‘Aao Likhein Kahani' Digital Storytelling & SEED Venture- HouseofPakistan

Storytelling is one of the oldest forms for sharing information and passing ideas from one generation to the next. Taking this significance of storytelling forward, SEED Ventures initiated a creative writing idea for young writers by the name of ‘Aao Likhein Kahani’. This project aimed to select the best young writers across the country who were trained by experts to write stories in a professional way.

This initiative was supported by Shield Corporation Limited and the work was published under the supervision of FK Squared. Initially, an essay competition was initiated whereby 1200 people applied for, from all over Pakistan. 30 best submissions were selected. These candidates were gathered under a boot camp for creative writing. The trainers skillfully trained the budding writers on how to perfect their writing style.

The boot camp focused on how to emphasize important events in the lives of people and narrate them in writing. They gave examples of great personalities of Pakistan including Samina Baig, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Sana Mir, Dr. Ruth Katherina and Masarrat Misbah. The training focused on five themes:

Empathy
Determination
Humanity
Selflessness
Bravery

The writers were taught on how to develop stories, create characters, generate suspense, construct endings and counter writer’s block. The trainers were prominent experts in the field of writing and many of them were published authors.

Once the training was finished, the candidates were asked to write one inspiring story which would be judged by the panel. Out of the 30 submissions, 5 best ones were converted into a proper audio-visual book. The remaining stories were categorized into a digital book by the name of ‘Aao Likhein Kahani – Bachoun ki Zubani’. This end was an amazing and memorable achievement for all kids involved. Such initiatives should be promoted more so that we can create well-rounded writers in the next generation!