* I realise that reads like I wrote the piece AT Depot 29, but in fact, I wrote it at home and only read it at Depot 29. But Depot seems like a nice place to write as well!
As some of you may know, I have a collection of short stories coming out with Westland this year. (Probably next month!) I've always been drawn to the format of the short story--perfect little universes where you can go fully macro-mode, zooming in closer and closer to the character. I wrote some of them four years ago, when I was away in the hills, trying to restart my writing.
Cold Feet happened, and work stuff happened, and I had sort of forgotten about them, until I had a bored afternoon, and was going through my "creative writing" folder, and came across my stories again, and they were still... good. At least, I thought so. The writing didn't make me cringe, as old writing sometimes does, the stories still felt fresh and tight, and so I sent them off to an agent friend, who sold it for me, and I wrote a few more--I put ideas on post-its, just a few words to indicate what I thought: "Michael Jackson kid" for example, that turned into a story about a reclusive superstar who died and is told from the point of view of his daughter, or "cat prostitute" about a cat who lived with a prostitute in Bombay, and likes to walk the streets herself. You get the idea.
A few weeks ago, my friend Karan Khosla, who is a super talented musician and in a few bands, asked if I'd like to a spoken word thing at a gig he was playing. The story had to be under three minutes, and he'd accompany me on the guitar. The Good Thing and I chopped one of my 8000 word stories into 800 words--no small task!--and then we put in breathing breaks, so I remembered to catch my breath and read slowly, and I rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed till I knew it almost off by heart. My reading aloud skills have never been great, which kind of sucks if you're a writer, so I was glad of the practice too.
All this to say, I finally uploaded it to YouTube! It's the adaptation of a longer story, but it had to be complete, so I tweaked the middle and the ending. Video off my phone, so it's not AMAZING, but I did put in subtitles so you can "read" along.
Enjoy and let me know what you think.
As some of you may know, I have a collection of short stories coming out with Westland this year. (Probably next month!) I've always been drawn to the format of the short story--perfect little universes where you can go fully macro-mode, zooming in closer and closer to the character. I wrote some of them four years ago, when I was away in the hills, trying to restart my writing.
Cold Feet happened, and work stuff happened, and I had sort of forgotten about them, until I had a bored afternoon, and was going through my "creative writing" folder, and came across my stories again, and they were still... good. At least, I thought so. The writing didn't make me cringe, as old writing sometimes does, the stories still felt fresh and tight, and so I sent them off to an agent friend, who sold it for me, and I wrote a few more--I put ideas on post-its, just a few words to indicate what I thought: "Michael Jackson kid" for example, that turned into a story about a reclusive superstar who died and is told from the point of view of his daughter, or "cat prostitute" about a cat who lived with a prostitute in Bombay, and likes to walk the streets herself. You get the idea.
A few weeks ago, my friend Karan Khosla, who is a super talented musician and in a few bands, asked if I'd like to a spoken word thing at a gig he was playing. The story had to be under three minutes, and he'd accompany me on the guitar. The Good Thing and I chopped one of my 8000 word stories into 800 words--no small task!--and then we put in breathing breaks, so I remembered to catch my breath and read slowly, and I rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed till I knew it almost off by heart. My reading aloud skills have never been great, which kind of sucks if you're a writer, so I was glad of the practice too.
All this to say, I finally uploaded it to YouTube! It's the adaptation of a longer story, but it had to be complete, so I tweaked the middle and the ending. Video off my phone, so it's not AMAZING, but I did put in subtitles so you can "read" along.
Enjoy and let me know what you think.
I really think feeling words by reading aloud will be wonderful. I tried .....Guys it's awesome. Big hugs to you Meenakshi!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed listening to the story and the concept of the "silver threads connecting people". Wish the audio was better though, lost some words here and there. Haven't read your books yet but definitely planning to start with your short story collection since this particular genre is my first love and also because I enjoy writing some too. Waiting for your post on more information about your new collection and hopefully an Amazon link to buy it (will it be available outside India too?) All the very best to you! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. Already on Amazon as pre order! Here's a link :) http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/9385152629/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1445311613&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Meenakshi+Reddy+Madhavan&dpPl=1&dpID=61OivNRchVL&ref=plSrch
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