What it takes to write a book.

Sometime back I had put this as a status update on my Facebook page

It takes two years and months and months of research and hours of writing, re writing and writing and editing to produce a book. And then there are people who read it and TRASH it in a few seconds without even having written one measly article for a newspaper, let alone a book themselves! And they hide under the disguise of 'constructive criticism'. No wonder Christopher Hampton said "Asking a working writer what he feels about critics is like asking a lamp-post what it feels about dogs" :D

This status update of mine got a record number of impressions (3000 +) and likes. 

Often when I meet people, they tell me "I always wanted to write a book." For any one of you who is reading this and who wants to write a book,  this video is a must watch. It tells you exactly like it is.

A writer's job is a very intense job. It is truly not easy to sit alone in a room, just with your computer and your thoughts and keep writing and writing and writing and writing, day in and day out until you have written about 70,000 to 80,000 words that coherently follow a plot and on top of that is interesting, sounds real and it is  written well enough for people to want to read it.

So you can imagine the immense amount of satisfaction I felt last night, as I completed writing my third book. Yes I did! It will still take six months for the book to hit the market. (Yeah, there is that MUCH work involved after writing it!)

Most writers who share their experience on writing say that to be a writer one has to be an introvert as well as an extrovert. You have to be interested enough in people and you have to be really observant. At the same time, you have to be detached enough to translate what you observe into writing. For me, the only way I can do it is by blocking out everything that is not of immediate urgency. When I write, it has to be just me and my characters. I have to step into another world. I have to travel with my protagonist. I have to make that journey to that awful place inside my own head and pull out everything, examine it, analyse it and then pour it into words and temper them with the right amount of emotions.

And at times, it gets very lonely.

Two days back I texted one of my closest friends. I told her that by the time I finish writing my book I think I will not have any friends left.(as I do tend to shut off from everyone when I am concentrating on my book and some people get pissed off big time because I am unavailable and I don't return their calls) She corrected me. She said that by the time I finish I will know who my real friends are. How rightly she said it!

I do think I am really lucky to have as my best friend one of the most understanding guys. He is really really  proud of what I do. He is extremely supportive and he is the first to read anything I write and get back to me with feedback and he tells me what works and what probably does not. Yeah and a good thing is also that I am married to him :)  He deserves a BIG kiss :)

Thank you Satish!

Another person who reads my work as and when I complete the chapters and who offers feedback (and I fought with him  for that and bullied him too and yet he was so patient :p ) and suggestions is  one of my very good friends (whom I have mentioned on my blog earlier) Mayank Mittal.

Thanks a lot  Mayank!

One other person who reads  my work  (and does not fight with me,he is too sweet for that!) and is always the perfect gentleman is

Ramesh of business musings.  

Ramesh really writes well himself and has a superb business blog going.(check out his writing by clicking on his name)

Thanks a lot Ramesh!

There is one more person who played a big role to push me to work really hard this time. I would have never worked so hard and pushed myself this much, but for Durjoy Datta, who is now a good friend too.

Durjoy is a best selling author of FIVE titles and chances are you have already read him.

I have read all his five books and I do really enjoy them, but be warned, if you are slightly on the conservative side you  may not like his totally explicit style and it may shock you :P 

Durjoy is honest, down to earth and very very hardworking and enterprising too. He has now started his own publishing house (Grapevine India) along with a partner, and his sixth title will be out soon.

You can check out his books (and order them)  here.

 Thanks a lot Durjoy!! :)

At the risk of this post sounding too much like an Oscar speech, there is another person whom I just have to mention, who is one of my closest friends who lives in the UK and with whom I exchange emails on a daily basis. And sometimes even when I don't write back for a week (which is like a huge gap if we go by our standards) she is most understanding. Thanks Sis!

 

 Then of course, THE most important person for a writer--YOU, the reader. I get mails, comments, FB messages--all of which I truly value. (I write back too!) So if you have been reading me, a BIG  and a heartfelt THANKS to YOU!

So now you know what it really takes to write a book. :-)It is motivation, dedication, hard work, perseverance.

But mostly it is just sitting at the computer (even when you would rather be chatting on the phone with a friend or checking out a movie at the multiplex or relaxing at a pub with a drink) and typing and typing and typing and thinking and thinking and typing and typing some more!

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You can interact with me on my Facebook page.  I reply to almost all comments and I check it very regularly. I do read all the comments left here too  and manage to reply most of the time even if slightly late :)