Every step we take in this journey of ours is important, since it takes us closer to our goal of really understanding ourselves.

When I began writing in earnest (regularly!) on the blog last July (although I started the blog in 2007), I had no idea that I would venture to try my hand at anything other than parenting journals and snippets from daily life. As the blog grew in readership, so did my urge to experiment.

I was first introduced to Yeah Write through NaBloPoMo and from there I hopped cautiously on to the bandwagon called Fiction Writing. The Speakeasy at Yeah Write gave me the courage to dip my toes into this new(for me!) genre.

My first attempt, a short story called ‘It’s Goodbye’, garnered a lot of favour among the grid participants, my trusty readers and even the editors at the Speakeasy, who stopped by and appreciated my effort. 

Pushed by this, I started trying newer varieties of fiction- the 100-word drabble, 55- word snippets & 42- word micro-fiction. All of this came out reasonably well, to my satisfaction. The prompts via various challenges really helped tremendously, when it came to pouring out ideas on paper! Sometimes, you just need a trigger and then the words can flow without effort.

So, when a new online magazine called Writer’s Ezine (WE) sent out requests for submissions, I decided I would throw my hat into the ring. The requirements were simple- write a short story on any topic between 750 and 2000 words and submit the same. The only rule was that it should not have been published anywhere else, apart from the writer’s personal blog.

In the last week of March, I was informed by e-mail that my submission had been chosen to feature in the first-ever issue of the magazine! To say that I was thrilled would be an understatement. And with a lot of happy smiles, I shared the news with my friends and family who poured in their warm congratulations for the same.

But the best was yet to come.

On the 2nd of May, 2014, I received a second e-mail from the team at WE that my short story had been chosen for the ‘Exceptional Short Story Award’!



The next day, they sent me a Winner’s Badge which I could proudly display on the blog 🙂



And to cap it all, they sent across a gift voucher from Flipkart as well!

There are a few things I would like to highlight here:

  • Everyone likes to be encouraged. For writers/bloggers, that can be in the form of honest praise, comments, constructive criticism and positive reinforcement.
  • Efforts by sites like the YeahWrite and the Speakeasy are very commendable, since they give budding writers a chance to explore their potential and gain useful critiques of their work.
  • We need more sites like Writer’s Ezine who proactively reach out to writers/ aspiring poets and give them a chance to be heard on the world wide web.
This is my way of thanking every one of you- the writers, the editors, my readers, my blog followers, my critics, my family and my friends- for always being here and being so supportive of my efforts, as I move forward in this writing journey of mine.

Without you all, there would be an unspeakable void in my blogging world.

❤ Thank you!