Bangalore Lit Fest 2025: Craft, AI, and Climate Alarms for Writers
Day two of BLF put three ideas on the table: write from lived experience, use AI without losing your voice, and treat climate as a story you can't ignore. It wasn't abstract - it was field notes for anyone who writes and cares about impact.
What SL Bhyrappa's practice teaches working writers
Krishnamurthy Hanuru shared how SL Bhyrappa wrote: full immersion, long travel, and slow conversations with people at the edges - folk artists like Siriajji, political leaders, everyday readers. He sent handwritten postcards, built relationships, and funded students, even giving away his Saraswati Samman.
Takeaway: research is not a Google search; it's weeks on the ground and one more phone call than you think you need. If your scenes feel thin, go meet the world you're writing about.
Women Kannada authors on AI: emotion sets the agenda
A group of Kannada women writers called it straight: AI can draft, but it can't feel. Treat it as a support tool, not a substitute for life, memory, and conflict.
They expect the next wave of Kannada writing to be sharper and more questioning. If you use AI, keep your workflow clean - AI for structure and options; you for stakes, texture, and truth.
Climate is no longer debate - it's experience
On the 'You, Me and Climate Change' panel, Nagesh Hegde asked a hard question: are we paying attention, or just busy? The signals are clear - tsunami, earthquakes, melting glaciers, forest fires - and they read like alarms, not footnotes.
Writers have a role here. Turn data into story, and story into action. Find the human thread: water in a street, heat on a roof, a farmer's ledger.
Development and environment: switch the conjunction
Hegde argued for moving past "development versus environment" to "development and environment." He pointed to a concrete idea for Bengaluru: a sponge city model that captures rain within a 20 km radius instead of flushing it away.
If you're writing urban pieces, this is a rich concept to explore. Start here for background on the approach: Sponge city overview.
He also called for a reset on compensatory afforestation: build forests before projects begin, and turn barren land into working forests that create agricultural jobs. That's a policy story, a livelihoods story, and a city story - all in one brief.
Practical prompts for your next piece
- Craft: Pick one scene that feels flat. Who have you not met yet? Schedule the conversation and rewrite with one added sensory detail per paragraph.
- AI: Use AI to produce three structural outlines; choose one and rewrite it by hand. Keep only what intensifies emotion or clarity.
- Climate: Write a 600-word vignette where a single weather event forces a choice. No statistics, just consequence.
- City: Map a 2 km walking route that crosses water bodies or flood-prone roads. Report what you see, who you meet, and what's missing.
- Policy: Explain "development and environment" with one local example, one cost, and one benefit. No jargon, short sentences.
Tools that help (without dulling your voice)
If you're testing AI in your workflow, keep it simple: outlines, research summaries, and alt headlines - then rewrite everything in your own cadence. For curated tools that serve writers, this resource is a solid starting point: AI tools for copywriting.
Bottom line for working writers
Immerse, don't skim. Use AI like a second brain, not a ghostwriter. And write climate like it's here - because it is.
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