Despite my exposure to the various forms of
science fiction, I remain on the side of not believing in fate or destiny, but
there are times when things just seem to fall in place and even seem to happen
for a reason. These are the same times when I have urges to simply stop anything
I was doing and dwell in awe of the incredible ability of the human brain to assimilate
all the streams of information flowing in, find seemingly relevant data, match them
with patterns it is used to, associate them with emotions, etc., all in an
effort to make the human feel rather special and consequential.
I did just this a few moments back. I reflected
on the sequence of events that have unfolded, starting on Tuesday the second of
May. I logged on my work PC as usual and was going about minding by business as
usual when I got a message from my rather enthusiastic colleague.
“Hi, I hope you read in invitation for entries for
Terribly Tiny Tales (TTTs) – for the editorial newsletter.”
“Yes, sort of.”
“Ummm, I hope you send in some.”
“I’ll try but I’m not sure if I’ll find time at
work.”
“I have seen some of your captions on
Instagram. I'm sure you can send in a dozen.”
“Thanks. I’ll try my best.”
I honestly did not have much confidence in
writing fiction. My only previous attempt, almost a decade back, was when I was
more active on this blog and participated in a challenge to write a short
story. Then I thought I could pull it off. I tried and I failed - quite
miserably. Unfortunately, or thankfully, I can’t find any traces for it on the
blog.
Yet, I tried once more. I wrote The Visits
within a few minutes. It’s not quite a TTT (50 to 100 words). I tried to write another
one later in the day (Number Too),
once again failing to quite meet the requirements for a TTT.
Since then I have written a few others, with
only one qualifying as a TTT (Hi, Yes, No),
with the others being either relatively longer yet short (Proof,
Broken, Inspiration,
Faith, Light, and
Sparkle)
or long enough as standalone short stories (June 16,
2100) or tentative first chapters in a book (Maybe
I’ll See You Then and Cosmo).
I don’t quite know what changed to make me not
suck at what I used to terrible at. Maybe it’s the books that I have read since
then or maybe it is a pleasant by-product of all the discussions that I have
had on the books as part of the book club that I’m a part of. Maybe it is the
conversations that I have had with my writer friends (yes, I have a few of
them). Or maybe it’s just that I have matured enough to string together something
other than my experiences or opinion in a cohesive, interesting way. Whatever
it is, it is fun!
To be honest, I’m quite surprised at what I was
able to do in the six days or so since I restarted writing fiction. And I’m
quite proud at what I have achieved. I have shared these with a few close
friends, with most of them giving me positive feedback on most of my work.
I hope to continue writing. I will
continue to share the shorter ones on Neverlast
(my Tumblr). For the longer ones, I don’t know just yet. Maybe I’ll write sufficient
stuff for a novel. :) Knock on wood.
