WriteFor

24/02/2023

We are excited and looking forward to this partnership between YourStory and WriteFor to find and groom gifted writers for work assignments. Here's the thought behind this initiative..

1) While more & more professionals are entering the field of writing, they may not have the training required for specialized kinds of writing, required for platforms such as YourStory

2) Even writers with degrees in journalism need inputs in specific skills and competencies required to deliver in a writing job.

Through this "Career and Upskilling Initiative", YourStory in partnership with WriteFor, will select skilled writers for writing assignments. Those with skill gaps, have the option of enrolling for a hyper-focused skill-based writing program.

- All writers who successfully complete the program requirements will earn a certificate from YourStory & WriteFor, which will be a career enabler.

- Writers who demonstrate a good learning curve, will again be considered for selection by YourStory.

There has been much debate whether ChatGPT will take away jobs of writers. It is safe to say at this time, that good writers who are continuously focusing on upskilling and building a good portfolio will be able to survive these upheavals.

Any talented writer, who has worked for minimum 2 years professionally in the field of writing (could be full-time or part time, but you have done a fair amount of paid work), may apply.

Details & links are in the YourStory post below.

31/12/2022

Any day of the year, is a good day to start writing.
But there's something about New Year and new beginnings.

For those of you, who aim to start writing more this year,
define your goal to find 30 mins to write everyday, religious.
It's a more specific and doable goal,
which you are more likely to accomplish,
when busyness and life happen.

Fix a slot,
try and stick to it.
Write anything..
about your day..
summary of anything you watched..
reflection on anything that happed..
Something random..
But write everyday.
just for 30 mins.

I promise you, at the end of it
the world of words, will be yours to conquer... writefully 🙂

Benjamin Franklin once said,
"Either write something worth reading,
or do something worth writing."

I hope we accomplish both, this year.
Wishing everyone a thoughtful, ideaful and wordful 2023 ❤

~Swati Jena
Founder, WriteFor

07/11/2022

Book release alert!
We've heard lot of discussions on the "bottom of the pyramid".
This book is all about tapping into the "middle of the pyramid"

"Winning Middle India" by Bala Srinivasa & Hari TN (Penguin Random House India) explores the theme of how new-age entrepreneurs are leveraging digital platforms, smartphone access in India and building products for the millions of Indian customers
who lie just below the top layer.

A book full of stories, case studies and examples, it delves into analysis of the factors, ecosystem & players of "Middle India".

A must-read for entrepreneurs, students of business and basically anyone interested in following the rise of new India aided by the digital revolution and age of start-ups.

About the Authors:

Bala Srinivasa is the Managing Director of Arkam Ventures, an early-stage venture fund that partners with tech-entrepreneurs innovating for middle India. Srinivasa has spanned the range of the start-up journey, having started as a wall-street analyst, then a start-up executive and finally a VC. He has held senior leadership roles in organizations such as Kalaari Capital and Copal Amba (a Moody's company) among others.

T.N Hari is a prolific writer, who has co-authored thought leading books on diverse topics around organization and entreneurship such as: "Saying No To Jugaad - The Big Basket Story"; "Cut the Crap & Jargon"; "From Pony to Unicron: Scaling a Start-up Sustainably"; "Diversity Beyond Tokenism - Why Being Politically Correct Doesn't Help Anyone". Hari is the Cofounder of Artha School of Entrepreneurship with the mission of helping founders scale their start-ups. He has been a part of the senior executive team of Big Basket, Taxi for Sure, IBM Daksh and Tata Steel, among others, and continues to be an advisor to several organizations.

Having read the manuscript, we can assure you, it's one book that will need all your highlighters and sticky notes, as you scribble away.

Book link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/0670096806/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_DA8YMMF5DKXXPW0SKJZB_0

Congratulations to Bala and Hari for writing this much-needed book!

18/10/2022

The shorter the writing, the tougher.
While many may find this counter-intuitive, or hard to believe
those who are deep in practice of writing, will know this to be true.

Writing shorter.. is not about writing less.
It's about creating a strong impact.. by writing succinctly.

As Mark Twain says.. not wasting a quire of paper on an idea
that can be reduced to one glittering paragraph.

I write a series called, "One Minute Articles" (OMA)
These are 200-word articles presenting an idea.
Once someone I was coaching.. a senior professional
asked how much time it took me to write the OMAs.
"1 minute or 10 minutes?" he said laughing.

It takes a lot more than that.

It takes minimum ~45 minutes.. that's the fastest
on those rare days of creative momentum, when words just flow.

Many OMAs take taken 2-3 hours,
if the idea being presented is complex.

Over 100+ OMAs have taught me
that to write about a complex idea in short
needs crystal clarity about what we want or don't want to say.
Then.. it is about choosing the right words in the right flow.

That requires, thinking about the idea,
allowing gestation time for it to develop.
Writing and re-writing, editing several times.

I teach children this skill in our 'WriteFor Thinking" program.
One of the many exercises is, "story in 100 words"
where they begin by reducing a 1000+ words story to 100 words.

It's not summary writing.
Summary writing exercises are based on identifying key information.

A story has many more nuanced elements.
Characters and character growth.
Plot with events and build-up.
Setting influencing the characters and events.

To identify the essence of all these inter-twined elements
and bringing THAT to 100 words, needs many sub-skills.

The first reaction of young writers is usually
"WHAT!! That's not possible to do in 100 words."

They eventually learn.. how to do it
ofcourse failing along the way
(an important part of the process).

Here I must clarify, the implication is not
on formats being good or bad
i.e., "long form" v/s "short form".
Long-form writing is important aswell.
(I personally write a lot of long-form)

The implication of the discussion here is to say..
in any form of writing, are we able to, in Mark Twain's words..

"..condense the diffused light of a page of thought,
into the luminous flash of a single sentence..."

Happy writing.

~Note from Swati Jena
Founder, WriteFor

(Picture for editorial comment.
Picture source: Wikipedia)

17/10/2022

Book release alert!
The best stories.. are the ones that are real.
This book's a fascinating tale, from pages of Indian history in 1775.

Maharaja Nanda Kumar, an influential landowner in Bengal
was tasked with revenue collection by the East India Company.
That's where he discovered a rabbit hole of money laundering
and fraud by an official we've all heard of - Warren Hastings.

Maharaja Nandakumar is said to have brought charges against
Hastings on bribery. However, Hastings prevailed, and brought forgery charges against the Maharaja who was given a death sentence by the court.

Some historians opine that Hastings brought false charges and the court's judgement was wrong. Maharaja Nanda Kumar's death sentence has been termed a "judicial murder".

That's the history. But history is boring.
Stories are interesting.
And the fate of a story... rests in the hands of a writer.

This piece of history could not have found a better author
than Debleena Majumdar.
Those who know Debleena will speak of her beautiful mind
interested in observing and integrating myriad things.

This shows in her work, talking of data through stories..
and her earlier books on topics as diverse as
finance, history and crime.

Whether you are interested in History, or simply stories..
"Trail of the Maharaja" is a book you can't resist reading.

A huge congratulations to Debleena on this book release 💐
We are certainly looking forward to more!

Link to the book in the first comment 👇

Debleena Majumdar

15/10/2022

A book that spreads across 28 genres and literary tools!
Written for children by children...
"The Oddinators" is one-of-its-kind.

From satire, science fiction, math poems, allegories, suspense, play, social comedy, situational irony, reflective pieces, speech.. name it, and the children have written it.

A fruit of labour of 18 bright young writers of age 8-16, the book speaks to children.. as a reflection of how they think.

The best part?
Parents have enjoyed reading it... as much as children!

The co-authors of the book have worked diligently on their writing skills for a year, in our "WriteFor Thinking" program, before getting published. The book also showcases their experiences as writers - the good parts.. the tough parts..
in the "personal learning paper" segment.

'The Oddinators' is a must-have in any child's library.
Book link: https://www.amazon.in/Oddinators-Stories-more-children/dp/B09Y5NQK2H

13/10/2022

12/10/2022

Can 8/9/10 yr olds simulate a moot-court successfully?
More importantly, what is the value of legal writing for youngsters?
"The case of MUTEny" was a revealing exercise in our program.

Verbal reasoning is one of the core competencies
of high-impact writing.

In our "Write for Thinking" program for (8-11) & (12-16) age groups legal writing is one of the many ways we build it.

In this module, called the "Case of MUTEny"
a relatable case of students v/s teacher was created.

"Guiding law" were created in form of the school charter.
The young minds were taken through the framework of
plaintiff, defendants, witness-prep
basic types of objections and rebuttals
all within the framework of the given "guiding law".

They were divided into two case groups,
made to write case briefs, opening & closing arguments
making their case, countering the opposition's case.

On the day of the moot-court, they all came to class
as lawyers (first chair, second chair), witnesses, plaintiffs
and defendants.

It was astounding to see 8/9/10 yr olds simulate the moot court.
As one of the writers said when the module began..
"I love arguing, so I think I will love the moot court exercise."
And by the end of the module, the writer said..
"I realized, arguing with logic is not easy!"

Teaching legal writing to children that young, is challenging.
It needs strong planning and pedagogy.
But it can be done..
And when it's done well.. the results are worthwhile.

(P.S we have also done a full 2-week program on legal writing for our 12-16 age groups where they argued in-depth on more complex cases, worked on both writing and delivery of opening and closing arguments).

WriteFor Thinking is a one-of-its-kind multi-domain-multi-genre program with a unique pedagogy that pushes the envelope on complex, non-linear thinking... using writing as a tool.

01/06/2022

A corner-street phuccka-seller in Kolkata..
A biryani shop owner in Hyderabad..
An apartment security guard in Bangalore..
A domestic help in Chandigarh..
A traffic police in Delhi..

Our senior writers (age 12-16) are stepping into the shoes of
these characters who go undercover. Writers are implementing what they learnt in class about the art of espionage and core principles of constructing a story like this.

Having worked with hundreds of children in our "WriteFor Thinking" program, we come across common roadblocks children face in writing great stories...

1) They tend to derive inspiration from highly stylized popular media and books (latter mostly limited to fantasy genre). They end up writing stories that lack depth, texture and variety - because it is not based on their real experience.

2) Children have been given to understand by either school or parents that using "nice words" result in good writing - and they tend to build stories around "nice words" they want to use - rather than finding the vocabulary around the story.

3) Logic and motives of characters are missed out on.. 'what' the characters are doing become the core of the story, leaving out 'why' the characters are doing so.

Writing is a very powerful tool to teach thinking.. however it requires a very specific pedagogy and answering design questions such as:

1. What are major and micro skills of thinking that need to taught?

2. Which genres are best-suited to teach which skills?

3. Each genre has layers of complexity - how should the complexities be stacked and sequenced to train the mind on the mapped thinking skills (which again have levels of their own)

4. How the specific instruction of each assignment be designed to challenge the writer in a specific direction?

(For example, "undercover agent" in itself is not a big deal. But there are specific parts of the assignment brief, that are meant to nudge the writers to use a certain thinking faculty.

Just by changing those instructions, the entire assignment outcome can be changed. It's the fine detailing that matter.)

The above are just some of the things we consider while designing our program.

The senior writers are now trying to work on the principle of plausibility. Particularly with detective genres, the stories tend to be far-fetched - and the assumption is that.. because it's fiction, anything is fine. Even fiction needs to be believable - and therefore the plausibility has to be built in.

How do we do that? Definitely, not by just "telling" the writers. That has no impact, because children forget.

Elements of the assignment instruction, analysis, feedback focus.. many things go into it. Also, it never happens through one assignment. Therefore modules are interconnected to strengthen the practice of one area - while building newer ones.

-----
P.S: Our Junior writers are a feisty bunch, and I will update soon on what they are upto!

~Class notes by Swati Jena (Founder - WriteFor)

21/04/2022

Yes, it's official now!
India has 18 new young authors
'The Oddinators' is their first gift to the world.

There'll be ample time to talk about the book.
This post is about the authors..
Their reason to write.
Their...'why'

Young minds of age 8-16
minds.. that are exploring the world
minds.. that are asking questions
minds.. that are trying to make sense of their experiences
school, growing up, siblings, studies, expectations, stereotypes

Their book, 'The Oddinators' is an expression of that experience.

So are they the typical 'I-love-writing'. 'I-want-to-be-a-writer' kids?

They are engineering aspirations, like Aditya
They are science-lovers, like Saanvi
They are cricket-fans, like Nimit
They are cartoonists, like Raghav
They are TT players, like Vibhav
They are singers, like Aayushi

They are everything.. that most children are
They are not.. what we stereotype... children-who-write as

Each of these young writers.. write.. because writing is...
their connection.. to themselves
their connection.. to their ideas
their connection.. to their thinking

All of them will grow up to pursue different careers
And writing is not their preparation.. for a job
it's their preparation.. for life

Aayushi, Srushti, Saanvi, Sangini, Sunehtra, Aanya, Sushmita, Nyasa, Aditya, Advait, Nimit, Sanskriti, Vibhav, Vivek, Aravind, Aaradhya, Shanaya, Raghav... give me hope.

We know they will be an inspiration for other children
to think deeper.. experience mindfully.. and express unabashedly.

There is so much to say.. yet we are overwhelmed.
All we can muster to tell them is...

We are so..so..so proud of you all!

Our heartiest congratulations to all the proud parents of the authors.. and gratitude for believing in the power of writing.

P.S: 'The Oddinators' is available in print on Amazon
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09Y5NQK2H

19/04/2022

For everyone who has been enquiring about our summer programs
the batches begin on 25th April.
Please connect with us at [email protected]

19/04/2022

We are so proud of Aayushi for publishing her first book..
"Teentime Musings" - a collection of poems, essays and stories on a range of topics that are a surprise coming from a 12 year old!

It has been a joy observing Aayushi's mind blossom over the past 4 years that she has been writing..

Today she has reached a point where she can give expression to her exploration of the world.. her evolving identity... her experience of growing up.. through writing.

As she writes in her poem, "Who am I?"

"There's so much to me
Way beyond the eye can see"

With this book, Aayushi joins the ranks of the youngest authors of the country. (A secret be told, she will be among the handful of young authors who have 2 book titles to their name at this young age... announcement on her 2nd book to follow soon).

Aayushi is the first student of our WriteFor Thinking course, and has been continuously training with us since the age of 8... we are so proud of her and can't wait to see her achieve more milestones!

Book link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09TR91KB7/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_api_glt_i_HZPR9TKT6M3AW68SFCYX