by Rumjhum Biswas

Hema Raman loves Flash Fiction. This is her favorite writing form, and she uses it even when she works on her novel, writing little pieces that could stand very often on their own, except that she’d rather they added up to the big story. She did not receive specific training in flash fiction, but Hema Raman is a certified creative writing trainer, having attended workshops conducted by The British Council. She was also one of the chosen few who attended renowned American author Paul Theroux’s creative writing workshop conducted by the US Consulate in 2008. She has won awards for her creative writing, notably, the CBA’s regional prize for Asia in 2007, first prize for the Katha India Currents Short Story Award in 2010 and the first prize for Sampad-British Council Creative Writing Contest in 2010.

The novel in progress was commended by ‘The Literary Consultancy’ in the contest held during the 2008 Jaipur Literary Festival. Her stories, mostly flash fiction, have been published in anthologies in India and abroad. Hema Raman draws her creativity from a wide repertoire of interests, including nature. She holds a post graduate diploma in garment designing and manufacture and apart from being a management consultant in Bangalore and Sri Lanka; she also designed and sold clothes under her own signature brand Kaavya. She began writing during long evenings away from home on work, when she had only her laptop for company. Today, less than a decade later, Hema is still busy, with her little daughter, the numerous creative writing workshops she conducts in the city, her writing groups, and of course her writing.

Q1) you have won international awards in short stories, including the Commonwealth Regional Prize for 2007. Can you tell us a bit about your flash fiction writing process?

My writing process starts with an idea when I get a flash of something and jot it down. Once I start writing I always tend to write down the entire piece of flash fiction at one go. I then put away it away for a week or two. When I come back to it, I rewrite quite a bit and put it away for some more time or dump it in a faraway corner called WIP (Work in Progress) which I visit only when I am very optimistic. Rarely, when the story does not need any rewriting and for those stories that I have rewritten, I start editing and keep at it until I hear that satisfactory click like a pen cap closing. I hope that was clear. Maybe not, but I guess that’s it.

Q2) what are the difficulties and advantages you face as a writer when working on flash fiction? Is flash fiction your favorite form?

I started with flash fiction and it is still one of my favorite forms though I don’t write as many of them as I used to. The main advantage I think for those like me who don’t write much poetry is that flash is a way to explore those epiphanies that just must be written down. Writing them down satisfactorily gives me the kind of immediate gratification that longer pieces cannot. The disadvantage is that being shorter it kind of cheats you into believing it is easier, but for a flash fiction to really shine the editing takes really long.

Q3) when do you normally write flash fiction? Do you write during a break from your longer works?

I write flash when I get an idea that I need to capture before it escapes me. Some of them get swallowed by the novel that I am writing while others that get completed become my flash fiction pieces.

Q4) Do you carry a scribbling pad with you for flash (and also poetry)?

I don’t carry a scribbling pad except when I am travelling. Usually I note down my ideas on the computer in a folder called story ideas. I have tried writing it down on paper but mysteriously I find them crumpled and in the dustbin with something else written or drawn over my idea. When I try to hide the scribbling pad, I waste too much time just searching for it.

Q5) what is your favorite time and place for writing? Give us a peek into your writerly routine.

I write in the mornings when my daughter is at school and late into the night when she is fast asleep. I prefer to write on the desktop in the small alcove in my room.

Q6) which writers inspire you? If you have any short story/flash fiction writers in mind, even better.

I like the works of Anton Chekov, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Roald Dahl, Saadat Hasan Manto and so many more.

Q7) Do you have any favorite flash fiction piece or writer in mind?

I can read Chekov again and again so I guess he is my favorite.

Q8) what do you consider a great piece of flash fiction?

I expect any great piece of fiction to move me and/or change my perception about something.

Q9) Do you have any advice for aspiring writers (of flash fiction)?

I believe good ideas and hard work translates into Great fiction. It is not as dreary as it sounds and is sometimes so enjoyable that you can get drunk on the pleasure that you get from your own words. So I’d say go for it and keep at it.

Q10) what are you working on now?

I am working on my novel and of course the occasional flash that just happens.

____________________________

Rumjhum Biswas is a writer based in Chennai. Her official blog is Writers & Writerisms.