chappelle himself,
“I don’t have to agree with all the art I consume, but it helps me understand how I actually feel about it.”
He is honest in a way that could get the audience to turn on him in a single instance. If he doesn’t handle the premise properly, people would do more than just boo him off the stage. The genius of Chappelle lies here. He uses outrage and empathy to draw his audiences in and he reminds them of their humanity and the humanity of the fellow man – everyone loves to laugh, especially during inappropriate moments.
I say, we let him do it for as long as he wants to. I say, we encourage more artists to be brave rather than constricted by some random dos and don’ts list made by people who do nothing but complain all day. If he does get cancelled, I guess it would be alright. To quote Chappelle for the last time, “It’s okay! My career ended many years ago.”
With that concluding note, let the begging commence. Let me know what you thought about this piece. While you do that, click on my other stuff as well alongside signing up for my cutesy, nerdy newsletter.
All content on this website, including blog posts, writing samples, and service descriptions, is the intellectual property of Binati Sheth and is protected by copyright law. Do not quote, reproduce, copy, or republish any part of this content without prior written permission. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. For permissions or inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
I have been feeling low lately. Low would be an understatement but that’s how we will leave it right now. Then, I did something. Against my better judgement, which screamed at me, I re-watched Kimi no Na wa. Makoto Shinkai fantasy romance Your Name (君の名は, Kimi no Na wa) is a 2016 Japanese animated movie (anime) and it broke me.
I feel empty.
I feel…alone.
To quote Miyamizu Mitsuha (the female protagonist of the movie) and Tachibana Taki, (the male protagonist of the movie),
Once in a while when I wake up, I find myself crying. The dream I must have had I can never recall. But the sensation that I’ve lost something lingers for a long time after I wake up. I’m always searching for something, for someone. This feeling has possessed me I think from that day when the stars came falling. It was almost as if a scene from a dream. Nothing more, nothing less than a beautiful view.
I feel like I’m always searching for someone, or something.
…I’m not sure if I’m searching for a person or a place, or if I’m just searching for a job.
Ichikawa, M., Kawaguchi, N., Ota, K., Shinkai, M., Kamiki, R., Kamishiraishi, M., Narita, R., FUNimation Productions, Ltd., (2017). Kimi no na wa = Your name.
I really don’t know why I am writing this blog. Something just compelled me to start writing. All I know right now is this emptiness. It feels like it will devour me whole. I have tried musubi (gathering the threads and connecting with people through time). I have tried loving and accepting myself. I have tried a lot of things. Yet that emptiness lingers on, spreading a miasma of despair through my heart and then my mind.
Just like the main theme of this movie, the reasoning and the logic behind my state is enigmatic. It is beyond me. It eludes me. Where does this emptiness comes from?
Just like the protagonists of this movie, the desire to find that which I love is intangible. I know you feel it too sometimes; we all do. How can we not? We are all looking for love. A person. A feeling. A purpose of existence. Love. Not just love, understanding. That’s what broke me. I lack understanding. I don’t understand myself. I don’t understand the world around me. I just…don’t understand anymore. Why is it this hard?
Grandma Miyamizu Hitoha says this,
Treasure the experience. Dreams fade away after you wake up.
Ichikawa, M., Kawaguchi, N., Ota, K., Shinkai, M., Kamiki, R., Kamishiraishi, M., Narita, R., FUNimation Productions, Ltd., (2017). Kimi no na wa = Your name.
… and then she says this,
Past this point is kakuriyo; the underworld! In exchange for returning to this world, you must leave behind what is most important to you.
Ichikawa, M., Kawaguchi, N., Ota, K., Shinkai, M., Kamiki, R., Kamishiraishi, M., Narita, R., FUNimation Productions, Ltd., (2017). Kimi no na wa = Your name.
I have treasured my experiences as much as I can. I really did. Why then does it feel like the dreams faded away even before they showed up? Why am I such an aimless, rudderless boat, drifting in a river of mediocrity? I just… I just don’t know.
In spite of how much this movie made me cry, to the point where I couldn’t breathe for a bit, I recommend you watch it. Sometimes, you just have to let it all out. Sometimes, we all feel profoundly lonely and spend years seeking our better halves – jobs, people, purpose; it could be anything. Sometimes, we all feel broken, empty. It’s okay. Tonight, it was my turn to break and feel it all.
When Taki drinks the Kuchikamizake and we see what he sees, our hearts break. When Taki and Mitsuha meet on the edge of the mountain in tasogare-doki (twilight) and Taki writes what he does on Mitsuha’s hand, the words she really needed to hear, our hearts ache. Where is it? Where is that tether, that bond? Why can’t I find it? Why can’t I find any spiritual connection? What did I do wrong with my life, my choices? Why is my string of fate so utterly tattered rather than red and knotted to perfection? なんで?
Today was my late grandmother’s birthday. There’s so much I wanted to tell her, thank her for. I wished for one more moment with her but nothing came. Why isn’t my love transcending time, space and mortality, and allowing me to meet her where things blur? I know she is gone…but not truly gone (because I remember her). Why does it still hurt this much?
I guess Uzumaki Naruto said it best,
It hurts when the person who gave you the best memories becomes a memory.
I get like this sometimes. Do you as well? Do you just absolutely shatter? I do. I shatter all the time. This feeling of not being enough just envelops me. It’s okay though because I am my own Tachibana Taki in that regard.
I wanted to tell you that… Wherever you may end up in this world, I will be searching for you. – Taki Tachibana
Ichikawa, M., Kawaguchi, N., Ota, K., Shinkai, M., Kamiki, R., Kamishiraishi, M., Narita, R., FUNimation Productions, Ltd., (2017). Kimi no na wa = Your name.
In the end…
I am still feeling low and I am still crying. Don’t worry, I will be alright. I hope you are alright as well. If you aren’t, know that you are not alone. Miles away, you have the company of this morose, twenty-something girl who is, as she types this, attempting to feel it all. Just like you, she is trying to fill herself with feelings; ‘full of pep’ as my adorable penpal calls it.
I have been feeling lower than I generally do and that is okay.
Everything will be alright eventually…right?
I don’t generally post my emotions online because emotions are fleeting. However, just this once, I did. You can also contact me, anytime. If you want to, feel free to check out my work.
All content on this website, including blog posts, writing samples, and service descriptions, is the intellectual property of Binati Sheth and is protected by copyright law. Do not quote, reproduce, copy, or republish any part of this content without prior written permission. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. For permissions or inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
ML+AI Technology will write your blogs or stories. Or will they?
Audioblog – listen while (or instead of) reading
I know it sounds unbelievable to many. A software that creates an article on any topic? An AI writes articles? Stop misleading me Binati, you snobby gobshite. I promise, I am not. I mean, I am a gobshite but I am not misleading you. The video clearly shows one website working. You can go to the site to get proof yourself. Writing with the help of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) is here, much quicker than we anticipated (not really, we just have a MARVEL-ous perception of the diverse forms of ML+AI).
Over the years, while ghostwriting technical content, I have come across some trippy tech. Two things I heard that blew my writerly mind were self-writing AIs and conceptual plagiarism detectors. Yes, I am going to expand on both of these so stop rolling your eyes at me.
Self-Writing AI
I heard about self-writing AIs in 2016 when machines were being forced to read horrendous material and then, they had to write (by prediction) the next awful thing this author/scriptwriter would create. Examples would be: NaNoWriMo (Barber, 2019), 1 THE ROAD BY AN ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (Goodwin, 2017), Artificial Tim Denning (Roberts, n.d.), and many more. The results were hilarious. However, these showcased something. When enough data is fed into these systems, they could predict and replicate the writing style of a subject with palpable accuracy.
Look at your phone right now and text someone with predictive text (Henry, 2014) on. What you are experiencing is a device that learned your preferred words. This device you own has learned to autocorrect words to whatever it is you prefer to use. For instance, now when I try to type Shanti for ‘Om Shanti’, it autocorrects to Shanthi, my friend’s name because I say Shanthiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii way more than Shanti. The technology existed. What was missing was a need.
That’s where the writers from the KISS generation stepped in. KISS here refers to Keep-It-Simple-Silly and not the rock band. These are stalwarts of the content and eBook writing industry who primarily aspire to cash in on the trend to earn by writing and not write to educate/inspire/inform/entertain/express. They will google a topic smartly, not really confer with the development teams of the product/service they’re writing for, then get to writing; well rewriting.
Original ideas don’t always exist. I understand that. However, as responsible writers, we have to build on existing ideas by writing and not rewriting. The KISSes just ignored all of that for the greenback and started creating shoddy content that people paid for. Given how bad the content quality was, courtesy of the rewrites, every time a Search Engine updated, the Search Engine Optimisation of the blogs tanked.
Paying customers were back to square one in spite of paying the professionals. This frustration often presents itself via rants on social media and service review platforms. Observant coders noticed a problem and they devised a solution – an AI that rewrites original content for you.
Go check Shortly AI. It is a GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) API(Application Programming Interface). You get five free trials by signing up. Log in. Select what you want to write: a blog or a story. Then, input a brief. This is basic details about the blog/story you want to write. Set how much content you want created. Do you want it paragraph by paragraph or do you prefer the entire article written in one fall swoop? Click on Write for Me. Then wait.
A Screenshot for Shortly AI
You will see the plagiarism free, grammatically accurate content it creates by going through a crap tonne of pre-existing content on its own. It does this almost instantaneously. It is surreal. You might be baffled by this, probably a bit scared. You shouldn’t be. If you create quality content, no machine will be able to replace you because machines can recreate (right now). One of the things that makes us human, sentient is our ability to create. If you create, you will always be in vogue.
There’s WordLift as well; a tool which will optimise your content using an AI, something that will trawl through the cyber universe to determine the correct parameters. The need to hire SEO optimisers and overpriced agencies would be rendered moot.
Conceptual Plagiarism Detection
Another problem with bad writing is plagiarism. Some people change the voice of an article from passive to active, and that becomes the article. If conceptual plagiarism detectors existed, something like shameless rewrites of somebody else’s work would stop. A customer won’t be wasting their money on a hack job.
When I heard about plagiarism detection that went beyond the words, to say I was ecstatic would be an understatement. This is something I will purchase first hand (when it launches) because frankly, at this point, some people need to be exposed for the content thieves they are. There really is no pressing need to steal someone’s work and substitute that with better words.
Every content sharing platform is equipped with this ability to share links, cite sources and give credit to the original content. Instead of rewriting (smart plagiarism), people could cite (that will increase your SEO as well). Instead of rewriting, credit the original author for the source material. Then, agree and add to the content of your blog or your prospect’s blog.
Rudimentary conceptual plagiarism is already being detected as discovered by this study (Yu H., Huang C., Kong L., Sun X., Qi H., Han Z., 2020) that found an uptake in plagiarism detection by 56%. What this means is Google’s machine learning equipped algorithm is detecting some plagiarism which our standard plagiarism detectors are missing. This probably also explains why certain blogs suddenly develop an SEO problem whenever the search engine updates.
Word of free advice – when you commit to the grind and the hustle, what you miss out on is progress. You’ll get the views, the fame and maybe the money. But what about responsibility? No matter what Turdi-McTurdson says, it is never okay to willingly steal someone’s work and just do a rewrite because it is easy or because everyone does it. With plagiarism, it is binary. You either copy or you don’t. Don’t copy.
Should you be scared then?
I completely agree with TIC here when they say, “Right from conceptualisation to creation to fine-tuning to results, machine learning is involved at all stages of the modern content creation process. What’s important for the content writer is to remain in the driver’s seat and use machine learning tools to make content creation simpler, faster and better.” (TIC, n.d.)
These websites will become the latest tools in our arsenal. Let the AI write the articles. You can subscribe to these websites to up your content game by creating a legitimately kickass blog. Start by preparing a blog brief instead of a solid outline. Let one software fetch you the data. Let another optimise the entire thing for Search Engines. Then, you step in to humanise the content. Ultimately, to make a human buy things, you need to do human-esque things. You are absolutely not done content writing yet. You simply get to upscale your content in a simpler, more efficient way. What is scary about that?
Change is constant. With technology, change is imminent. You can whine or you can adapt. Choose to adapt, ya?
I would love to know your thoughts about this in the comments. Do you think a writing software ushers the metaphorical death of human content writers? Or do you agree with me?
Citations
Barber, G. (2019). Text-Savvy AI Is Here to Write Fiction. Retrieved from WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/nanogenmo-ai-novels-gpt2/
Goodwin, R. (2017). 1 THE ROAD BY AN ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK. Retrieved from Jbe Books: https://www.jbe-books.com/products/1-the-road-by-an-artificial-neural
Henry, A. (2014). How Predictive Keyboards Work (and How You Can Train Yours Better). Retrieved from life hacker: https://lifehacker.com/how-predictive-keyboards-work-and-how-you-can-train-yo-1643795640
Roberts, E. (n.d.). I Forced An AI To Read 80 Tim Denning Articles And It’s Now A Bad Inspirational Quote Machine. Retrieved from towards data science: https://towardsdatascience.com/i-forced-an-ai-to-read-80-tim-denning-articles-and-its-now-a-bad-inspirational-quote-machine-ea9805d73ddc
TIC. (n.d.). WILL MACHINE LEARNING KILL THE CONTENT WRITER? Retrieved from TIC Works: https://www.ticworks.com/blog/content-writer
Yu H., Huang C., Kong L., Sun X., Qi H., Han Z. (2020). Research on MLChecker Plagiarism Detection System. International Conference of Pioneering Computer Scientists, Engineers and Educators.
All content on this website, including blog posts, writing samples, and service descriptions, is the intellectual property of Binati Sheth and is protected by copyright law. Do not quote, reproduce, copy, or republish any part of this content without prior written permission. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. For permissions or inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
You are going about your daily life. The routine keeps you happy and healthy. The financials are sorted. You are living the good life. Yet, something seems to be missing. Introducing, theme based community events! Community events are, as the title suggests, events scheduled for a set time around a community. For instance, if you are a member of the inking community, you can ink and think for thirty days. These help you practice your thing alongside people driven by passion around the same profession and/or hobby.
Here are nine reasons why I think community events are the coolest things ever!
1. Misery loves Company
Community events involve a community. Small, medium or large, this will be a group of people who really care about doing something specific. You like writing prompt based micro fiction for thirty days straight? Fictember got you covered. Whether you know how to write micro fiction isn’t relevant. The only thing that matters is you want to do something. You won’t be miserable alone. Someone will be there to help you out, whenever you need them to. You won’t be alone.
2. There’s strength in Numbers
You won’t be in it all by your lonesome. Unlike the twig that snaps with a little pressure, human beings need groups, a bundle of twigs that won’t snap no matter how much you try. Community events draw out the twee-s from the entire world. These puffins get together around their passion projects and simply create. Whether it is coders coding or gamers gaming, these events do make our emotional core stronger.
3. Creative Collaboration by Participation
Collaboration has become a buzzword in professional media circles for a reason. It works. When you collaborate, you feed off each other’s energies. Instead of contemplating things while swimming in the miserable soup of you psyche, you can collaborate with someone. This someone will find you via these community events. They might be like you or completely unlike you. Together though, you guys could create magic. I created two books with people I found via a LinkedIn event.
4. Building an Action driven Community
The potatoes you find via these community events will be willing to potate with you around the niche that brought you together. You have an action driven community at your disposal for advice, support and critical appreciation. That is literally, figuratively and metaphorically amazing!
5. Finding mentors becomes easy
People with experience often join community events to see whether they still got it. Instead of spending hours looking for mentors, you can simply participate in such events. Collaborate to create along the way. You will definitely find people who will rise above the crowd courtesy of skills and experience. If you participated earnestly, you can simply approach them with a mentorship request. Mostly, you will get a yes!
6. Networking of the best kind
You can do a brute force networking attack on Social and Professional Media platforms. I would rather just do this instead – participate and vibe with the adorable fritters of any community I get involved with. This would lead to networking with intention. It will also give you an opportunity to customise your networking messaging.
7. Constructive Feedback from people who walked the talk
You will see three common types at these community events. It here refers to what the community event is about (writing, reading, painting, coding, building, et al.).
Those who love it.
Those who want to try it.
Those who want to see it.
All of these individuals will have the intention. They will also have some degree of experience. So, when they criticise your work, it will be constructive; helpful.
8. You have fun in Groups
Life really isn’t hard, if you’ve got some adorable snoots to bop. Things are fun when you do them in groups. The sprints that happen during NaNoWriMo are insanely productive and fun writing exercise. Why? Mostly because people sprint together and have fun on the way.
9. Something to look forward to
NaNoWriMo, Inktober, Huevember – these are three events I do regularly. Fictember is something I started on LinkedIn. I know these events will happen irrespective of my participation. If I am blocked creatively, these events provide ample incentive to unblock. You can give this a shot. Trust me, it is worth it.
Let me now show you the results of my community events.
NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month of November. Every year, people pledge a set amount of words and then they just get to writing. The general figure is 50,000 words in 30 days. I have done NaNoWriMo twice and I got one book out of them (which I successfully pitched to an agent). Hear my experience.
NaNoWriMo Experience
Fictember
Fictember is something I started with a friend on LinkedIn. The nonfiction to fiction transition is hard for writers like me. So, I asked the community and they participated. We got together and wrote prompt based micro fiction for thirty days. It was challenging and it was fun. You can join Fictember as well.
On a rather gloomy day of September in 2020, as I contemplated the upcoming doom which is Preptober (preparation of NaNoWriMo), I just felt overwhelmed. I didn’t know what I wanted to write. My personal life was a bit of a mess. My professional life was painfully normal. I was just overwhelmed. There is no better way to describe it.
Then came the magical unicorn which survives on the tears of photoshop and crushed dreams. Instagram promoted an inking event – Inktober. Inktober is a prompt based inking challenge which runs throughout the year (Inktober52) or you can participate in it for an entire month (Inktober Classic). This is where you make one drawing per week throughout the year or you ink continuously for all the thirty one days of October. No matter what you choose, you are only allowed to use ink.
Now I am an ambitious racoon. Instead of foraging through the forests, I always choose to dive head first into a pile of trash. I therefore chose to torture myself by preparing for NaNoWriMo November and by inking prompt based drawings for thirty-one odious days.
That wasn’t all. On top of the prompts for Inktober 2020, I decided to be an over-smart masochist and aspired to link all the 31 prompts to writing. To simplify, I chose to make thirty one drawings using just ink and paper. These drawings were not going to be random doodles. They were all going to follow Inktober’s assigned themes and I was going to link them all to writing.
Inktober 2020
I am happy to report how I succeeded. I succeeded so well, I am going to do the same for Inktober 2021.
You are probably wondering why I am telling you this! It’s simple – I just want you to know how trying different things that seem like torture could actually turn out to be the thing that brings you peace. In the extremely busy, chaotic lives most of us lead these days, we often forget that us humans, we are not born with a manual. We are blank slates. We figure things out as we go along the path of life. If you don’t try the thing due to any excuse, well, you’re missing out.
Also, I wanted to brag a little. The sentiment being, “Oh look what I did!” This pompous puffin who couldn’t draw a straight line used outrageously expensive ink and some weirdly angled ink pen to ink writing theme doodles for an entire month while working, studying and going through life as is. If this lazy cat can do it, so could you.
Fun fact: This is my first ever blog. I have never written about personal experiences because I thought personal is, well, personal. Going by that lovely logic, I have been sitting on so many personal stories of joy, sorrow and extreme mundanity, I could talk your ears off. Who knows, maybe I will!
If you want to know whether I become someone who overshares in the upcoming future, sign up for my newsletter using the link below. Also, let me know what you want me to try next!
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