Merging Plots

Dear M,

I have found the solution. It's perhaps not the best solution, but I am feeling quite adventurous today, and it's perhaps time for a little experimenting. I'm referring to the problem of the surge of stories.

A couple of seemingly brilliant story ideas had been shadowing me for a while now, and I made elaborate notes on both, unsure which one I need to work on next. (After I go back and finish the older one, of course.) The truth is that though both appeared promising, neither had enough material to last the 80k or 100k test. Without having a strong premise, it was not a good idea to plunge into it. There is a third, independent storyline that has made its appearance, to further complicate matters. If only we could finish our masterpieces at the speed of thought itself.

Anyway, today the splendid solution came up - two of those plots could be merged. It may or may not work, the 'splendidness' remains to be seen. There aren't a lot of obvious overlaps between the two, yet there are certain areas that could be reworked on so that a merger can be signed.

I hate to admit I am not overly excited about it. The result should not look as though a half-apple and a half-orange were pasted together in a desperate attempt to make a mango.

Love.

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Convincing

Dear M,

One of the most challenging things about writing a story is to make it convincing. It is even more difficult when the story is (or intended to be) funny.

In one of the recent episodes of a comedy show in TV (the one with canned laughter), there were a couple of scenes which were not only irritating, but were also unbelievable. "How did they get away with it?" was the question in my mind. I felt as though the makers of the show expected all viewers to be fools to laugh at something like that. Those were deliberate (and poor and even desperate) attempts at being funny. (Apparently that show does well elsewhere.)

There is a thin line between showing something that is impossible in real life while making it appear real and possible, and showing something that is so ridiculous that you just want to run away.

The author should be able to think like a reader. Would I believe something like that?

Love.

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Reviews as a learning

Dear M,

I think writing reviews of books is a great idea. When we write a review, we are actually analysing the story, the plot, the characters and their development, the theme, etc. We are also trying to see the author behind the book.

When we find flaws in a book, we immediately know how a good book shouldn't be. When we say the characters are one-dimensional or not rounded, we think about what could have made them better. When we say the editing is not perfect, we know what phrases or words could have been removed or modified. When we say the book is not impeccable, we know what made us say so.

When we say the theme was new, something we have never thought of, we can try to think of such possibilities, of coming up with ideas that are new, original. The approach of the story, the narration, is different. And we all like different.

We wonder what made the author write so; why must she have come up with such a theme? Why did she model her characters thus? Where did she get the plot from?

Whatever makes us think and wonder is a lesson. Even if we don't write a review and put it up online, we could analyse each book as soon as we finish reading. It would be time well spent.

I also like reading book and movie reviews written by others in different blogs, it is good to get others' perspectives. Who knows, some day they might review us!

Love.

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Fearing the Family and Friends

Dear M,

I think one of the drawbacks of people reading our books is that they try to see us behind the stories. We, as story-tellers, try to narrate different stories from different perspectives, we try to place ourselves in the shoes of others. But when our friends read the stories, they (some of them at least) imagine that we are the protagonists. That it has to be our story. That there must be an element of truth in it. I have been asked about a couple of my stories, if such a thing has happened to me. They never actually believed it when I said it wasn't my story, that it was in no way related to me.

It is a very difficult situation, if you ask me. Imagine our story exploring forbidden topics. What conclusions are the reader-friends of ours going to arrive at? We have a major crisis arising from misunderstanding heading for our doors. I have often wondered if I can get away with an anonymously written book. (I don't fancy wasting my life explaining my stories to others.) But the problem would be marketing it. How can an anonymous author promote his/her work on the Internet? This isn't like the olden times when the publisher took care of all the sales and marketing.

We should, as they say, have a thick skin if we want to write about sensitive topics that could raise an eyebrow or so - within the family. Yeah, we can face the nation's wrath, but the family's floors we fear to tread. At some point, though, we have to decide whether the need to write would triumph over the fear of a few scowls or raised eyebrows.

I remember reading that Rushdie's educated father was annoyed at the way the protagonist's father was represented in Midnight's Children, but his mother was okay with it; everyone knew the story was loosely based on Rushdie's own life.

Love.

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There are stories everywhere

Dear M,

I was reading about a doctor who was a writer and a poet, and about how he had to juggle his career and his passion. He was always a doctor whatever he was doing, wherever he was. And when he was not working, he was writing, obviously based on his experiences. (In other words, he never did have any time for his family. A doctor's life itself is tough in itself, imagine combining it with a writer's!)

Our professions offer us so many stories to write. We could pull out something relevant, that means something, that brings out the strength in people or a message or a philosophy that we believe in.

I know another person who comes across different types of people daily (as part of his job), from all walks of life. Every day he has an awe-inspiring story to tell. Every day he meets interesting, unbelievable characters. Every day he has spell-binding experiences to share. He loves to talk, so you can imagine how a meeting with him would turn out to be. A casual incident would bring something to his mind, and set him off. Imagine where he would be if he could write it all down. (I've suggested it so many times, he says he will, some day.)

Love.

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Magical Writing

Dear M,

There are many different ways to write fantasy; but these are the few that I have made note of.

One is to write it like it is to us - difficult to believe. Example Harry Potter stories. Harry himself finds it difficult to believe at first that such a magical world exists. So do we. And we see how the world functions, through his eyes.

Another way is to present it as though it is quite commonplace. (They sometimes call it magical realism.) As you read it, you wonder, could this be true? could there be a place on earth where this happens? did the author just say something weird or did I imagine it?

And yet another is to claim that it is not fantasy, and that it is true (or it could be true) just like everything else. For example, they tell us there are galaxies and we believe them, they tell us crap about microscopic life and we believe them, so if I tell you about these, why can't you believe them?

Magical writing - when we can continue to read without thinking this is all bullshit.

Love.

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Don't try too hard

Dear M,

This post is inspired by a film and a book. The film is a comedy, and it does have its funny moments. One of the actors is a very talented person and I have recently had the occasion to admire his performance in a touching role. The book was written by the author for his ten year old son.

I was not impressed with the actor in the movie. And I was not impressed with the writing in the book.

The problem in both was that, the actor and the author were trying too hard. The veteran actor, to whom normally comedy comes as easy as breathing, the author to whom writing is as effortless, were trying too hard to impress. The actor seemed very conscious that this was a comedy film, and he was putting in an extra round of expression or a heightened tone of voice, or something. The author had to impress his ten year old. And everyone knows that ten year olds aren't easily impressed. If the son doesn't like the story, he is going to ask straight to his face: "Do they call you a good author?"

Both were nervous, both had to create an impact. It showed.

To me, this happens when I try to write something that did not come normally to me. When I try to squeeze my creativity and channel it into a theme someone else has provided. We can do that too, effectively, if we take ample time. When we have the time to understand that theme and let it enter us, by allowing it to flow in our veins, to blow through our respiratory tunnels, to waddle in our nervous system.

If we are given a topic and asked to come up with something tomorrow, the result probably could be good, but not great. We don't settle for good, do we?

Love.

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Repetitive Scenes

Dear M,

We don't notice the recurring themes / scenes / thoughts / words in our own writing. Especially when we have been writing for several years. In the initial phase, we would remember every word, every line, every thought that went behind our stories because we would be reading it over and over again. But as time passes, the older writing fades from mind. We end up writing something very similar, in a recent story.

I noticed recently that my stories always revolve around a certain period in the history of our country. Our generation does not have the luxury of being part of the independence struggle, or the world war, or any of those exciting times. If we wish to write about those events, we need to research and understand what it must have been like. (Some day, perhaps.) As of now, I would write about events I have known. And there are a couple of them standing apart in memory or in the stories I have heard from people around me. Events which I might have been part of, but was too young to remember much of; events that were so real, so close, that a shudder goes up my spine when I remember it.

And these events draw me to them like a magnet and in three isolated instances I noticed that I tried to include these in my story. While it could be done harmlessly, we could also mess it up for the reader, who might dare to read a second book of ours: Oh !*groan* Why does this author have to write about that event in every single novel?

We certainly don't want that, do we?

Love.

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The Soul of the Story

Dear M,

What is the soul of a story, the factor on which a story revolves, the thing that makes the story human? (Assuming we are talking about stories involving humans or living things that think and behave like humans)

Our unpredictability. We decide to go to office, and half-way through, we remember how tiresome the day is going to be, how our boss is going to hammer us out of existence, how our colleagues are going to make us feel inferior, how our work is going to extract the last ounce of happiness from us - and then we take the next U-turn on the highway, and head towards the nearest mall and watch a couple of movies and eat to our heart's content and even play a bit in the play arena with the wide-eyed kids there. When we didn't turn up at the office, our boss gets irritated (and kind of relieved that he doesn't have to make a choice any more) and decides to award the big project to the next eligible (and available) candidate. So a small detour in our routine brought in a sparkle to a few lives.

That's it with writing stories - if you go in a pre-determined route, it may sound very robotic. That's not how people behave. We have unpredictability in a good measure - and it is triggered by jealousy, laziness, tiredness, anger, disappointment, excitement and a whole host of emotions. Most of the time we are unthinking when we act, and then we scramble to set things right.

That's what makes our story endearing. He prepared well, took the test, and won. -- No fun at all.

Love.

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Writing a Book from a Movie

Dear M,

What do you think of book adaptations?

Some match our expectations so perfectly. One example of a great book made into a great movie is To Kill a Mockingbird. There are also poor adaptations and better adaptations. Yeah, sometimes we say the book was better; sometimes that the movie is better.

What exactly happens when the book is turned into a movie? Many pages get squeezed dry. You cannot have all the scenes in a two-hour movie. You need to decide what you want, to keep the core of the story intact. There will be a lot of philosophy in the book that can be reduced to one or two lines of dialog; a lot of characters will be wiped out of existence. Essentially, the book gets shrunk into a film, but the visual effect gets enhanced - because reading about "a blue sky" and seeing a blue sky create completely different impressions on our mind. And the background score adds the heartbeat to it, of course.

Now think about the other way - imagine you are writing a book based on a movie. Each scene has so much you can write about, so much detail you can skip or incorporate, so many thoughts that run through the protagonists' minds that no one gets to hear in the movie, so many slices of authorly wisdom you can dole out to the readers. If you really concentrate, you can also bring the background score into the writing.

Isn't that what we, writers, are doing (or trying so hard to do)? We have a movie in our mind. Directed by us, seen only by us. It's our job to expand - or adapt - it into a book for the world to perceive.

Love.

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Preparing the script for a real life encounter

Dear M,

It happened again. I had set the scene. It was for an inevitable and unavoidable small encounter. The only uncertainty was when it would take place. It would not go beyond four days, as I knew so well. I had set my trap, is the more appropriate way of saying it.

The script was ready, scratched and rewritten and polished several times. It had to go this way. I had some taunting dialogs to deliver. A few words to convey with my eyes. A few questions, a frown, a chuckle at the end. For the responses, a few possibilities were worked out. If this, then that. If not, then-

I had thought of all ways it could go. I had a backup plan for the impromptu change in script. After all, I was the only person who knew this was theatre. We all script our drama daily, when we expect a scene. But this was beyond all that common sense decreed.

Trust me, the plan was impeccable.

You see, I was experimenting again with live subjects. The harmless experiments that they would not realise are experiments, and would slip out of their minds soon. But it would find its way to my work somewhere, somehow.

All this preparation, and yet I slipped. It happened on the evening of day three. I was ready for the evening scene and its possibilities, and I was also prepared for day three. There would have been a change of script if it had shifted to day four. But what I was not prepared for was my severe bout of exhaustion after a long day pretty much on the road. I just wanted to gobble my dinner and hit the pillow. I was at my unprepared best. That's when it happened.

The script slipped from the very first word that came out of my lips. The unexpected, surprised "Ah." From there it went south. I could salvage a little, but the main part was gone. This was not something I could try again for at least five or six months.

But I will not be giving up. I should be scripting a new scene soon, involving other innocent, unsuspecting victims who will be immortalised in my story, without their ever realising it.

Love.

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The Creative Revenge!

Dear M,

Life (or the World or Nature - or all of it) isn't fair. It just refuses to let us be and continues to toss unfairness at us. But as writers we are a lucky lot.

There are people who see each day as a punishment, and are seething inside, but are unable to do anything about it because they are bound by norms or rules or practices or other weird rules humans go by. But writers (and other creative artists) have a ready tool at their disposal to take care of such situations.

We all know that secretly we always write about people we know. We pretend to be creating characters from sand, developing them from nothing, etc. But what we do not confess (unless the character is a real hero) is that most of our characters originate from someone we know. There is a tinge of them somewhere that we alone can spot (and if someone else spots it you say, Well, whaddya know! I never noticed the similarity).

When our rage or extreme emotions threaten to overwhelm us, we creative folks have that outlet that no one else has. An angry man may go hack the man he's mad at or shower him with curses or damage his precious things or destroy his family or set his house on fire. We do it in our story (or painting, or music). Oh yes, we do. We destroy the man, his family, his life, his precious things, his thoughts, his very character itself. And we find peace in it (and even chuckle about it). That's revenge too - without a drop of blood being shed or property destroyed. It's our own cathartic experience.

Love.

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The truest sentence

Dear M,

Creativity has to come from within. You cannot force it into existence. When you say writing from the heart, that's what you mean. If you try to write something that isn't yours or that didn't originate in your heart or wasn't your own experience, in other words if it was planted there, the difference is out there for all to see, that the writer probably doesn't even believe in the theme.

I believe that's what Ernest Hemingway meant when he said Write the truest sentence that you know. If not, I haven't yet figured out what it means.

Many years ago (about three-four years ago, but feels like a couple of centuries!), I participated in a short story contest. There was a theme. And there was a deadline. So I cooked up a story, used my imagination to fit the characters and the plot into the theme, and wrote something that had a beginning, and an end, and a plot, and a flow, and everything. I thought it looked good, so I submitted it. Needless to say, it didn't come anywhere close to getting selected.

Today I know what the problem with the story was. It did not come to me from within. I tried to create something by force, twist it into a shape that the theme demanded, limit the creativity to a timeframe, and... to cut a long narration short, the whole driving force (and purpose) behind my short story writing was fake. It wasn't me, it didn't come from me. I wouldn't know the difference, but the reader would (and evidently did).

We could do the theme-based writing, as an exercise, to test ourselves, to see where we go, to know what we could come up with, to explore how far we can stretch ourselves, to get a feel of our limits and to experience how we can expand upon a thought. Or just for fun.

But as far as serious writing goes, it should emerge from us, if it is to be any good.

Love.

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Talking to oneself

Dear M,

Something really embarrassing happened a few days ago - someone caught me speaking to myself.

That in itself isn't bad, I am sure we all do that now and then. But in my case it was a very advanced (and hopeless?) case. I had been at it, gesturing and whispering and smiling, for at least ten minutes (and I have no idea how much longer) before I realised that I was being watched. I can't say how shocked and ashamed I was, and how foolish I felt. How deep inside my own head was I that I forgot where I was? I laughed about it, of course, but it was a real jolt.

I know I told you yesterday that I have a five hour distance between my real and fictional world. That's what I thought, really. I thought there was sufficient layer of reality between both, and a sufficiently thick wall of consciousness. Maybe this is not true, maybe the two overlap more frequently than I was aware of.

Strictly speaking, I was not in my fictional world - in the sense that I was not creating or developing my characters or plot. I was in a fictionalised real world: by that I mean, I was thinking of real people, people I had spoken to over phone just minutes ago. I was running the same conversation again, and then I moved on to conversations that might have happened. I imagined their reactions, my responses, the smiles, the laughter, the comedy. We might call it day dreaming or fantasising. I was too involved in it (I was also doing some chore at the time where not much brain interaction was required) that I did not realise someone was standing just a few feet away, and that I was enacting the scene, gestures, words, expressions and all, much to that person's amusement.

So many thoughts come to my mind when I think about this. One is that we are such an absent-minded lot hovering dangerously over the brink, and the journey to complete isolation begins somewhere close by. Too close by. It is scary. Some day, if this goes on, I could end up living more in my imagined world (with real and fictional characters) than in the real world with real people. Some might call it madness.

Another thought is that these imagined conversations will one day make their way into my story. It has happened before. I have imagined meetings with people I know (people who barely remember me and don't think of me at all), conversations, attitudes, expressions, everything. Then later one of my characters would find himself/herself in a similar situation and say the very same words and display the same behaviour and expressions. That's not a bad thing. At least that is what I tell myself when I remember this incident and my cheeks begin to turn red at the memory.

Love.

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