It won't write itself

This has been a lengthy journey after all. I started in 2006 at a summer writing school when one of my characters came into focus so sharply he demanded to be written. Over the course of the week his antagonist, also his first love, came into view. They were talking to each other about why their relationship had failed. Before I knew it, I had a story – the anatomy of a break-up – and two characters as real and vivid as anything I would want to read.

Completing my novel has been a long road – three years in the making, with seven months of putting the entire thing to one side. I was doing all the right things, sharing chapters with other writers in my local writers’ group, and yet didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.

Then I started paying attention to author talks and radio interviews, and reading the sagas of how mortals can become commercial giants. Work. Lots of hard work. Manuscripts in the trash can that spouses dug out (Stephen King) and short stories appearing in magazines (Amy Tan), but most of all writing and writing and writing for the love of writing.

So after a hiatus, I put my head down and got back to my characters. And this summer, while studying Arabic six hours a day, my mind went to pasture each evening and played with the story.

Another break came while on a long bus ride. I was stuck with finding a major plot twist. My seatmate helped me find it.

A month later, another friend helped me find the final love of my protagonist’s life. We had come far afield of the original boy and girl breaking up, as told in alternating chapters. But this story was better. Richer characters, flexing techniques I had read about in at least 12 different writing books since the start.

I stood up that afternoon in my study, pleased that I not only had a writing room of my own but had also used it. I sent a note around to my stalwart friends-cum-readers, asking them to get through as much as they could stand, and get back to me with their thoughts.

And then came the moments after. Silence. The hum of the air conditioner. The yawning hours of the rest of the afternoon.  Although there is a lot out there about the creative process, this is the part no one tells you about. When you produce and then let it sit to breathe, waiting for the early reactions to come back.

What are the writing truths you’ve found during your latest project? Because when it comes to writing, as in life, there is often no substitute for experience.

Mohana Rajakumar

(writer & publishing director for a new Bloomsbury venture)