Bala karthiga M

If you are reading this, and you are someone who has always wondered what it takes to make a career out of writing, read on.

Let’s begin with the first question that pops up in everyone’s mind.

How does one write a novel?

Everyone loves hearing about writers’ creative processes.

People have this cinematic image in their heads when they think of a writer writing novels. Someone sitting in front of a clean, large desk that’s filled with Mont Blanc fountain pens, notebooks, tea and big round spectacles.

I’m not going to lie. My Instagram might make you believe I write this way too.

But in all honesty, that’s not how it really happens.

I wish I could tell you that a beautiful little fairy comes down and sings all my stories into my head when I sleep. I wish I could tell you that writing is my hobby.

It’s not.

It’s my battle cry.

Here’s the honest, uncut reality of my writing process:

First, I begin by planning out a full book like a movie in my head.

Second, my brain lovingly deletes it all when I sleep that night.

Third, I wake up, completely frustrated by the idea that I was convinced would be the next international bestseller, got completely erased off of my mind. In order to come to terms with this frustration like an adult – I get into a cycle of caffeine abuse and ice cream overdose.  

I take a short break and cry over a Rahman song, because who doesn’t?

And finally, after beating myself over it repeatedly, I begin writing.

Not slowly and steadily, but all at once – like a hysterical maniac. I sit for five to eight hours a day and type away on my laptop – without moving, without eating.

In about 4 days, I have ninety pages done. In two weeks, I have a two hundred and fifty page finished manuscript.

When I finish the book, my parents expect me to send it to my publishers and become the next J.K. Rowling, but again, I disappoint them because, for some reason, I bury it in my backyard and run off to live alone in the Himalayas – because I just can’t seem to believe that anything that comes out of my mind is even worth a dime. I am constantly loathing my own work, seeing all it’s flaws under a microscope, dissecting and cutting it up into tiny insufferable pieces before I lapse into another cycle of caffeine and ice cream overdose. 

You see, I’m just a raw, kinda ok, half-baked writer. However, I am an aggressive re-writer who obsesses over perfection. I make that the one rule that I follow when I write. I regularly read what I wrote and revise.

My next book that’s getting released took me one month to write, and five years to revise and polish.

This is how I work. This is how I write. There is no glam. There is no romantic sweet story here. There is no divine prophecy that I fulfill.

So, What Does It Take To Become a Writer?

What does it take to become a writer?

You might have heard that writing is a gift that people are born with.

If someone ever tells you that, look deep into their eyes, and tell them, ‘You are wrong.’

If they argue, give them my social media id and ask them to talk to me. I’ll straighten them up.

It ’s not a gift. It’s definitely not something people are born with.

It’s hard work. It’s something you teach yourself to do.

Some others might tell you that all that you need to become a writer, is ‘imagination”.

Wrong again.

Everybody can daydream. But not everybody can write a book!

This is a highly competitive industry where simply having imagination won’t make the cut.

Yes, it is important and you do need imagination, but you also need to develop a culture of discipline,  planning skills – and persistence if you intend to make a serious career out of writing.

It’s tough. It’s almost like a battle – a constant battle against myself.

If you want to test the limits of your spirit, all you have to do is this: Write a novel.

When you commit to writing a novel, you will be amazed at many excuses and how many complexes pop up in your mind.

I’ve been writing for more than five years now, but I still have these excuses, complexes, and voices inside my head. Every novelist does. While others learn to live with these voices, we wake up every day, brew a strong cup of coffee, take in a deep sip and say, ‘Darlings, please shut up.’  

To me, writing is a lot like bleeding.

Bleeding ink on paper.

I REFUSE TO SUGAR COAT THE STRESSFUL DARKNESS THAT ANY CREATIVE PROCESS BRINGS WITH IT.

And finally, let me answer the one question that chases me everywhere I go. The one question that everyone is so curious to know about.

‘Who do you write for, Bala?!’

And here’s what they want to hear for an answer:

It’s probably for a boy she likes.

She’s doing it for attention- I bet she likes it.

Peer pressure, perhaps.

Or maybe she wants to fit into a clique group.

She writes because she hates her job. It’s her defense mechanism.

Well, I hate to disappoint these people, but the truth is, it’s not for a boy.

It’s not for attention. It’s not out of peer pressure or to cope up with life.

No.

Quoting John Green, here’s to the very real existential crisis that grips me midway through everything I’ve ever tried to do: I think stories help us fight the nihilistic urges that constantly threaten to consume us.

So, honestly, who do I write for?

Selfishly, for myself.

I am my number one fan.

XOXO,

Bala ❤

Buy my book The Tales and Musings of a Small Town Girl – Click Here.  

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