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Hey Everyone,
Today, I am sharing the Guest Post by Jatin Kuberkar, author of Cabbing All the Way on his writing schedule and his tips on handling the challenges faced while writing a novel. Checkout the guest post and the book below. Enjoy!
Guest Post:
I
would love to know about the author’s writing schedule and his tips on handling
the challenges faced while writing a novel.
To be honest, I don’t follow a strict routine or allocate
a fixed time to write. I am an IT professional and the working week often makes
me feel ‘weak’ at the end of the day to follow a daily routine.
a fixed time to write. I am an IT professional and the working week often makes
me feel ‘weak’ at the end of the day to follow a daily routine.
I may not follow a visible schedule, but I do a lot of
thinking, contemplating and mining in my mind. I keep observing people on the
street, at my office, at the market place and everywhere. They teach me a lot!
Most of my characterization is done right there…
thinking, contemplating and mining in my mind. I keep observing people on the
street, at my office, at the market place and everywhere. They teach me a lot!
Most of my characterization is done right there…
When struck by an inspiration, I do not jump to write it
down or give it a formal outline. I let it sink into my beliefs. I let it
mature or grow by itself. Then I start creating stories around it. Sometimes, I
actually start writing in my mind. I still hand-write most of the draft part.
It is easy and has less diversions.
down or give it a formal outline. I let it sink into my beliefs. I let it
mature or grow by itself. Then I start creating stories around it. Sometimes, I
actually start writing in my mind. I still hand-write most of the draft part.
It is easy and has less diversions.
The first draft is often a rambling of thoughts – flying
on the wings of ideas, I sometimes even write words in hindi or telugu on not remembering
the corresponding world in English. Then as a second phase I try to give it a
structure, give it proper start and end, divide it into chunks or chapters,
remove unnecessary/redundant parts. I do not give much importance to
‘well-formedness’ at this stage. When I am convinced that the ‘Concept’ is well
developed, only then I look at the language.
on the wings of ideas, I sometimes even write words in hindi or telugu on not remembering
the corresponding world in English. Then as a second phase I try to give it a
structure, give it proper start and end, divide it into chunks or chapters,
remove unnecessary/redundant parts. I do not give much importance to
‘well-formedness’ at this stage. When I am convinced that the ‘Concept’ is well
developed, only then I look at the language.
In my opinion, a book is never complete. An author can
never say that a novel or story is complete. Every time I read my own work, I
feel that a particular situation could have been written differently, it could
have been described with a different perspective…the process is never complete.
never say that a novel or story is complete. Every time I read my own work, I
feel that a particular situation could have been written differently, it could
have been described with a different perspective…the process is never complete.
The biggest challenge that I had faced while writing my
novel was to maintain continuity in the flow. My novel is completely based on
real experiences. I had to put bits of fiction to make it presentable. As for
the continuity, it was a tough task to connect one incident with the other. But
in the process of write, I came to realize that all it takes is time. As a
writer, I need to be patient and keep revisiting the work. The more I read, the
more I saw mistakes, disconnects and obvious potholes in the plot.
novel was to maintain continuity in the flow. My novel is completely based on
real experiences. I had to put bits of fiction to make it presentable. As for
the continuity, it was a tough task to connect one incident with the other. But
in the process of write, I came to realize that all it takes is time. As a
writer, I need to be patient and keep revisiting the work. The more I read, the
more I saw mistakes, disconnects and obvious potholes in the plot.
I had also decided to use colloquial slang in my book and
explaining them was another point to think about. Finally, I settled for giving
footnotes for the colloquial words.
explaining them was another point to think about. Finally, I settled for giving
footnotes for the colloquial words.
To sum it up, I have learnt that the process of
writing is unorthodox…Everyone has a different style of approach and invent their
own formulas for finding solutions. For example, when I’m stuck with a
writer’s, I watch nonsense, utter flop movies!!! Bollywood is full of them. If
you are a writer, then you must try this…it works like a charm for me. 🙂 🙂
About the
Author:
For the mortal world,
I pretend to be a Software Engineer who works hard (or hardly?) in the hours of
a day. I am the guy next door, a hard core Harry Potter fan and a movie buff. I
literally ‘live’ every movie, I have strong opinions about its content and I
hate it when a movie based on an interesting concept is messed up for the sake
of commercial value. I enjoy watching cartoon shows (doremon, dora and Choota
Bheem) with my son. I never get bored of listen to the endless chatter of my
wife. When I’m not writing, I make toys for children.
But beyond the boundaries of this ‘cholesterol rich’ coil, I am a rider of
rapturous thoughts. I am a thinker, a philosopher, a seeker, a story-teller, a
writer, a wanderer and every other thing that a thought can be. At times some
of these figments fire out of my thoughtful bowl and command me to write, muse,
create, recreate, destroy…EXPRESS!
Who Am I? I have been asking this question to myself since 33 years, and I got
a different answer always. Sometimes I get confused and think, am I asking the
right question to seek the correct answer? Or may be that am I missing the
whole fantastic universal drama around me while I am busy finding an answer to
an irrelevant question?
Does the answer even matter?
I pretend to be a Software Engineer who works hard (or hardly?) in the hours of
a day. I am the guy next door, a hard core Harry Potter fan and a movie buff. I
literally ‘live’ every movie, I have strong opinions about its content and I
hate it when a movie based on an interesting concept is messed up for the sake
of commercial value. I enjoy watching cartoon shows (doremon, dora and Choota
Bheem) with my son. I never get bored of listen to the endless chatter of my
wife. When I’m not writing, I make toys for children.
But beyond the boundaries of this ‘cholesterol rich’ coil, I am a rider of
rapturous thoughts. I am a thinker, a philosopher, a seeker, a story-teller, a
writer, a wanderer and every other thing that a thought can be. At times some
of these figments fire out of my thoughtful bowl and command me to write, muse,
create, recreate, destroy…EXPRESS!
Who Am I? I have been asking this question to myself since 33 years, and I got
a different answer always. Sometimes I get confused and think, am I asking the
right question to seek the correct answer? Or may be that am I missing the
whole fantastic universal drama around me while I am busy finding an answer to
an irrelevant question?
Does the answer even matter?
About the
Book:
Twelve people agree to an idea of running a
shared transport service from a common residential locality to their
out-of-civilization office campus. Twelve different minds with equally diverse
personalities gel with each other to fulfil a common need. At first, the
members collide on mutual interests, timings, priorities and personal
discipline, but in the course of their journey, they become best friends, make
long-lasting relationships, mentor and help each other on various mundane
matters. The journey goes on fine until one day some members try to dictate
terms over the group. The rift widens with each passing day, the tension
surmounts and finally all hell breaks loose… Will the journey continue?
Fasten your seat belts for the journey is about to begin…
shared transport service from a common residential locality to their
out-of-civilization office campus. Twelve different minds with equally diverse
personalities gel with each other to fulfil a common need. At first, the
members collide on mutual interests, timings, priorities and personal
discipline, but in the course of their journey, they become best friends, make
long-lasting relationships, mentor and help each other on various mundane
matters. The journey goes on fine until one day some members try to dictate
terms over the group. The rift widens with each passing day, the tension
surmounts and finally all hell breaks loose… Will the journey continue?
Fasten your seat belts for the journey is about to begin…
Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com
Excerpt:
“I HATE these dramas and the daily
serials, especially the ‘saas-bahu’ stereotypes. They show women in such poor light. At
first, a girl gets married and everyone is happy. Then suddenly, her shady past
comes to light. This Sati
Savitri happens
to be the object of desire of a forgotten boyfriend. When the story gets
stinking rotten, then someone is murdered or resurrected and the bugging
continues . . . Oh my God! According to me, these serials are spoiling a whole
generation by branding every mother-in-law as a scheming monster and
daughter-in-law as Dracula-in-law . . . Gosh! I hate them . . .”
