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The first draft is never the last! | We must return to our creation every day without excuse!! ❤️

Fail Better | Why Your First Draft Shouldn’t Be Perfect

Yesterday, during the Alumnus Talk for our I MA & II MA English literature classes, Mr. Lakshmi Narayan had given the students three beautiful rubrics on how to kickstart one’s creative writing schedule in a consistent manner.

He had remarked, 

“We have become consumers of content, not makers of it. Making is messy, like giving birth. The first draft is never the last, even on the days it is”.

This was such a beautiful insight, especially the second part -

‘The first draft is never the last…’

In this regard, I would like to give us all a few vignettes from a lovely book titled, How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention and Discovery, by Kevin Ashton, published in the year 2015.

Remember Kevin Ashton? The guy who had famously coined the expression “Internet of Things” in the year 1999.

In 2013, his phrase “Internet of Things” was added to the Oxford Dictionaries, which defined it as “a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.”

While discussing his mind-blowing achievements, Kevin highlights the importance of failure and failing better every time!

Says Kevin -

I learned to succeed by learning to fail. I learned to expect conflict. I learned not to be surprised by adversity but to prepare for it. Creating is not magic but work.

Judah Folkman’s observation that “innovation is a series of repetitive failures” applies to every field of creation and every creator. Nothing good is created the first time. 

Writer Linda Rubright’s definition of “Iterative Process” is “Total fail. Repeat.”

Creators must be willing to fail and repeat until they find the step that arrives. 

Samuel Beckett said it best: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Failure is not wasteful but useful. Time spent failing is time spent well. Wandering creation’s maze is never a waste of time. Only leaving it is.

There comes a point in every creative life, no matter what the discipline, when success depends upon committing completely. The commitment has a high price: we must devote ourselves almost entirely to our creative goal. We must say no to distraction when we want to say yes. We must work when we do not know what to do. 

We must return to our creation every day without excuse. We must continue when we fail,

says Kevin Ashton.

Trueproves to a tee, what Mr. Lashmi Narayan told us yesterday about the creative writing process –

The first draft is never the last!!!

PS: You may want to read about Osho’s take on Creativity on our past post HERE

“Embrace the Absurd | Be Your Own Best Joke!” ❤️

Funny Side Up | Why Dropping a Cafeteria Cup is Actually Great Literary Material

Alumnus Speak

15 October 2026 | 11.40 am | QSC Building

It was such a joy to host our illustrious alumnus Mr. Lakshmi Narayan, along with two other vibrant alumnae Mrs. Ankita and Mrs. Esther Jemi.

Mr. Lakshmi Narayan addressed the students of I MA English & II MA English today from 11.45 am onwards in the QSC Building.

His Talk was based on his recently published book titled, Funny Side Up: A Playbook from Fifteen Years of Comically.Org

So happy to note that, based on his consistent blog posts over the past 15 years, Lakshmi has authored two books so far.

Lakshmi’s Talk today hinged on ‘Embracing the Absurd’, highlighting three rubrics for consistent writing.

First and foremost - Write every day! We have become consumers of content, not makers of it. Making is messy! A writer’s saw dulls with idleness. Daily writing is the whetstone.

Secondly, - Notice the absurd!! Your own everyday life has the rich material that you ever needed to write every day! Writing every day becomes an effortless activity, the moment you stop looking for subjects to write about, and instead, start looking at the subjects already standing right in front of you, by looking at “how fascinating” they are!

Thirdly, Put yourself under the scanner!!!

This helps you lots by turning an awkward or a bad experience (like dropping a cup in a cafeteria or fumbling through a class presentation) into a joke and hence makes you look at the incident from a comical perspective! Moreover, it triggers dopamine and endorphins, thereby transforming what could have been a moment of embarrassment into shared amusement and laughter!

“Rufus sir taught us Jane Austen, and we belly-laughed through every class. He got those laughs by making himself the joke. He lowered himself so that we could rise, and thirty years on I remember the lesson better than the novels”, he quipped.

“Take yourself too seriously and others will sit in judgment. Walk tall and free, and the judges leave your world. Then you can claim it”, he signed off.

Then his wife Ms. Ankita went into nostalgic mode, reminiscing her good ol’ college days in MCC. My mother studied here. Her four sisters studied here. My brother studied here. And so did a host of my aunts and uncles. And so the expectations on me were a bit high. And then my classmates happened. We had such a memorable, blissful campus life in all the five years of my college life here in MCC, she observed.

Ms. Esther Jemi who spoke next, highlighted the importance of taking notes while attending lectures. She said all the notes that she had taken down during lectures helped her lots in academics and in life. She also fondly reminisced on the good ol’ days when they used to sweat it out day in and day out for AKARA, the memorable Departmental event.

After the interactions, we had some insightful questions from our students. Ms. Sharon, Class Rep of II MA English, and Mr. Kavin, Class Rep of I MA English gave the Vote of Thanks on behalf their respective classes.

On the whole, a rewarding day in every way!

PS: You may want to read the latest post by Mr. Lakshmi Narayan on the topic, “Three Rules for a Writer Who Is Not Funny”, HERE on his blog.

And now for a few Glimpses from Akara’11 that was spearheaded by the vibrant team under Lakshmi Narayan, Ankita, Georgina, Esther, Prajwal amongst others, 15 years ago, on 1st March 2011.

Gearing up for the Red-Letter Day | 28 February 2011

The Vibrant Team

The Good Ol' Notice Board near the Main Gate... :-)

The Main Entrance... 15 years ago... :-)

Jane.... :-)

Smitha (Manichitrathazhu fame), and Ms. Punya Rajendran with Prof. David and this blogger...