BlogchatterWritFest 2023

Blogchatter is India’s best blogging website to find and read popular personal blogs and I am proud to be associated with them. I’ve gained a lot by being a member of the Blogchatter community.

In 2022, I attended BlogchatterWritFest for the first time. Learning from the best in the industry was a wonderful experience.

Blogchatter is back with BlogchatterWritFest 2023 Season 7. They have planned 7 FB Lives with 14 authors, where we will learn all about the art of writing.

I was part of the selected few who attended an Exclusive Workshop on Writing Mythology with Satyarth Nayak on May 8.

Having read and enjoyed Nayak’s Mahagatha: 100 Tales from the Puranas, there was no way I would have missed this wonderful opportunity.

During the Q and A session, Nayak answered questions from the audience on various aspects of writing mythology. These are a few of my lessons from the session –

• Research is vital to a mythological story. He advised writers to read up as it is an opportunity to derive from the vast body of existing literature, understand the various aspects, and gain different perspectives.
• When asked if mythological stories should be relevant to present times, Nayak stated it is a personal choice. Whether you want to view the aspects from a modern perspective or the way, it is stated in the original timeline depends on the author.
• Every story has multiple versions, and these celebrate the plurality of Hindu mythology. Nayak mentioned that though every narrative is important and helps in evolving, the decision to pick up a desired version depends on the path the author is taking. Stories are connected. They have a past and a future and it’s up to the author to connect this chain of events and present them to the readers in an honest manner.

• Nayak had a wonderful piece of advice as regards distinguishing the character’s voice from the author’s. He stated that we should be true to the characters and speak their language. We need to juggle their thoughts and strive to bring their worldview to the readers.
• A participant wanted to know how to make these mythological stories more interesting for the younger generation. I completely agree with Nayak’s answer that these stories are already interesting and imaginative. Any retelling should fit the characters and timeline and, as writers, it is our responsibility to pass the ancient wisdom to future generations with reverence and regard.

I thoroughly enjoyed attending this workshop and am looking forward to the rest of WritFest.

This article is written as part of BlogchatterWritFest.