Anita Nair on Writing

The sea has always fascinated me, and even more so the horizon stretching as far as one could see and beyond. With every passing birthday I realize that age hasn’t limited the expanse or shrunk my gaze. Nothing disturbs my line of vision. After all this time every time I look at the horizon, I feel again the boundless hope of possibilities. In writing I see that horizon.
I think of how I sought to discover myself.

In my early years there was no place in my world for a girl in love with words or the possibilities of a language. To belong you had to fit into boxes that been chalked out. There was a place for the sprinter, the volleyball player; there was a place for the hockey stick and the swish of the discus as it flew through the air.

There was a place for the singer, the dancer, the actor, the painter and the debater. There was a place for the math prodigy, the class topper, why there was even a place for the class dunce. But to be someone who read the dictionary for pleasure, someone who just wanted to be left alone to find yet another palindrome, and someone who preferred to lose herself in the written word rather than the spoken one was suspect. So I chose to keep my writing a well guarded secret.

But I wrote. Filling notebooks with stories and poems and when I wasn’t writing, I read. Filling my head with characters, scenes and stories. It was a voyage of discovery as I learnt how to handle language and form, to match it to the kind of milieu I wrote about. It made me that much more confident in terms of being not just a writer but of what I wanted to write about. To be able to tell all the stories I wanted with an effortless ease.

Writing is a labour of love. You write because you feel the great urge to tell a story. There is a singular feeling of achievement which nothing else will ever provide; no award, no number of bestselling books, nothing is going to match that flush of joy that I know when I write well and this is probably the driving spirit that keeps me doing what I do relentlessly. You will break every bar you have set yourself, surmount every obstacle and keep at it.

There is no difference in the subjects that I choose to write about, be it poetry or prose. What happens is that every day there are several times when I chance upon a word, idea, picture, scene or even thought and think – here’s a story. But what ultimately gets written is an idea that is so powerful that it refuses to dislodge itself no matter what happens. For me what is supreme is a good story and character driven narratives… naturally this is what motivates me to write the kind of books I do…

The patterns of my work habits were formed during the years when my son was a baby. I am a morning person and like to start early by about 5.30-6.00 a.m. and continue till about 11.00 a.m. Although my son goes to college now, those early work habits remain with me. I work in my study from where I have a vantage view of the entire house and garden.

I do not spend long hours in front of the writing pad waiting for the words to come. Whatever I’m doing, there’s still a part of me working on the story/ book, thinking about what it’s saying, the direction it’s going. So when I begin to write, I know exactly how to proceed and the words flow…

I keep a little notebook that records anything that’s pertinent to the plot, characters or atmosphere of the book. I carry it with me everywhere so that as and when something occurs to me, I can make a note of it. I also write down anything unusual that I see or hear or experience apart from any interesting thought or phrase that wanders through my mind. I also make a list of words and phrases and brief thoughts, simply because they attracted my attention.

I’m very careful about cross-checking facts again and again. Even if the reader doesn’t know better, I believe that I need to know for sure what I am stating is the truth. In every possible instance, I try and live an experience that I need to describe. Only then do I allow my imagination to step in.

Since I write in long hand using a fountain pen, I only start writing once I have firmed up the story line in my mind, I progress thereafter from scene to scene. When I am done, I read through and re-work. As I write, the plot or the main theme of the story progresses. The crux of the story is always there in my mind, but the story is always evolving.

Along with grappling with what I want to write about is a demon I need to battle with day after day. As a married woman with a home to run and as a writer engrossed in the peregrinations of her characters, I know a daily conflict of interest.
How does one harmonize a literary life with a family life? Both require involvement. Both demand dedication. Both need the luxury of time. If I choose to be a good wife and mother, the writer in me suffers. And if I choose to put my writing above all else, I am afraid that I will be seen by family and society as a cold, wilful and selfish woman. I know I can expect little support and hardly any encouragement.

This daily shredding of the soul. This daily emotional upheaval. This daily state of flux. Often I wonder is this worth anything at all? And yet I continue to write because as all writers or creative people know, the need to create is paramount.
For when I write I know who I am.

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Anita Nair is a bestselling author whose books have received great critical acclaim. Her works have been translated into thirty languages. Follow her on twitter @anitanairauthor

visit her website www.anitanair.net

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing