Episode 3: Getting Started

SPEAKERS
Alice Hsiung, Shakira Ahmad, Sowmya Kishore, Cathy Schlender

Alice Hsiung
In this episode, Alice Hsiung interviews 3 budding authors from the Writing Circle: Shakira Ahmad, Sowmya Kishore, and Cathy Schlender to find out what brings out the writer in them, as I share the tips and tricks that may inspire you to write. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Getting Started episode. My name is Alice Hsiung, and I'll be the host for this session. Currently, I work as a Career Services Coordinator in the Career Services and Co-Op Education department at Centennial College,/>and I'm also a member of the Centennial writing circle. Today, I'll be talking to three budding authors who are also members of the writing circle, about their favorite things related to writing, to get you inspired. It's my pleasure to introduce you to Shakira Ahmad, pathways and agreements support officer in the Office of Academic Partnerships and Pathways. Sowmya Kishore, faculty in the School of hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts, and Cathy Schlender, manager of Corporate Communications in the Strategy, Alignment and Analytics division. Welcome, ladies, thank you so much for joining me today. I look forward to a conversation about the tips and tricks that budding authors like yourself can share with our listeners. So let's start with some introductions. Shakira, would you like to go first and tell us a little bit about yourself?

Shakira Ahmad
Hi, there. I'm Shakira Ahmad, and I work at Centennial, and I'm also a part of the writing circle, a very great, diverse group of people who are very inspirational, motivational, and I guess I'm here as an example of, you can do it too. If I can, you can do it too. It just takes a little bit of time and investment in yourself and your passion.

Alice Hsiung
Thanks, Shakira. Sowmya, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Sowmya Kishore
Sure, thank you for having me. So just like some of our other colleagues, my passion for writing was just tapped in when the writing circle broadcast came about. And I started attending some of the meetings in person, and then successfully transitioned online. So I guess my passion for writing is rooted in the fact that, you know, I can make time for myself and surrounded by people who are forgiving, who are ready to give feedback, and just remain inspired to continue to do the same a little bit every day.

Alice Hsiung
Wonderful. And last but not least, Cathy. 

Cathy Schlender
Hi, I'm Cathy Schlender. I've worked in corporate communications for more than 25 years, so I have the benefit, uh pleasure of also writing for a living, and I also do some event planning and layout design. I also am a longtime creative writer for probably 45 years, and anything that allows me to explore my creativity, I enjoy so I also like painting.

Alice Hsiung
Wonderful, thank you so much. It's an honor to, you know, introduce and interview the three of you today. So my next question is just really curious about what you're currently busy working on in terms of your writing. So Sowmya, why don't you go first.

Sowmya Kishore
So at the moment, I've sort of diverged from writing a lot of the academic stuff that I normally am involved with at the college and is part of my portfolio, and I'm getting into more anecdotal and narrative form of writing. I'm trying to recount some of the funny and some of the interesting moments that intersect my life with those around me. And mainly, it's my children and the things that they bring into my portfolio as a parent, as an individual and a human. And I try to mix that up with my own observations and just reflections. So something that I enjoy doing and hopefully the readers can relate to as well.

Alice Hsiung
Thank you Sowmya. I'm sure a lot of our listeners on the call are probably parents like yourself, so they can probably relate to that. So even parents can write too. Cathy, how about you? What are you currently working on?

Cathy Schlender
Right now I'm updating two of my favorite short stories that I originally wrote about 35 years ago. I really liked these stories and I wanted to rewrite them to make them current for the reader in 2022. For instance, I replace a series of phone calls with a series of text messages and memos with emails. And I just finished doing that for one of my favorite stories I wrote about 30 years ago and I updated it to reflect the big box stores and cell phones.

Alice Hsiung
I love that Cathy, thank you. So for some of our listeners on the episode who are a little bit maybe more mature, like myself too. I have some stories, like I wrote way back in my university or high school days, so it's never too late to start writing. Awesome, Shakira. How about you? What are you currently working on?

Shakira Ahmad
Well, so this is a story that's been percolating with me for a while. It's in the Sci- Fi genre, and it's based in practical science, but it takes license with the theoretical science as well and infuses some religion or perhaps some things that we cannot explain. You know, I've heard that religion and science are two sides of the same coin and I think there's a lot of truth in that. So I'm looking to explore specifically the cycle of life on several levels, from the most elemental to like this, the expanse of the universe, and the belief in reincarnation, and how that's tied up with the Big Bang, and how the universe and all existence, you know, come into being and it's headed toward its inevitable demise and then renewal. So science fiction, I find is the idea genre because it's only limited to your own imagination, which I find wholly freeing, and also provocative.

Alice Hsiung
That's great Shakira. It's amazing that the three of you have such different works that you're working on but they all sound equally fascinating, and I can't wait to read your work when they are done. So the next question I have for you is, how did you actually discover your passion for writing? Cathy, let's start with you first.

Cathy Schlender
Well, I think I always had a passion for writing because I was the kid in grade school, when the teacher announced that we were doing a competition, I'd be like, yeah, I thought that was the most fun thing to do. But then, later in grade 12, I took a creative writing class that allowed me to really discover the joys of writing poetry and short stories, versus mostly reading them in English class and Canadian literature classes. And it was in the creative writing class, I discovered my love for ending stories with poems with a twist, which kind of explains why I never got into romance story writing. And something to make this, I really like to make the reader get to the end of the story and like, smile like you're, you clever thing or, gasps, and I later took a course at the U of T for further development of writing skills and then I joined a writing group that formed from this. And I really discovered my knack for writing realistic dialogue. It just, just comes to me easily so, which makes me realize it's my true passion.

Alice Hsiung
Awesome, so we know who to call on when we need someone to help us with our dialogues. Shakira, how did you discover your passion for writing?

Shakira Ahmad
Actually, I'm just gonna pick up on what Cathy says, it's true when it's effortless and you enjoy doing it, you know, that's, that's a signal that it is your passion. But um, I started writing, journaling. So, it was a way to organize my thoughts and to record events in my life so I wouldn't forget or I could go back to them from the future. And I also worked on my school newspaper, and would receive some positive feedback about my writing. Now, aside from it being therapeutic for me, writing set into my tendency to daydream. So it can be a really introverted process, like you're just you and the paper. And you may never share what you created, but I find it satisfying and, and to explore a lot of times, and just by writing it, it leads you to like writing something just, you find that you are thinking in ways or thinking of things that you may not have, had you not started to explore and to write and to just go through that whole process. I also love, like, reading science fiction, and too, I was drawn to the idea of creating something to encourage another way of thinking or even concepts that may not have been explored. As you know, our world is shrinking effectively. And it's just a way of promoting different views, which I think we should all be open to.

Alice Hsiung
Okay great, Shakira. Thanks so much.

Shakira Ahmad
Thank you.

Alice Hsiung
Sowmya, how about you? How do you discover your passion for writing?

Sowmya Kishore
Very similar to Cathy, I was very comfortable doing a lot of compositions and essay writing. And I wouldn't bat an eyelid if I had to just continue writing, you know, paper after paper. Whereas a lot of them around me would just be upset that they had to write so much. It's something that I enjoyed, just letting my imagination flow free. And over the years working with my mum who would do a lot of scripts and writing for elocution, and oration competitions, I got hooked to the idea of just writing things that would make people laugh and grasp them and keep them sort of in rapt attention while it was being implemented. So I started getting into that side of doing a lot of backstage writing and scripting for, you know, I guess theatrics and I guess writing is something like that. I see it as a vehicle for theatrical display, for expression, and just exchange of those communication pieces through a simple form of expression.

Alice Hsiung
Okay, well, I'm going to change things up a little bit, to do a fun little rapid fire time with you guys. Just to see how you guys get into the mood for writing, because I think our listeners will be curious about that too, to help them out. So when I mention a word, please give me an idea of what type of particular thing helps you to get into the right frame of mind for writing. So, music.

Shakira Ahmad
Anything pop, anything that makes me move and gets, you know, the juices flowing.

Sowmya Kishore
For me, it would be instrumental, something that would not interfere with the flow of words that I'm trying to type or pen.

Cathy Schlender
And I'm complete silence.

Alice Hsiung
Okay, really interesting, very fascinating, very different. What about your favorite spot where you like to write? Whether it's in your house or outdoors or at a cafe.

Shakira Ahmad
I actually like my room, it's very comfortable, it's quiet for the most part. So, and I can keep my headphones on so I could listen to my music.

Sowmya Kishore
For me, it would be a comfortable spot. Usually in my room or somewhere where I do have a lot of light. I do some night time writing as well but so long as it's comfortable.

Cathy Schlender
Yeah, I'm, I like to close the door in my office like I have right now and just be by myself. If I go to bed, in my bedroom, I fall asleep. So, my office.

Alice Hsiung
I guess that just speaks to the, the testament that writers are introverts. You all like to be writing in your rooms. Very interesting. Okay, time of the day where are you most productive with your creative writing?

Shakira Ahmad
So, I'm a night owl. And I find that after I've finished with my day, night time is my time so and because I enjoy writing, that's when I prefer.

Sowmya Kishore
For me, it doesn't matter when, I do both. So long as the idea comes to me. So if it's the middle of the night, it's not like I'll wake myself up. But I just think that maybe just having a jot note, and just putting down those things, or allowing it to soak in, it's just fine. The moment the idea comes to me, I'll work on it, either in my subconscious, or in the next 24 hours, it will be on paper.

Cathy Schlender
Now, I think, I like to write any time of day. But I think it tends to be more in the evening, because that's when I find I have the time. While I'm not a night owl, just like when I'm painting, I'm a watercolour artist, I, If I start at night, I just started writing and I lose all track of time, completely get lost in myself.

Alice Hsiung
Okay, wonderful. Well, all three of you, it's clear that you have found your passion in writing. Thank you so much for sharing and you have mentioned that you get ideas from different places, different time. How do you keep track of these amazing ideas that just pop into your head randomly?

Shakira Ahmad
Well, a couple of methods, you can either do a voice recording on your phone, or even if you have like a digital recording device, keep a notepad or notebook with you, or even on your computer, like you can type something up. But for me, if I, if as soon as I can write it down, I will also get it. So I try and,  get something recorded somehow.

Sowmya Kishore
For me as well. I've had, I've had sort of recorded a couple of things that my children do, or a fascinating observation that I make in a little jot book. And then I draw from that for ideas. I also maintain a little idea sheet where I can put down random things and that could be the beginning of either a story or a paragraph. And I go back to it from time to time to see if anything still instigates an idea or something that can come full blown from that seed of an idea.

Cathy Schlender
I'm really impressed you guys are so organized. Sometimes I let things just stew up in my brain for a couple of weeks, sometimes a month. Other times I will think oh, I better put this down in the email to myself, or I'll forget it. In the odd time I'll open up a file and jot down the quick plot outline and ideas. I'm not as disciplined, I guess.

Alice Hsiung
All right. Thank you so much for all the inspiration and you know, wisdom that you've shared so far. So just to wrap up, if we could give you or you could give the, our listeners one advice to be successful, to be sort of in your shoes, what would that be? Let's start with Sowmya first.

Sowmya Kishore
Don't be afraid to share. I think that the writing circle is really a great group of people who have like-minded passions and you know, pursuits and they're very forgiving. And the idea of getting feedback, opening up and then being inspired and also inspiring the others. It's very reciprocating and very fulfilling. It's also a very humbling experience. And so when you write, not only is it cathartic, but I think the idea is to just make yourself a better writer over time. And if this is something for you, give it a shot. And I think I was surprised that you know, there are so many people just like me and kind of gain a lot of confidence in doing so.

Alice Hsiung
Thanks, Sowmya. Cathy, would you like to go next?

Cathy Schlender
Take a writing class for sure and join your writing group as soon as you can. And as for my younger self, I would tell my younger self to take up writing as a career earlier in life. Go for it. Go for your passion.

Alice Hsiung
And Shakira. Last but not least?

Shakira Ahmad
Yes, these are all really, really great tips, and I mirror the community aspect of it, like joining the writing circle and taking a class, definitely. And try and find some time every day to, even if it's five, ten, fifteen minutes, it doesn't have to be a long time. But you'll find that if you do it, something every day, it's almost incremental. And it becomes like a muscle memory, maybe a habit and you can't help but improve and infuse more of you into writing. If you could find that time every day, however long it is.

Alice Hsiung
Okay, well said. So, I would like to thank you so much to Shakira, Sowmya and Cathy for joining me today, and for sharing the tips and tricks as budding authors to inspire our listeners to follow your footsteps in their writing journeys. And to you, our listener, thank you so much for tuning in today for our episode on getting started. And I hope that you truly feel inspired to start or continue writing and feel free to join the Centennial Writing Circle. Thank you for joining us today. Don't forget to tune in next time, when we talk with a publisher and budding author about the realities of getting published from the trenches. Make sure to listen and subscribe to the Centennial College podcast on SoundCloud, Apple podcast, Google podcasts and Spotify.