Kids’ creative thoughts now as a storybook

This brought about the realisation that like her, there might me other parents who would like to preserve the stories their young ones came up with.
For representational purposes
For representational purposes

HYDERABAD: When her son was younger, Aparna Raman fondly saved the many stories he wrote – involving a superhero named Captain Pooky, and one about a mushroom and a cactus.

This brought about the realisation that like her, there might me other parents who would like to preserve the stories their young ones came up with.

Raman, who has been conducting creative writing workshops for children for a few years in Bengaluru, has also been publishing the participants’ stories as anthologies through Timbuktoo Young Authors Publishing – a publishing house founded by her.

A new book will be published after July 24. It features the written works of 18 children aged 7-13 years, penned during the lockdown.

Called Genre, the book contains stories that participants worked on during Raman’s Genre Genie writing workshop. It is the third anthology of this kind.

In the recently conducted five-day session, Raman introduced the kids to mystery, science fiction, horror, mythology and other such genres, before working with them to help develop a story under each category.

“I teach them about the basic elements of a genre and the sort of setting, imagery or sensorial effects they carry in their story. Then the kids write an 800-1,000 word story, which I edit and give feedback on,” explains Raman, who is also a faculty member at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology.

The kids also come up with an abstract for a story they want to write and Raman then works with them to fine-tune it.

“In order to write, you need ideas. And even if you have ideas, you may not know how to put it down. And through this exercise, they learn new words, communication skills, better English, imagination building skills and confidence too,” adds Raman.

The book, whose typography and design has been done by Zenab Bastwala, will retail for `250 at various bookstores.

“There’s a difference between what adults write for children and what kids themselves write for other kids,” says Raman.

One of the stories in the collection has been written by Bengaluru child Khushi Deepak. Having earlier published stories on social causes, this time, the 11-year-old penned a story about a vampire who visits a human dentist for his ‘fang ache’.

“It makes me proud to be able to tell my friends that I am a writer,” says Khushi, who is eagerly waiting to get a physical copy of the book.

Her mother, Vidya Deepak, is just as proud and says while her daughter has always been full of creative ideas, she has now learned how to put them on paper and present it.

“It’s almost like I’m living my dream of being published through her,” she says.

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