Writing for the masses/ the classes
"Demystify the road to becoming an author" or so read the note describing the Panel Discussion on "How to write your first book?" with authors like Shashi Deshpande (although she needs no introduction to the Indian reader..here goes: Padma Shri Shashi Deshapnde is a Sahitya Akademi Award winning author-one of my favourites), Ravi Subramanian (he is the writer of 5
bestselling books namely If God was a Banker, I bought the Monk’s Ferrari,
Devil in Pinstripes, The Incredible Banker and Bankster- he is also known as India’s John Grisham!), Usha KR (she has written several short stories and four novels including Sojourn, The Chosen, A
Girl and a River and Monkey Man and is also the Managing Editor of IIMB
Management Review) and Aroon Raman (his debut novel ‘Shadow Throne’ was published last year) at IIM, Bangalore. I was hooked, I have been wanting to get my first book out and I have been delaying it simply for fear of rejection. So it was with unbridled enthusiasm that I attended the authors panel discussion on "how to write your first book? and I wasn't disappointed.
Acclaimed author and one of my favorite writers Shashi Deshpande gave easy and actually practical gyaan. She said "There are only 2 ways to write your 1st book, 1) to write a novel 2) Write it first :) Her advice continued in the same vein on how writing is a one woman job and that writing is not about inspiration, but about facts, imagination and perseverance. She added that verbosity is the biggest crime a writer can make and said that precision and brevity are hallmarks of good writing.Writer Usha KR spoke about the need to be clear about what one wants to write about, I loved the line she used, "A rush of words, brings forth a slush of words"! Bestseller author, Ravi Subramanian was all about the importance of being a good storyteller and added that writing a book is akin to wooing your girlfriend because you need to be creative and persistent. Aroon Raman spoke on how periods of no writing can actually enhance your work.
But my favorite part of the discussion was when the war of words followed Ravi Subramanian's talk on the importance of marketing. The good old discussion on whether one wants to be a best-seller and cater to the masses rather than write for oneself and be true to yourself and your story or play up to the gallery. So would you want to be literary writer or one that everyone will read and relate to? Would you rather cater to a small niche audience or write that bestseller and be listed among the top 10 books? Would you rather take time and write that story that has stuck with you and work on that or would you rather research the current book publishing business and precisely zero in on what is working and working well and write along the same lines?The questions rang back and forth and the audience gave Ravi some grief on how he seemed to be influenced by his IIM background. But truth be told, what is the point of writing an obscure book and then have nobody read it? What is the point of writing a book that no one seems interested in? Would a publisher actually publish such a book? Would it even make it to the shelves at the book stores?
While I know that being a writer for the classes/masses is going to be equally massive and challenging endeavor, I only hope I manage, if ever I do finish writing the book I intend to write, that I find a mid way between the two! Just like Barrack Obama once said, "A good compromise is like a good sentence, or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, "it works, it makes sense"! Perhaps what I seek is a compromise between writing for the classes and the masses...I only hope I don't end up writing trash!
Acclaimed author and one of my favorite writers Shashi Deshpande gave easy and actually practical gyaan. She said "There are only 2 ways to write your 1st book, 1) to write a novel 2) Write it first :) Her advice continued in the same vein on how writing is a one woman job and that writing is not about inspiration, but about facts, imagination and perseverance. She added that verbosity is the biggest crime a writer can make and said that precision and brevity are hallmarks of good writing.Writer Usha KR spoke about the need to be clear about what one wants to write about, I loved the line she used, "A rush of words, brings forth a slush of words"! Bestseller author, Ravi Subramanian was all about the importance of being a good storyteller and added that writing a book is akin to wooing your girlfriend because you need to be creative and persistent. Aroon Raman spoke on how periods of no writing can actually enhance your work.
But my favorite part of the discussion was when the war of words followed Ravi Subramanian's talk on the importance of marketing. The good old discussion on whether one wants to be a best-seller and cater to the masses rather than write for oneself and be true to yourself and your story or play up to the gallery. So would you want to be literary writer or one that everyone will read and relate to? Would you rather cater to a small niche audience or write that bestseller and be listed among the top 10 books? Would you rather take time and write that story that has stuck with you and work on that or would you rather research the current book publishing business and precisely zero in on what is working and working well and write along the same lines?The questions rang back and forth and the audience gave Ravi some grief on how he seemed to be influenced by his IIM background. But truth be told, what is the point of writing an obscure book and then have nobody read it? What is the point of writing a book that no one seems interested in? Would a publisher actually publish such a book? Would it even make it to the shelves at the book stores?
While I know that being a writer for the classes/masses is going to be equally massive and challenging endeavor, I only hope I manage, if ever I do finish writing the book I intend to write, that I find a mid way between the two! Just like Barrack Obama once said, "A good compromise is like a good sentence, or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, "it works, it makes sense"! Perhaps what I seek is a compromise between writing for the classes and the masses...I only hope I don't end up writing trash!
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