Monday, March 17, 2014

Muddling through a Manuscript by Adite Banerjie || THE INDIAN TYCOON'S MARRIAGE DEAL

Dancing with the enemy

Krish Dev needs to find a bride—and quick! With a marriage arranged by his father looming, Krish finds the key to his freedom in Maya Shome, but is this dazzling beauty really all she seems...?

Maya has only one thing in mind: revenge. But when the host of the most exclusive high society party asks her to dance what is meant to be an innocent tango leads to an engagement to Krish—her enemy’s son!

Arranging their own marriage could work to their advantage…if they can resist mixing business with pleasure!
  

 

Muddling through a Manuscript by Adite Banerjie

Writers and their processes have always fascinated me.  Especially those with a formal, almost ritualistic, approach to writing. You know, the ones who are at their desks, come rain or shine, at a particular time of the day. Those whose desks are so inviting and organized, they can simply boot up their computers and tap out the words that are only too eager to spill on to their keyboards. Those who whip out their soft boards and do the color-coded plot development and voila…they are ready to type up Chapter One. 

Sigh! Double sigh!

As you probably have guessed, my writing process is a far cry from anything I have just described. Honestly speaking, it’s so messy and disorganized, I often wonder how I even manage to finish any of my writing projects. 
So, be warned, this is one writing process you would not want to emulate. And the only value this post can offer is one of mild entertainment. 

The Ideation Process:  Every time I start on a new project the intention is to create a viable process that is orderly and streamlined. So I create a new folder and stick into it all the relevant bits and pieces of research that I have gathered. If I have some inkling about the character or premise of the story I scour the Internet for info, download pictures from websites about possible locations, and so on.  All’s well until I begin to process the research material... 

The muddle starts first in my mind and then spreads to my folders.  I have little scraps of half-gestated ideas stored away in multiple folders in my computer. And in the middle of one idea my brain harks back to some character or event or location that is tagged ‘brilliant idea’.  I start scanning my folders in my computer and find that there is some kind of mismatch between what my brain remembers as brilliant and the notes that I’m reading.  Did I really think this crappy idea was brilliant? What was I thinking! This ‘discovery’ leads to depression and the self-flagellation begins. 

The Brainstorming Process: At some point I manage to pull myself up by my bootstraps and beat down the depressing thoughts.  After much tweaking and twisting, the brilliant-idea-that-wasn’t has been somewhat redeemed and settled somewhere between the not-so-crappy-after-all and mediocre ratings. Boosting my self-esteem with quotes such as “genius is 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration”,  I huff and puff through the brainstorming process. Tweaking the plot, characters and locations till I feel confident enough to start on the marathon course of writing the project. 

The Writing Process: No matter how much brainstorming or outlining I do, things begin to change during the writing process. For instance, in my most recently completed romance novel, the first four chapters literally rolled off my fingertips on to the keyboard.  It felt like I was on a journey that promised a trouble-free ride to the novel’s HEA destination.  No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than I hit a series of speed bumps.  Which meant going back to the brainstorming process and reworking the characters and/or turning points. After several detours into blind alleys, I finally found my way back to the right track. 

Despite the bumps, near crashes and blind alleys, there are those moments when speeding down the writing highway is exhilarating and makes it all so worthwhile.  As I embark on my next writing project, I’m sure the writing process for this one too will be as maddening as ever.

Perhaps someday I will appreciate Jorge Luis Borges’ words, “What a writer wants to do is not what he does.”  Until then, I will muddle on and dream of achieving the perfect writing process. Well, a writer can dream, can’t she? 

Adite Banerjie

Adite Banerjie  is a screenwriter based in New Delhi, India. She turned romance author when her first Harlequin romance, The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal, released in 2013 in India. The book is slated for a N. America release under the HarlequinE imprint in June this year. Her second book, Trouble Has a New Name, comes out in July 2014. She loves to travel, watch movies and play with her Irish Setter when she’s not stuck to her computer struggling with her current WIP.
Twitter: @adite

 

10 comments:

  1. Ah...that perfect writing process...I don't think it exists. I saw a quote
    about love recently that went something like...there is only one way
    to love and a thousand ways to express it...and I think the same is
    true about writing. I'm more like you, I keep a fragment file as I'm
    beginning a story or poem. I add to that file constantly. I go to the
    local art store and get a big poster board and put a picture I've clipped
    out of a magazine for each character. Then I add any quirks/goals,etc. under those pictures. My mind is always whirling, which is why you will see post-its everywhere in my life. Eventually I pull it all together. It's a free spirited approach, I'll admit and it works for me.

    Thanks for the post and giving me the chance to respond!

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    1. So true, Word Actress. Finding the approach that works for each of us is also as fascinating as putting a story together. :) Thank you for reading and commenting. And thanks, Melissa, for this opportunity!

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  2. Thank you Adite for allowing us to take a peak into your creative mind. A lot of what you say I can relate to, especially the outlining process. Naysayers insist that outlining leads to formulaic writing, but it’s so far from the truth. On many occasions I had to go back and reshape the structure when a stronger plot point presented itself.

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    1. Hi Eleni! the outline is always a WIP for me! Thanks for reading and commenting. :)

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  3. Hi Adite,
    Thank you so much for visiting with me today. Your post definitely strikes a chord. I've muddled through the same process myself many a time!

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    1. Hi Melissa. Great to be here.. and share notes with other writers about the 'process' challenge! :)

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  4. Adite, as usual truly inspiring. Your words have always haunted me enough to pick up my pen too. Had always wondered at your writing process. Thanks for letting us have a peek at it. Inspiring as always.

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    1. Hi Rubina. Thanks for the kind words and I wish you a writing process that's better organized and smoother than mine! :)

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  5. Adite, it is the end result that matters; really, process is just a way to get there...so whatever your process, if it generates dashing Indian tycoons, and if it gives Trouble a new name, it is very very cool!

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  6. It's perfect. How can any writer plan better than this? If that's how you've reached so far, I'm sure I'll get there if I follow you (no deadlines please).

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