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Books: How to make a red-hot writing debut
A first-time author shares 10 pointers for writers-in-waiting who are bubbling with ideas, each unique in its own way
Everything I have learnt about writing fiction has been from reading fiction and listening to writers talk about writing fiction. Having been a journalist for a decade and a half, some of this has been first-hand in interviews with favourites — Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Franzen, Akhil Sharma, Neel Mukherjee. Some of it has been from talks at literary festivals, sticky comments on other occasions, interviews in The Paris Review, and lists such as this one.
While I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, the idea of studying creative writing never seemed very creative. I did want to study English literature though, a plan that was thwarted by my father’s belief that “everyone should have a grounding in science.” It seemed unfair that some people would get to read novels for coursework while I suffered with organic chemistry. But I remain glad for all the detours that have led me to writing my first novel. I’m thrilled by the early notices for The Illuminated and was pleasantly surprised to see it as No. 1 on Amazon’s ‘hot new releases’ list last weekend.
As I prepare to write my next work of fiction, here are my unscientific but personally tried and tested list of pointers for new writers.
Mind your prepositions
My mother is an English teacher and I was often served Wren & Martin with breakfast. Nothing had prepared me for the number of edits around prepositions in my manuscript. Adjectives and adverbs are not as rule-abiding but it turns out that prepositions are a moral bunch and most of us use them inaccurately. ‘Beneath’ and ‘below’ are miles apart.
Kiss your yoga mat
Most writers I have interviewed were either coming or going to a gym, for a walk, or a birding session... I once heard a popular writer say he wears gravity boots and hangs upside down between bursts of writing. Blood circulation, you see. I wouldn’t recommend headstands — the risks of doing them unattended are high — but start your day with sarvangasana or a shoulder stand and it will gift you hours of energy and focus. Better than coffee, I promise.
Listen till you catch fire
At a yoga retreat I went to recently, I met an Army intelligence officer who told me about wildlife survival tips; an Akashic Records reader who shared how she discovered the practice; and a manufacturer of plastic mulch whose clients are adivasis in Jharkhand. Become a conversationalist. Everyone is a character.
Forget about your reader
If you are constantly thinking about your reader, you will find it hard to write. And if you imagine your parents reading, you will never write half the things you wanted to. Your existence is proof that your parents already know about sex.
Don’t go to a writing residency with attractive people
Now this depends entirely on what you find attractive but do try and pick locations without charming distractions. If you have yet to know yourself, I’d suggest avoiding the Mediterranean region in summer months.
Spare the garlic
Food is great but a large lunch of mutton biryani is unlikely to make for a good writing afternoon. Eat sensibly around deadlines. And as Shirley Jackson cautions in her delicious lectures on writing, use garlic in your writing sparingly as well (Read Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings).
Watch TV
If you struggle with writing dialogue, take cues from the effortless banter of high-quality television. Not arthouse cinema, where dialogue is likely to be more pretentious than what you have on page.
Remember to comb your hair.
Especially if it’s long.
Invest in earplugs
I have a jumbo pack of Schiaparelli pink earplugs. Don’t sacrifice music and birdsong, but have earplugs at hand when you’re on a particularly interesting bend and your phone or family is calling out.
Prepare your answer
People are going to ask you, especially if you’re a woman, if your book is autobiographical. You could quote Franzen: “The most purely autobiographical fiction requires pure invention.”
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Anindita Ghose is the former editor of Mint Lounge. Her debut book, The Illuminated, releases on July 30
From HT Brunch, July 25, 2021
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