Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My Favourite Writing Memories

This post is triggered by the topic of the Essay Assignment my students in college chose. They wanted to write their essay on ‘My Favourite Childhood Memory’. Needless to say, almost all the essays were good. The topic itself was easy and at the same time had a lot of room for fun.

Today’s post is on Favourite Writing Memories. In my entire writing journey (I hope it continues lifelong, there are quite a few memories that have become a favourite.

 The first that comes to mind is: the acknowledgement card I received from the editor of  a newspaper telling me that the short story I had sent them had been retained for publication. Not only was I elated, the cheque I received for it made me feel rich (though it was a small amount). That was 15 years back. And it was my first published story. I still have the acknowledgement card.

The second most favourite memory is when I received a call from a publishing house telling me that they are interested in publishing my books. The day was April 7th 20005. I will never forget that day in my life. I remember crying after that phone call. My poor mother was shocked. I told her the good news after my tears had dried. Then, she started crying.

The third writing memory was when I held the first copies of my books. It’s an awesome feeling to see the words we have worked with for years/weeks/days appear as a book. It’s a feeling I hope and pray all my writing friends experience soon. I would love to experience that feeling again.

Another favourite memory would be my Book Launch. I can never forget that day. Speaking about my books, signing copies for the young readers and giving interviews. The date was 14th January 2006.

Another Favourite Writing Memory is sending the query letter for my MG fiction ten days back. This memory comes with an avalanche of anxiety and worries. What if every agent hates my query letter? What if no one asks for even a partial, forget about the complete manuscript? What if no one replies? Whatever the offshoots of this memory, there is a feeling of satisfaction at having completed the longest book I have written. 240 pages. I have no idea how long my query process will go on for, or how many agents I will have to query, but as my good friend Carole Anne Carr advised me on Sunday, “Enjoy the process. Don’t worry and fret. Everything will happen at its own time and start working on your next book and read as much as you can.”

Now, here is my question to you all. What is your favourite writing memory/memories? What,  from your writing journey has glued itself into your mind? We all would love to know. And no, we won’t think you are gloating over your success. You all deserve to talk about it after all the hard work you have put in. So, please share your Favourite Writing Memories. We all are waiting to read about them.                      

14 comments:

  1. Ooh..lovely post. My favourite writing memory is getting my first article published and my byline being seen by people. And also the lovely feedback from people.

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  2. As you know, I am not anywhere near to the status of being called a writer. The day may never come. However, I felt obliged to mention my favorite moment in, I should say blogging, as you wanted us to share. Everyday has been a great moment after I started blogging which made me know people like you and other bloggers around. We become close friends, who were totally unknown once. As we keep close and remain connected in the blogging circle, we are able to learn about each other a lot. Hope this goes on forever...

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  3. Good question :-) I think too often we are working toward future successes so hard that we fail to savor the ones that came before...my favorite moment was a book signing for an anthology in which one of my stories was published. I only had a small part in the overall book, but got the experience of a published author anyway!

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  4. What a lot of lovely writing memories. My first memory was when my short story was read out in class as the best example, another was when I had my cloth doll articles published in Doll Magazine.

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  5. This is a lovely, affirmative way to approach writing. Thanks, Rachna both for sharing your memories and encouraging us! It's something we tend to forget, I think.
    Some favorite memories: Hearing a passage of my last WIP read aloud by a male reader and having him ask afterward in a tremulous voice: "Was that supposed to make you cry?" Man, that STILL makes my day. LOL
    Being nominated in the Sandy Writers Conference last year. (Same WIP)
    Publishing my first newspaper article twenty years ago and my first poem before that.... Makes you appreciate what you've accomplished, doesn't it? :D

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  6. @ Meera...seeing one's byline for the first time is always thrilling, isn't it?

    @ Langa...yes, we have indeed met lots of great people since we started blogging and joined Blogyul.

    @ Kenda... "working toward future successes so hard that we fail to savor the ones that came before," you said it so beautifully. Book signing is always a wonderful memory.

    @ Madeleine..thats a lovely bunch of memories :) I hope we all get more such memories.

    @ Victoria....we do tend to forget our earlier achievements. Its always good to remind ourselves that if can achieve something once we can do it again.

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  7. My favourite writing memories echo Meera’s – seeing my first article published in Femina and receiving a check and getting great feedback from people. Also when I queried my novels I got two detailed letters from agents stating the good points and what needs to be worked on. I treasure those too.

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  8. I loved reading about your memories. :)

    I'm not sure what my favorite writing memory is . . . perhaps the moment when I finished my first novel.

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  9. I think querying has been a fun memory. There's been plenty of highs and lows, but the process has been really a different thing in my life, and I've embraced it.

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  10. oh wow, you have so many great memories!
    I will never forget the email that came through with my first short story acceptance. I think I was buzzing for days.

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  11. Wonderful memories! I've got quite a few too. The offer for my book is one of them. :-)

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  12. My favorite memory would be finishing the Doorways Rewrite. It's the first book I ever finished twice. Now I've finished first edits and revisions too. (My second favorite.)

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  13. I love that one of your favorite memories is overcoming your fears and sending out queries. Good for you! With that kind of attitude, I'm sure you're gonna do great!

    In a similar vein, I think one of MY favorite writing memories is when my publisher went under and I was left with a book with no home. It was devastating but it forced me to work harder and decide--was I going to give up? Or was I gonna work my tail off. I chose the latter ;)

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  14. i cant even begin to imagine what it must be like, to get that publisher call. i can only hope that one day I will also know.

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