Writing The Author: A Look Into My Works And Their Workings

This is a reflective piece I wrote on April 26, 2024 as part of a creative writing course. This piece connects a lot of my works published on this blog.

Over this course, I was able to write two poems and a story for my assignments among other minor works. The semester allowed for me to spend a lot of time on these works(which proved little sometimes as well) and so the writing and its style that came through were choices which were mostly intentional. My first piece this semester was a poem for the portrait of a place submission. Titled ‘Gira Gadi’, the poem was inspired by a real-life incident in my life. I aimed to weave the portrait of the place where the accident happened through the scene of the accident itself. In order to paint this portrait, I used imagery to evoke a sense of this place’s sights and sounds. The piece had a visual structure and linguistic references which all called back to the setting. My second piece titled ‘Sambhavam Scena Mone’ was a short story set in a dystopian Kerala. This was my submission for the one-scene assignment. I think highly of titles and how they play a role in the piece. My title for this was a direct reference to the assignment itself. Here I used repetition of a phrase in modified forms which I first encountered in Basheer’s reading in class. In order to pace the story, I kept the paragraphs really short. I also felt more comfortable writing the setting into the story as I was familiar with it. Being from Kerala and also having roots in politics there helped me shape this story. My third piece was the poem ‘Of Kari and Meenu’ I wrote for my final story assignment. This was a story inspired by a Syrian Catholic legend about the caste divide between Northern and Southern Catholics in Kerala. This was again familiar territory for me. Poetry gives me opportunities to experiment more easily than prose does. My writing style has a lot to do with technical and visual aspects of text than the language itself. In trying to tie in the form with the content I try to push boundaries of conventional styles and forms. When talking about language, I tend to lean towards the more violent/harsh side of it. My imagery in the short story and Gira Gadi reflect this. If themes like the human spirit or identity pop up in my writing, I choose to portray them violently as that is how I personally feel about them. My writing can thus be tracked back to my individual experiences and understandings of myself. Most times, I just start off writing what comes to my head when I think of the story idea or poem thought and then let the piece take form from there.

            Some specific bits of experimentation I undertook that I would like to highlight are:

                        Gira Gadi:

Visual Form/languages/surrealistic imagery/created vocab

                        Sambhavam Scena Mone:

Repetition/scarce dialogue/violence and action intensity

                        Of Kari and Meenu:

Visual and oral form/allegory/caste symbolism/form experimentation

            I have noticed that I can not stay in the headspace of a piece that I have written once it is submitted. Every story, poem, song feels like a world of its own and though they all might have common elements, I can not think of one when doing another. This is also why I am writing this essay while cringing inside. I can not look back seriously at my writing like I do with authors that we study in our course.

            Few readings in this semester resonated with me in this course. Namely they were The Wedding Suit, The Love Letter and The Lottery. I loved The Wedding Suit because it took the story from a point and brought it back under different circumstances. It also presented rape in a very sensory/imagery-specific manner which did not explicitly mention rape but alluded to it. I loved The Love Letter because of its beautiful repetition of the phrase in the letter and how it weaved in social issues. I loved The Lottery because of how beautifully it presented the narrative twist. Few things I feel that I would include in future writings that I picked from readings this semester were the style of bringing the narrative full-circle, weaving in social issues subtly in the story, catering to a particular trope only to subvert it at the end, and adding depth to characters by giving them unique mannerisms and idiosyncratic dialogues. Few things I would like to experiment with in my writing are writing large-sized pieces, combining forms, and minimising aspects like characters, plot, setting or dialogue to experiment with just one of these. I usually keep my writings short and all my stories occupy unique worlds of their own. I would like to try having a multiverse of my own in my writings. I also am trying in each project to weave a better tapestry of themes in the piece to enhance the story I write.

            If I were to point out some recurring elements or aspects that are common in my thought processes toward each project, they would be the pursuit to keep lines or parts lyrical, allegory or symbolism to portray faith, the human spirit, melancholy, resilience etc., and a fragmented structure or narrative. Listed below are some observations I made of my writing:

            Violence

                        I love writing in this mood and also feel it's the best mood to represent the human condition or spirit through

            Bible

                        The bible is a literary masterpiece and the styles of writing it incorporates are unique and poetic to a great degree. Having read it from a young age, I can not help but be inspired by it and its message and themes

            Experiments with the visual nature of text

                        The visual aspect of text yields to experimentation well and if done coherently with the content, can improve the piece.

            Experiments with forms

                        Literary forms have a rich history and different cultures can bring many forms that can expand our understanding of creative writing and and adapting them with respect to the piece can yield great results

            Linguistic links

                        Having migrated from Kerala to Karnataka and also getting to learn Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, English and Tamil has given me a larger vocabulary to use in my writings and these can have a great role in dialogues and settings among others.

A soundscape assignment in my Introduction to Creative Writing course shaped a huge part of the auditory and visual sense and it has what was my first poem and intentional employment of sounds and visuals in crafting of stories to a larger extent. Ever since then, my poetry has grown from that style to resemble what it is now. I would describe my style of imagery and soundscapes as things which have a lot to do with forests, Christianity, violence, and animals among others. A lot of my writing has been inspired by the Bible and the style of prose it has. I would describe my writing style in English as a bit peculiar because I do not think in English. Until university, the languages I used the most were Malayalam and Hindi(in that order). My sense of the languages I know has changed since but I still think in thoughts translated to English. The world of creative writing beckoned unto me like no other in the realm of English studies. I have started journeys in this course that I intend to continue on for much longer. Exploring the themes of faith, the human spirit, violence, and Christianity among others are things I would not have envisioned doing in my course and the chances I have been given have showed what sort of writing I intend to pursue and my style has brought me more questions regarding this language, its forms and its purposes. In this all too brief phase of existence when life is bubbling with youth and the heart is fragrant with love – I have learned, questioned, thrown, reflected, stolen, and most of all, I have written.

Anugrah’s own,

guri

P.s. I was bored and curious about what an A.I. would think of my writing style. When fed with my two poems and short story, this is what ChatGPT had to say:

Anugrah Smitha Reghu demonstrates a distinctive writing style characterised by a blend of descriptive prose, poetic language, allegorical storytelling, and thematic depth. The author excels in crafting immersive narratives that engage the reader on multiple levels, weaving together vivid imagery, introspective reflection, and symbolic meaning. Crafting techniques such as fragmented structure and emotional resonance enhance the impact of the storytelling, creating compelling narratives that resonate with readers long after reading. Overall, Anugrah Smitha Reghu's writing style is marked by its lyrical beauty, thematic richness, and emotional depth, making their work both captivating and thought-provoking.

I do not know what to say after reading this and also my ego right now 📈