Forthcoming novel

This is the first Teaser of my forthcoming novel titled 'The Cavansite Conspiracy'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmnLts22LC8

First Person Singular

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. . . .” This is the famous opening line of the novel ‘Rebecca’ written by the great writer Daphne Du Maurier. Rebecca is an excellent example of writing with the first person narration. As are her other novels like ‘My Cousin Rachel’ and ‘The Scapegoat.’

Writing in the first person narration can be difficult but very interesting. And certainly not to be avoided. Usually, the first person singular is the ‘voice’ of the main character in the novel. It is a style which immediately brings the reader in contact with the thoughts, ideas of the character and the situations in his or her life. It is a little like writing a diary, but not your own of course. It is your character’s diary. And you have to be careful that when you write in your character’s voice, you should think like him, talk like him and feel like him! The whole point of writing in first person narration is to establish a conspiratorial bonding with the reader, taking him into confidence to reveal the character’s tale of endurance. At no point should the reader feel that the writer has taken over the character. As such, this is a difficult part of the narration. But if you stick to the character’s point of view and background, the first person can be most rewarding in style.

Sometimes a second important character can be the voice of the book. For example Arthur Conan Doyle used Watson’s voice to narrate Sherlock Holmes’ cases. This helped to create the suspense and intrigue in Holmes’ crime solving technique.

While writing in first person is interesting, it has its problems. One most important limitation is that the character or narrator has to have witnessed the main situations. How could he possibly describe, for example, what happened at dinner in the neighbor’s house, if he wasn’t present for dinner? Events taking place outside the character’s orbit, have to be incorporated expertly and without sounding contrived.

Another limitation is writing about the thoughts of other characters. How is it possible to convey what others are thinking? You can speculate in a first person narration – ‘He looked sad. . .’ But you cannot for sure describe the thoughts in his head – ‘ “if only” he thought wistfully’. Of course, sometimes, the uncertainty of the thinking patterns of the other characters can add to the mystery element of your story!

And lastly it can be a little difficult to describe the first person narrator’s looks. Again this can be done by using ploys like mirrors. Or using the comments of other characters to describe the looks.

In short, a first person narrative can be a heart–to-heart talk with the reader, with the character leading him through the story; provided it comes across as effortless and smooth.

My Quote

"A novel is born several times and dies several times, before it takes its final life form."
Manjiri Prabhu

Imagination to Ink : Plot

What is a Plot? The dictionary meaning of a plot is : an interrelationship of the main events in a play, novel, film etc. Another meaning is a conspiracy or a secret plan.
Within a novel, a plot is exactly that – an interrelationship of the main events, which give rise to a conflict between the characters (sometimes a conspiracy) and which leads the story to a climax, resolving the conflict.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that a plot is the core of the novel. It is the HEART of your novel and a very crucial element. A good plot is made up of many virtues. It has to be gripping and interesting to keep the reader hooked. And, of course, it has to be convincing.
A gripping plot is usually a combination of the following :
P for Planning and Pacing
L for Logic
O for Originality
T for Technique
We all know that a story needs a beginning, a middle and an end. And so, it is very important to plan the layout of your plot. How is the story going to begin? Is the conflict in your plot revealed immediately or is it exposed gradually? Is it introduced through characters or situations? At what point is the conflict going to rise and climax? These are some of the questions you need to answer, which will assist you in planning the layout of your plot.
Also, what is going to be the pace of your story? Is your plot going to be fast paced, or slow-paced? A thriller usually is fast-paced, whereas a romance can be relatively slow in pacing.
Another crucial feature of the plot is Logic. The events unfolding in your plot have to be logical. The sequences that will lead from point A in the story to point B, should be logical and convincing enough to clear the doubts in the minds of the reader, as he continues to read. At no point should the reader feel – “Hey! this is impossible! This can’t happen!” or “this is too much, no one will ever behave like that!” Of course, you are free to experiment!.
Indisputably, Originality of the plot is a must. You may love a particular character or a story that you have read. But although you may be inspired by it, under no condition can you copy any part of it! You’ve got to be original, by trying to create a plot which is absolutely incomparable! I agree that this is the most difficult part of a plot. But not impossible. If others have done it, why can’t you?
And last but not the least, comes the technique of writing out the plot. The style and the narrative techniques will hold your plot and novel together, making it an interesting read. Sometimes even off-beat techniques can take an ordinary story to great heights!
Well, in short, you have to understand, that for a good plot you need to Plan and Pace your story in a Logical and Original manner, using different Techniques in writing.

The Astral Alibi

'The Astral Alibi' is a sequel to 'The Cosmic Clues'. Detective Sonia Samarth is back with Nidhi and Jatin to solve many more cases in cosy Pune, India!
'The Astral Alibi' was honored as a Notable Fiction Book in the Kiriyama Prize 2007

The Cosmic Clues

Here's the promo of my book 'The Cosmic Clues' :
http://www.yourbooktube.com/index.php?option=com_hwdvideoshare&task=viewvideo&Itemid=6&video_id=396
Do watch it if you can!

‘THE COSMIC CLUES’ was selected as a 'Killer Book' by Independent Mystery
Booksellers Association of America. Some of the online, international reviews of the books are:
http://archives.digitaltoday.in/indiatoday/20041220/books2.html
http://www.curledup.com/cosmiccl.htm
http://thebestreviews.com/review23715
http://reviews.blether.com/blether.php?id=8763

Imagination to Ink : Characters – Part One

Let’s talk about characters.
Sometimes ideas can come in the guise of characters. Like I said before, J.K.Rowling ‘met’ Harry Potter in a train journey. And the rest is history!
Characters play a very important role in a book. There is usually a central character or the ‘protagonist’ and there is the ‘antagonist’. The ‘good characters’ pitched against the ‘bad character’. And there are also the supporting characters, some minor but others important enough to add to the story.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that characterization can make or break a book! Strong characterization can take the novel to great heights and weak characterization could prove fatal for the story. A well-formed, unique central character is like the engine of a train, which leads other characters smoothly on the tracks of the story!
But where do these characters come from? Specially the main central character? From your imagination, for sure, but sometimes also from your day-to-day interactions with people. Every day you meet several people. Some are boring, some interesting, but some may be distinguished enough to create an impact. Perhaps not the whole personality, but a particular mannerism, a trait, stays with you. This trait and mannerism may automatically concretize into a solid character or inspire a completely novel character.
A small warning : It is unadvisable to lift a whole character straight out of reality. You cannot discard the possibility that that person may object strongly to the idea of being ‘exposed’ in a book! And anyway, a good character is usually a combination of qualities ‘borrowed’ from different human beings.
Remember, that characters have to be realistic, believable and interesting enough to hold the reader’s attention. But what is most important is that, first and foremost, you have to believe in the character yourself. You have to live with the character, get to know his past, present and future so well, that he grows with you.
Here’s a simple, but interesting exercise :
Some articles are strewn in a room. There’s a dog’s leash on the floor, a hand-drawn framed sketch of a group of monkeys around a tea-table on the wall, fresh flowers in a vase, an upturned wastepaper basket, and a half-finished plate of sandwich on the table where a computer is on, with the picture of a cartoon on the screen. Try to imagine who must be occupying this room. Immediately, a vague picture of a person must be materializing before your eyes. An image must be forming in your mind. Write down every thing you can visualize about this character and send me your results.

Imagination to Ink - Idea

'Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one,' says Salman Rushdie.
Absolutely! Great books have found their authors. But even then we have to start a conscious process at some point. A concrete thought. A germ. An idea. You have to have an idea for a story. But where does this idea come from?
Have you ever woken up restlessly from your sleep, with something jiggling in your mind? Something that you dreamt perhaps or some incident that happened? That could be the vague hint or beginning of an idea!
Ideas can come from almost anywhere. Day-to-day life. Newspapers, books, dreams, songs, films, workplace, people on the streets, shops. While you are exercising, in the bathroom, while you’re shopping, listening to music or to your neighbor’s chatter, hearing a dog bark or doing absolutely nothing. It may crop up suddenly in a quiet, totally silent moment. Sometimes it’s one idea, sometimes there are too many at a time. The one that keeps recurring—that sticks in your mind—is the one that has to be developed!
J.K.Rowling was traveling by train from Manchester to London, when the idea of Harry Potter fell into her head. . . . Agatha Christie says, "they come suddenly, I even don’t know how. Whenever I am listening to opera, walking on the street… they come from everywhere!”
The fact is that there is no sure-fire method of finding an idea. But that doesn’t mean we cannot try to attract one. One way is with brainstorming. Which is a random generation of ideas. Sit with a friend and throw out different ideas that come to your mind, without checking their workability. Write them down if you like. If you have too many ideas vying for attention, write all of them down! Then keep going over them, considering each possibility, till finally you hit on the one that really appeals to you.
Another way is to stop worrying too much. Don’t pursue it in a frenzy. The more you push your mind, the farther the idea will go. Relax, keep your mind open, observe everything and everyone around you and before you know it, THE IDEA will have found you!
If you don’t already have a story in your mind, try these methods out. There is never a certainty but anything may work.
Here’s a simple exercise to stimulate your brain. Jot down ten words that immediately come to your mind. Don’t think. Just write down any ten words. Then look at the words. They may be disconnected. Using the words, make sentences in such a way that all ten sentences are interconnected. Through out this process, observe the way your mind tries to reach out to different ideas. Try this exercise and tell me your experience.

Imagination to Ink - What do you want to write?

What do you want to write?
You're here! Which means that you do believe that there is a writer in you. Good, so let's get started.
You are already aware that there are different types of books - Romance, Romantic Suspense, Crime, Mystery, Thrillers, Children's fiction, Science-fiction, Fantasy, Horror and many others. What do you really like to read?
Reading is a natural habit with most writers. We are exposed to a variety of books from a very young age. So many generations have grown up reading the Enid Blyton books as well as classics by Jane Austen, Somerset Maugham and others. For those who believe that love is the key word, Romances play a big role. It is not at all surprising that Mills & Boon, Silhouette—the romantic genre has been going strong worldwide. On the other hand, brain-racking mysteries are also extremely popular. Agatha Christie—the Queen of Crime—still rules the world with her unmatchable tales of suspense.
Preferences may differ and reading habits may vary. But the indisputable truth, is that a good read may come from any genre. But what you have to decide is what you would like to write. Should you write what you like to read or should you experiment?
Personally, I believe that you should begin by writing what you like to read. Don't forget that you are a reader after all! Also remember that writing is a tough job. Someone once said that "writing is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth. . ."
So, if you are going to experience all these hardships to reach the ultimate pleasure and satisfaction of a complete novel, you may as well begin with a genre or a story that is close to your heart. Because only then will you be motivated to put your heart and soul into the work. Only then, will your story reach and touch other hearts.
There's no harm in experimenting, of course. Trying out genres that you would like to explore, is like trying to prove something. Sometimes to others, sometimes to yourself.
What is most important is that you write for yourself. If you like what you write, then there's a chance that others will too. But if you write with others in mind, it is certain that you may lose interest along the way and your work would be a half-hearted attempt.
Either way, think of Benjamin Franklin's famous quote—"Either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing!