Andaleeb Wajid's Blog, page 8

New post up!

At the end of it all, I'm going to be driving people crazy. New post up on the Blinkers Off website. Yes, there's one dedicated entirely to it. Here.

A face for your baby ( Part 2 )

I'd hoped to come up with part 2 and part 3 really soon of this article, but then my vacation happened and I haven't been on a proper vacation in five years so I stopped thinking, packed the suitcases and sexy sunglasses and hit the airport with my family. A week after I reached, I got the final draft of my second book Blinkers Off from the publishers who wanted me to check and see if everything was all right. Everything was not all right.

I looked at the PDF and for maybe half a second I wished I was not accessible by email. But that half second passed, I rolled up my sleeves and sat down and worked. Yes, worked, on my vacation. Because that's the kind of workaholic (read idiot) I am. If I have work sitting before me, I cannot do anything else, least of all have fun. And a vacation for someone like me (with two brats) does not imply that I'm sitting on a lounger somewhere sipping on chilled mocktails. It's work of a different kind altogether.

But you're not reading this post to hear how I fared during my vacation, whether I finished editing my third set of proofs, whether we went to Disneyland or not or how much I prayed that our plane wouldn't crash on the way back with lightning bolts played hide n seek with it for nearly fifteen minutes. You're reading this to find out how you can get readers for your book especially if you're an unknown author. Right?

In my last post, I mentioned that it was the name that attracted a random reader towards your book. But it's just one part of the whole package. The next thing that you might want to take care of if you're getting your book ready is the cover of your book.

Yes, that old adage – Do not judge a book by its cover – is a bit obsolete now because people do judge a book by its cover. Once again, this rule doesn't really apply if you're J K Rowling, Martha Grimes or Jodi Piccoult. They can get away with any disgusting cover because their name is more than enough.

So, for ordinary writers like you and me, the cover is quite important. If you've signed a contract with a publishing house, you may or may not get to provide your input for the cover. Or even if you do provide input, it may not be accepted finally. Which is pretty sad because the cover is literally the face of your book. It's your baby. But imagine someone else painting a face on it? Makes you upset right?

So far I've been lucky to have a dear friend design my book covers for me. And his covers have been liked by the publishers as well. However, this may not work out for everyone and you may have to rely on the in house designers to come up with a face for your baby. It's good to be prepared for that eventuality nevertheless and here's what you can do to make sure you have all your inputs ready before the designers start working.

Clarity is important. What is the book about? Do you want to represent it literally (a common enough choice) or do you want to make some sort of symbolic statement?
What are the main elements of the book? Could those be represented on the cover? Would that whet the appetite of would be readers and make them wonder what the book is about?
Sometimes an extremely abstract idea might work but be ready to explain it to an interested reader if they get hold of you.
Do you want the cover to have an illustration or a photo or sketch? Your inputs may not be accepted but it's good to show the publishers that you have given plenty of thought to it.

Most people don't give too much importance to covers. While others give a little too much importance. I like to maintain a certain balance. While the cover might attract the reader to my book, once they've opened it, the content should keep them hooked. At least that's what I like to think.

Sensory overload

There's a lot happening around me right now and I'm trying to take it all in. So much to see, so much to understand and absorb!

Let me go back and explain it again. I'm right now in Hong Kong on vacation with my family. And coming back to Hong Kong brings back vivid memories of my childhood when I used to come here with my parents during summer vacations.

I came here last in 1997 when I got married and I felt the instant disconnect at being in the same place as my parents, especially my father, had been and not having them around. I felt so overwhelmed and saddened for some reason that I cried for almost a whole day, pissing off my husband in the process and making everyone else uncomfortable.

Then slowly things started getting better and I enjoyed my stay there although I couldn't help comparing how things had been a few years before when I had been there and how they were then.

Now, it's been 14 years since I came to Hong Kong last and I thankfully didn't have that embarrassing episode of crying or nostalgia. Hong Kong is again a new place to me, new territory to explore and learn.

It could be because we are no longer staying at the same apartment as we were the last time. It could also be because I have kids of my own and I'm watching them take in Hong Kong for the first time. Anyhow, it's different and I'm glad of it. Nostalgia can be an uncomfortable feeling at times as it can bog you down and not let you enjoy the present.

So, here I am. Sitting in Hong Kong with kids all around, looking out of the balcony at all the high rises and feeling amazed at this wonderful city. Will be writing more about it later, hopefully in my next book, but until then, here's a little tidbit.

My bro, Jun, lives here in Hong Kong and he had come over here yesterday (we're staying in another place) and we had all gone to the beach. On the way, I was sitting next to him on the bus and we were discussing Hong Kong and he was telling me about James Clavell's Noble House (a big fat book he has and I can't bring myself to read yet) that this woman tells the hero in it that there's a peculiar smell in Hong Kong (it hits her when she enters Hong Kong first). And he tells her wryly that "it's the smell of money". I was like, err…I wrote it down in my notebook too…that Hong Kong indeed has a peculiar smell (could be all the odd cooking smells, the fishy smells..or whatever.,…there's something unique about the smell of Hong Kong) and I was dang it! Someone else always gets the best lines before me.

How to get readers for your book especially if you’re an unknown author – Part 1

First off, I’m not the author of a bestselling novel (yet) and I haven’t got the gyan of Stephen King to dispense at my will. I don’t even have that many readers at this blog (Judy, are you listening?) But I have written four books, one which has already been published and one which is on its way to hit the bookstores. So I feel that I can speak a little on this topic although you can feel free to stop me if I get overbearing and/or nauseating.

So getting back to the topic, I’ve come to a conclusion that there are around three things that attract a potential reader to your book. This is while the book and the reader are in the bookstore and they haven’t really heard of you before. In today’s day and age with social networking at your fingertips, if you’re getting a book published, you have to do the virtual equivalent of shouting out from the rooftops. Even then, there are probably hundreds of people who have never heard of you. And if they have heard of you, why would they want to buy your book? Especially since every other person these days has penned a book, so what is it that sets your book apart from all those others?

Three things.

The first thing that catches the attention is the name. Are you the kind of person who has a name in mind before writing a book? Well, good for you then. Usually for me, I finish writing the book, let it ferment in my head a little bit before thinking of a suitable name.  At the end of it, I’m still no closer to finding the perfect name and I usually start harassing my friends who have read my book to help me choose a name. And even then I’m usually not satisfied with the options they come up with. If you haven’t named your book yet, then here are a few pointers that you could use. They’ve come in handy for me too.

-        Choose a name that is not very long. Long names are hard to remember and given the short attention span of someone browsing in a bookstore, they’re most likely to skip your title if they don’t get it in less than ten seconds. Of course, this is not always true. Case in point – The curious incident of the dog in the night time and many other bestselling titles. (Uh, I also realised that the title of this post is absurdly long. He he!)

-        Go for catchy names, not tacky. You know what I mean. You’ve seen those already in the bookstores and you know how much you want to run away in the opposite direction, right?

-        Drive home a connection. If you’re naming the book after writing the novel, then chances are that you’ll be able to do this better. Otherwise, when you’re writing a book with a name in mind, you’re going to have to turn the book around to suit the name. Not a problem, but I feel it’s better to name a book after it’s written.  Especially if you want to drive that connection.

Choose the title of your book with care and be prepared to explain the connection to the book if you’re asked. This really is the tricky part and I suck at it. So once you’ve got the name ready, keep a one line synopsis also in mind, so that you can reel it out at the appropriate moment. Instead of doing what I usually did whenever someone asked me about Kite Strings. I usually said that it was the story of a girl.

[image error]

How to get readers for your book especially if you're an unknown author – Part 1

First off, I'm not the author of a bestselling novel (yet) and I haven't got the gyan of Stephen King to dispense at my will. I don't even have that many readers at this blog (Judy, are you listening?) But I have written four books, one which has already been published and one which is on its way to hit the bookstores. So I feel that I can speak a little on this topic although you can feel free to stop me if I get overbearing and/or nauseating.

So getting back to the topic, I've come to a conclusion that there are around three things that attract a potential reader to your book. This is while the book and the reader are in the bookstore and they haven't really heard of you before. In today's day and age with social networking at your fingertips, if you're getting a book published, you have to do the virtual equivalent of shouting out from the rooftops. Even then, there are probably hundreds of people who have never heard of you. And if they have heard of you, why would they want to buy your book? Especially since every other person these days has penned a book, so what is it that sets your book apart from all those others?

Three things.

The first thing that catches the attention is the name. Are you the kind of person who has a name in mind before writing a book? Well, good for you then. Usually for me, I finish writing the book, let it ferment in my head a little bit before thinking of a suitable name.  At the end of it, I'm still no closer to finding the perfect name and I usually start harassing my friends who have read my book to help me choose a name. And even then I'm usually not satisfied with the options they come up with. If you haven't named your book yet, then here are a few pointers that you could use. They've come in handy for me too.

-        Choose a name that is not very long. Long names are hard to remember and given the short attention span of someone browsing in a bookstore, they're most likely to skip your title if they don't get it in less than ten seconds. Of course, this is not always true. Case in point – The curious incident of the dog in the night time and many other bestselling titles. (Uh, I also realised that the title of this post is absurdly long. He he!)

-        Go for catchy names, not tacky. You know what I mean. You've seen those already in the bookstores and you know how much you want to run away in the opposite direction, right?

-        Drive home a connection. If you're naming the book after writing the novel, then chances are that you'll be able to do this better. Otherwise, when you're writing a book with a name in mind, you're going to have to turn the book around to suit the name. Not a problem, but I feel it's better to name a book after it's written.  Especially if you want to drive that connection.

Choose the title of your book with care and be prepared to explain the connection to the book if you're asked. This really is the tricky part and I suck at it. So once you've got the name ready, keep a one line synopsis also in mind, so that you can reel it out at the appropriate moment. Instead of doing what I usually did whenever someone asked me about Kite Strings. I usually said that it was the story of a girl.

Judging a book by the cover

Two catch phrases come to mind as I write this. Content is king and never judge a book by its cover. While the first one is true, in today's day and age, the second one no longer holds true to such a large extent. Even if your content is good, if your cover doesn't attract attention, it takes a longer time to get noticed and today, it's all about getting eyeballs.

If you were browsing at a bookstore and came across many titles that each looked like the other, no doubt your eyes will stray to the one that really stands out. Sometimes, you might pick it up, turn it over, read the blurb and if it further pulls you in, you might even buy it. But if the cover hadn't attracted your attention, chances are that you might have moved on to another book.

Some years back I had bought a book just because the cover stood out and it was one of those lucky chances that the book turned out to be simply amazing. It was a book called Madras on Rainy Days by Samina Ali and I enjoyed reading it, although it saddened me immensely too. It was that kind of a book.

The cover judgment doesn't hold true for well known and established writers because their books get picked up anyway – I mean, who even bothers with seeing the cover, right? Think Harry Potter, and I don't quite care for the illustrations on the cover with Harry and Ron and Hermione tackling a dragon. That's so not what the book was about, right?

Right?

Yeah. Unless it's James Hadley Chase or Ian Fleming, whose covers you might want to cover up with newspaper before reading, (because of all the semi-naked girls on it), I've actually never really given much thought to a cover.

But for us newbies, we need to get as many readers as we can and the only way we can do that is by having a kickass cover that really stands out on the bookshelf. When Kite Strings was getting ready, I came across a few covers from the publisher's end that didn't please me too much. They were taking the concept of the kite too literally and had splashed the cover with pictures of kids flying kites or a kite shop which were not very exciting. Thankfully for me, my friend Nusrat stepped in and designed an amazing cover which encapsulated what the book was about. The story of a young girl growing up.

For Blinkers Off, we tried doing something similar and I really like what he's done with it. However, we're still waiting for approval from the publishers and I hope they come through. I'd been deliberating about writing this post ever since the whole cover design thing started for Blinkers Off but I kept putting it off because I wanted the cover to be finalized before I wrote this. As of now, the cover is still not yet final but I might hear word today. So I'll keep you guys posted.

The Week that was

Here's what I've been doing these past few days.

Proofreading Blinkers Off. Again.

I thought I was done with all the edits when the first round of editing was done by the editor at the publishers, but apparently I was wrong. For some reason, all the mistakes I'm weeding out were not visible to me when I saw it on MS Word, but now that I'm seeing it as a PDF of the book in the making, I'm amazed at the mistakes that I'm able to spot.

For me, writing and reading all boils down to a matter of perception. If I can't see blank paper below me, then I can't write properly. Which is why I will never probably write a book using my incredibly talented mobile phone (HTC Hero).

I never realised when MS Word took the place of an actual blank paper in my head. I cannot write on actual blank paper for that matter. It's not because the words don't flow as well, but it's because I think faster than I can write and my typing speed is almost on par with my thoughts. That makes me wonder if I did write using pen and paper, would the book that I end up writing turn out different? Well, I'm not going to be finding that out anytime soon.

I've missed the actual writing process this past week because of the proof reading that I've been doing. And I had no idea it was going to be such a boring, dead job. Especially since I know the story and the characters and their whims, it's become more annoying to read about them again and again and again. I'm currently on Chapter 47 and there are totally 50 chapters so I can finally see an end in sight. So far I've annoyed all my online friends so much that they've probably blocked me off by now, just so they don't have to hear me crib. He he!

Anyway, what was your week like? Care to let me know?

Write that book!

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him to the public.- Winston Churchill

Everyone of us has a book inside us. Well, almost everyone. Those who are fortunate enough to be able to write can bring it out eventually. Then there are those of us who can write but don't have the time and they wait till they've retired or go on a vacation so they can write. But there are also those who don't attempt writing a book because it simply seems so daunting.

Yes, writing a book is a daunting prospect. The book is like an empty canvas and you are the artist painting a life or many lives on it. You bring out the details or blur them and you choose to work with the characters. In short, for the characters of the book, you are pretty much like God. I feel though, that the writer should never feel that way when writing a book. The moment they feel that they have the power to eliminate any character they feel like, the feeling can become quite megalomaniacal.

A writer should work with the characters to bring the story to life. There are times when you have to make some choices which will eventually hurt your characters and you have to be braced for it yourself. Of course, as I already mentioned in an earlier post, some writers can detach themselves from their characters so they are able to do this perfectly well. But this post isn't about that.

I'm writing this post as a universal shout out to all wannabe writers. If you can write a simple sentence without flaws, if you can craft a story to amuse yourself or your kids, if you can dwell on fantasy for even a little while, then you owe it to yourself to write a book.

Don't feel that you have to write a book to prove something to anyone or as a way of getting famous or rich quickly. All those other elements are perks. The real thing is the joy of creation.

But what book can I possibly write? Everything is already out there, written by someone else.

True. Even as we read this, there are hundreds of books being written and published the world over. But there's definitely a theme somewhere for you too. Moreover, the same theme can be interpreted differently by different writers and something unique can emerge indeed. Your set of experiences in the world is unique to you. Never lose sight of that fact.

Jot down brief ideas as they come, and keep looking at it regularly so that it might spark your memory a bit. If your book doesn't require much research, dive into it straightaway. Or if you prefer to be a bit more organised, make a list of the characters you want. If you ask my opinion though, I'd skip the being organised part. Let it all come together directly on the pages. Write whenever you have time. Let the characters and their world possess you. Live their lives and dream their dreams. And get that book written!

Always the dreamer

Yesterday I was yelling at my son as I was teaching him Science because he had a faraway look in his eyes, which meant he was either dreaming about the Beyblades cartoon or thinking about how many more Beyblades he can accumulate. I told him, 'Stop dreaming!' and then realised how many times I'd heard that phrase when I was small.

Back in school, I was never the brightest student. I was always average and I consider standard seven as the midpoint in my life where I changed. It was like I suddenly woke up to the fact that unless I really worked hard, I couldn't go beyond average. Some people think I'm over motivated and this is probably where it all started.  Anyway, before standard seven, I was one of those kids that teachers used to relegate to the back of their mind.

In standard five, we had this huge classroom on the third floor (fellow Baldwinians and classmates, correct me if I'm wrong), and it overlooked this garden in the compound next to our building. My school was pretty huge and we were just in one of the many buildings there. My favourite occupation was staring out of the window and dreaming. I don't recall what I dreamed about but school was so tough and all the subjects suddenly seemed so overwhelming that dreaming about anything else seemed so much better.

I was pulled up quite a few times by different teachers for not knowing what was happening in class. I'd stare at the trees, at the clouds in the patch of sky that was visible and would wish I could be anywhere but where I was sitting. It felt a lot like jail, being cooped up in a class with teachers insisting on teaching us stuff that I found pretty useless. (I still don't know of what use trigonometry will be to me apart from helping me teach my son). But 'stop dreaming' was a phrase I heard very often.

The day dreaming activity had to come to an end after standard five because our standard six classroom was atrocious. It was tiny, airless and had windows that didn't look out over anything spectacular. If memory serves right, one of the windows looked out over the field which was a cause of distraction for all of us. Girls (my classmates from back then), remember Laura Gill dorm? Can you imagine how sixty of us fit inside that classroom? God!

Since I couldn't do much day dreaming, something else took place. I began telling stories to the class. In free periods or when the teacher was late, I'd come up in front and spin some weird stories to them and everyone would listen, some feeling bored and some feeling incredulous I suppose. I hadn't started writing anything back then and most of the stories I told them were not my own. At home, we watched a lot of black and white Hindi movies, and most of the stories I told the girls were inspired from there itself.

I don't want to tell my son to stop dreaming because it's dreams that have brought me here, so far. I've never told my son that he has to achieve something or do a particular thing because I want him to do what makes him happy. But dreaming about Beyblades? Who am I to stop him from dreaming about those horrid contraptions? Even as I sorely detest the sound that Beyblades make when they hit the ground, I know that right now as he's writing his Science exam( it's the last one), he can't wait to get back home and team up with the neighbourhood boys for their Beyblade fight. In fact, even as he's writing about cross pollination and how to prevent demagnetisation of magnets, I can vouch that he's dreaming.

Resolving problems in a book

Solving problems takes on a completely different meaning when you are writing a book. In life, none of the solutions that are offered to a problem maybe to our liking, but we have to accept some of them and move on. In a book however, we are the creators of the problem and we have to find the right kind of resolution to it, one that satisfies our creative urges and satisfies the readers also that yes, this was the perfect solution.

If you are into watching Indian soaps, have you ever noticed how the protagonists have to face problem after problem in their lives? Don't you wonder whether these people ever have normal lives? For instance, the husband would be returning for a reunion with the wife and on the way he gets killed. Big problem for everyone. How will the wife survive? Then she toils and somehow manages to live her life and some poor chap comes along and then another problem arises. The new chap wants to marry her and then you'll find some major hullabaloo about how a widow can get married and THEN, she will agree after much persuasion and just when they are about to get married, the dead husband returns. I kid you not.

But if there had been no problem at all, then the story would have ended right there. In conclusion, we need problems to make our stories continue. I usually don't watch TV but the little that I catch during family time has revealed that these days the TV writers are fed up of perpetually bringing new problems in the lives of the protagonists, so they just do an age leap. All of a sudden the bahus become grandmothers and the little grandchildren grow into strapping young men and coy young women with their own set of problems. See?

Any writer will tell you that a book has to have a central conflict or a problem which has to be resolved by the time the book ends. How it is resolved often forms the core of the story.

As a writer, I've found myself in different situations, all of my own making, where I cannot proceed because the problem feels too difficult to solve. What is the best thing to do in such a situation? Proceed with the writing and hope the solution will come as you write? I used to do that earlier but now, I've changed the method slightly.

I pause.

Yes, I pause the book at the problem because sometimes it seems too insurmountable. And no amount of staring at the black letters on the white page is going to give me a revelation. It's tempting to continue writing but I've learnt that sometimes, pausing helps. Letting the idea ferment in your head for a while is a pretty good idea. When you approach the book again, you never know what could trigger your mind into finding the perfect solution. It seems to happen on its own, I swear!

Most writers have a basic plot in their head as they start writing and it's a good thing too as it helps them stay on course. I however found myself unable to do this when I started writing. I preferred spontaneity in every possible way, from the characters right down to the events that would shape their lives.

However, this is not always possible and neither is it practical. You have to have a basic concept, an idea or premise that you can outline in one single sentence, and then you can move from there. Start with the characters and then move on to their problems. How they resolve the problems and come to terms with their lives will form the rest of the book, and before you know it, the book is written already.

Tying up loose ends and resolving problems for your characters is not an easy thing to do. You have to make it believable and if you can use some information that you had mentioned in passing in the beginning, and make it relevant in the present, nothing like it.

I'll look for such examples and put them up in a separate post when I have time. Until then, let me know what you think!