This is totally the wrong time for me to be writing this post. That’s because I’m trying to finish writing my fifth novel, More than Just Biryani and I’m reaching that zombie stage soon where nothing else matters but getting the story out. But this book has been an important journey for me as a writer and I have seen my writing style evolve and I’d like to put down some of the thoughts I’ve had about writing in general.
If you’re thinking of writing a book, take it from someone who has written four without knowing what she’s doing, make a plan.
Yes, make that plan because sometimes it helps. I have written four books without having any sort of plan in my head and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that things worked out and fell in place beautifully completely on their own. But that can’t keep happening all the time. Also, it’s always better to have a plan. I used to think that a plan would constrict my creativity but it doesn’t have to because you don’t really have to stick to the plan. That’s the beauty of it.
At my book launch, Shinie asked me an interesting question about my style of writing and I told her that I would compare myself to the young wizards in Harry Potter who couldn’t control their magic until they reached Hogwarts. For four books, I was unable to control the magic, letting it control me instead. Mind you, I don’t regret it. But it’s not always fun not knowing what’s going to happen in a book. Also, I think I’m growing old. And I think I’ve finally entered the literary version of Hogwarts because I find myself planning my book.
So, what does planning a book entail?
I don’t really know because I didn’t learn it formally. But here’s what I’ve been doing with MTJB. I took a notebook and pen and started writing down everything that had been fermenting in my head about the book. Of course, before this you have to have an idea. But that’s fodder for another post. Let’s focus on the plan for now.
So you have your idea and you start writing down everything that you can think of it in your notebook. Just keep the words coming even if they don’t make any sense. And then sit down and think about the central conflict in the novel. Because there has to be conflict and resolution in a book. Once this is clear in your head, you can start planning everything, right from character names, their jobs, their lives and their stories.
Sometimes, you can even write down briefly what’s going to happen in each chapter. Just the gist so you know where the story’s heading. But the best part is that you don’t have to stick to this plan. Give yourself the freedom to change things around wherever you want but try and maintain the original structure you had in mind.
God, I hope I haven’t come off sounding like an obnoxious know-it-all type. I haven’t? Good. Oh, I have? Well, I do have four books behind me, so that’s bound to rub off somewhere, right? 
You know what they all say. The first time is when things are pretty difficult. With anything actually. Especially with publishing a book. The first time was crazy, with me trying out my luck with nearly 13 publishers before I managed to get Kite Strings out there.
But the second time was relatively easier. With Blinkers Off, I found a publisher in around 5 months as opposed to the 4 years I spent fruitlessly waiting to get published with Kite Strings. Things moved quickly and soon we started editing and proofing and voila, Blinkers Off is out there in the market (not all the bookstores as yet, unfortunately).
However, plenty of people have already picked it up online and have messaged me on FB or Twitter telling me that they have bought my book which makes me feel so happy. I was nervous before the first feedback started pouring in, but now I’m okay. I mean, Blinkers Off is not the best book I’ve written and I know I’m really capable of much better, but still, it’s an entertaining book and whoever has read it has really, really liked it so far! Has to mean something, right?
So, public feedback is pretty much out of the way now. It’s the launch that has started to worry me. A lot.
See, I’ve attended plenty of book launches. I’ve seen nervous authors read out passages from their books, interact shakily with the chief guests and sometimes royally bore the audience. I’d like to think the launch of my first book was not like that. It was pretty formal with Wendy M’am giving her awesome critique of my book – she was my English lecturer back in college, and believe me, getting praised by her still ranks among my topmost favourite moments of my life. Then I got on the podium (I dislike this whole podium business by the way because it reminds me of assembly in school) and spoke a lot of emotional drivel which moved my mom and some others to tears but we quickly wrapped up and it was an enjoyable evening for me and hopefully some of the others.
Now, with Blinkers Off, I don’t want to repeat the same thing. I mean, there’s only so much I can say about accomplishing my dream and telling others to go live their dream right? So, what am I going to talk about? Inside my head, I’m like…help!!! This is so going to become one of those launches where the audience cannot wait to escape (without buying copies of my book) home and the chief guests and I will stare at each other red faced.
See, from what I know, there’s not much that we can actually discuss about the book without giving away too much. There are plot twists and turns in it that I would like the readers to discover on their own. Also, I don’t get it when the author and others on the dais talk about the book (which many have not had the chance to read as yet) endlessly and the audience has no idea what’s going on.
So that leaves me with the question, what can I do at my book launch? You know, to entertain the audience while keeping my book in the frame, without boring them and making them hate my book before they even take a look at it?
Any ideas peeps? (My book launch is scheduled for early September and my book is a young adult novel about a young girl who dreams of becoming a screenplay writer. Err…as if you didn’t know the last part already, I’ve said it that many times to anyone who’s bothered to listen!)
So, any ideas? Please don’t tell me to sing or dance since I asked about entertaining the audience. That is not what I had in mind. Really.
For some reason, I’ve always found it confusing to slot my books into any particular genre. Of late, I learnt that they fit into the Young Adult category. I had a vague feeling that it might be the case but I wasn’t sure because I don’t quite know exactly which age group comprises of young adults. Also, I find such generalizations limiting. I don’t think books are meant for any age group but anyone can read any book that they find interesting or which they can comprehend. I mean, it’s not as if books are like watching movies for restricted age groups. There you might not be allowed to enter the cinema hall if you’re not of a certain age. (And that can also be bypassed today thanks to movie downloads and DVDs). With books, restricting younger people from reading certain books doesn’t quite work. If a book is lying around in the house and they are sufficiently curious, nothing will stop them from reading it.
Right, so you might have surmised by now that I read quite a few books that ideally I shouldn’t have because I was not the right age or they were not the right genre for me. So, in that aspect, telling people I have written a Young Adult book immediately limits my audience. Even those who may have wanted to read it might feel a bit wary and reserved because of the whole issue of being ‘seen’ with a book of a certain category.
Anyhow, so as I was saying, I would like people of all ages to read my book without having that feeling inside that they’re reading a book that was not meant for them. In fact, one of my favourite readers, Uncle OT (whose gender and age are still unknown to us) defeats this very slotting of books into genres because he likes all my books. Even Blinkers Off. I recently sent him My Brother’s Wedding and I hope he will like that too.
Which brings me to my next book My Brother’s Wedding. It wasn’t until I was well onto finishing it that I realized, three out of my four books have weddings in them. In fact, the weddings play important roles in shaping the stories. Or in the case of my last book, they are the story.
It got me thinking a bit. Why the heck am I so obsessed with weddings? I don’t know. Maybe because there’s not much in way of a social life for us, that weddings are the only place where we dress up and meet relatives and have fun. (yeah right) But there’s so much dynamism around a wedding, especially an Indian one that it would be a shame to not write about it. And so I did.
And that my friends, is how years later I will be credited with having created the Wedding Genre. No really.
If you get irritated when you see Abhishek Bachchan go ‘Loading, loading, loading’ on the Idea 3G ad, then raise your hands. Umm…better yet, read the rest of this post. 
I feel a bit like him, waiting and waiting and waiting for what seems like ages to see my book in print. Okay, what is my problem? Blinkers Off is getting published at lightning speed compared to Kite Strings or even to books by my friends which have been accepted elsewhere. Compared to all these, my publishers are super fast indeed. So I should be happy.
Instead I’m getting bored. I’m waiting for things to happen and it feels like I’ve been waiting too long already. Whew. I need lessons in patience. The next best thing to do while waiting is to write something else.
So, I’ve restarted work on my book More than Just Biryani. However, it’s in a completely new avatar now. It’s not a cookbook. It’s a food book which I think means that food plays an important role in shaping the lives of the protagonists in the book. So far I’ve written 9 chapters and I kind of like how its shaping up. But there’s so much to be done! I mean, I’ve just barely scratched the surface of this book, so that kind of overwhelms me sometimes. But with four books behind me, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that old and overused cliche and nothing is impossible. Really.
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