I am planning to write on my motherland kashmir. But a little bit lack ideas on how to start... Need suggestions:)
Replies
Ah - I have a friend who is a refugee from Kashmir and he wants to write a book about it as well, though it would be contemporary.
For Kashmir, I would really recommend 'Freedom at Midnight', especially the out-of-print hardcover edition that can be still ordered second-hand on Amazon, as it has a most fascinating journalistic account of how Kashmir was divided in the 1940s, besides anecdotes about the Maharajah of Kashmir.
A good serial about the partition was Tamas, which can be found on youtube
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamas_(film)
Before you research though, ask yourself what your story is about? What is it you want to convey? I have two historical fictions brewing in the back of my mind currently, one metaphysical-spiritual and one about the Maharajahs of Rajasthan and I am trying first to clarify what the journey of my MC is. Research is endless, so do that after some thinking. It is an iterative process anyway.
Plenty of research is needed to be done before you start. You could mention what the climate is like and how the people cope with things like droughts or flooding. The architecture in different areas. How the lifestyle of people in different areas of the country can vary for example. rich areas having a different lifestyle to poorer areas.
I would say, see a few films on Kashmir, they would give you a virtual feeling of how kashmir is. The location, the scenery and the atmosphere all matters. As Adrian said, reading up will be immensely helpful.
Ah - I have a friend who is a refugee from Kashmir and he wants to write a book about it as well, though it would be contemporary.
For Kashmir, I would really recommend 'Freedom at Midnight', especially the out-of-print hardcover edition that can be still ordered second-hand on Amazon, as it has a most fascinating journalistic account of how Kashmir was divided in the 1940s, besides anecdotes about the Maharajah of Kashmir.
A good serial about the partition was Tamas, which can be found on youtube
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamas_(film)
Before you research though, ask yourself what your story is about? What is it you want to convey? I have two historical fictions brewing in the back of my mind currently, one metaphysical-spiritual and one about the Maharajahs of Rajasthan and I am trying first to clarify what the journey of my MC is. Research is endless, so do that after some thinking. It is an iterative process anyway.
Plenty of research is needed to be done before you start. You could mention what the climate is like and how the people cope with things like droughts or flooding. The architecture in different areas. How the lifestyle of people in different areas of the country can vary for example. rich areas having a different lifestyle to poorer areas.
Good Luck with it anyway.
I would say, see a few films on Kashmir, they would give you a virtual feeling of how kashmir is. The location, the scenery and the atmosphere all matters. As Adrian said, reading up will be immensely helpful.