Finished the first draft!

After a really long time, I have gotten around to finish a WIP, which I can safely call a rough first draft. For those of you who do not know, I published my first book of fiction in June, 2015. It took me close to 15 months to get the first draft of my second book out. But well, finally it’s done. I just emailed it to a couple of friends for review, post which I will be doing another round of edit.

The book is currently titled How I tamed the dragon named fear. It is a non-fiction piece with an autobiographical element. The theme, as might be self-explanatory from the title, is fear and how to handle it. As an individual, I have struggled with fear and anxiety for a long time. Last year, before I came to Bangalore I was a wreck at the thought of living so far away from my family. It was then the idea to keep a fear journal came to me. I started writing down the things that made me anxious and trying to find solutions for them. In the process of doing so, I realized I could share it with a larger audience.

I am really excited about this book for two reasons:

• This is my first venture into non-fiction
• Through this book, I actually tried to address a problem that I have faced for a long time and I am excited to see if my experience helps others

I am planning to do a February, 2017 release, even though I still have to narrow down the final date. I think it will depend on the kind of feedback I receive from my beta readers. I need to know if the book is actually working in the way I want it to.

Meanwhile, I am going to utilize December to chalk out promotional strategies and other things that go with publishing a book. Do let me know if you have some tips for me for the book promotions.

Time for me to cook myself some dinner and jump in joy! After all, it’s not everyday that you finish a book! What say?

Courtesy

 

Monday Mumbles…

Good morning everyone!

It is a cheerful Monday here in Bangalore. Though there are clouds as well, but they are shifting to show the sun.

This morning I printed out the first (rough) draft of my second book. I had reached a point in the book where I did not know how to go on any further. So I wanted to revisit what I had built until now and add words as I go. I have approximately 12,000 words on board now. Hoping that when I revisit what I have created so far, I will have more things to say here and there – which will help me reach the word count.

Besides, life is looking better, even though I spent the weekend thinking of my remaining student loan. When you have a limited income and a huge debt, you fight that incessant question whether it is best to pay off the loan, or save some money for emergency. It makes me sad that I have hardly saved much since I started working.

But thankfully, health-wise I have been doing better. I was reading The Lives of Others this weekend. I have this knack for reading Bengali authors who write in English. Being so far away from Bengal, the nostalgia I have associated with the place comes alive when I read about Bengali life and culture, even if it’s in English. No wonder Jhumpa Lahiri is my favorite author. I am enjoying Neel Mukherjee’s (author of The Lives of Others) style of writing as well, though I am not very sure what is he trying to drive at by going back and back into the family tree of the main characters. Is the reason to increase the word count, or is it necessary to understand the main characters in the light of their upbringing and the people who influenced them? I guess I can have the answer to that only when I finish the book. The nice thing about reading about Bengali life in contemporary writing is how the small, insignificant things in Bengali lifestyle come alive in these writings. As a writer, maybe I would never have thought about exploring those things.

What about you? How is life going for you all? To all the budding writers out there, what are you writing about? What are the challenges that you are facing with your WIP? Share you experience with me in the Comments!