The Stages of Writing a Book

My debut novel, Home Safe Home, released today (26-3-17, Sunday).

 

A lot of people were confused as to what goes on before a novel hits the shelves. Hopefully, this blog post will clear that up.

Writing a book consists of many different phases. Here, I am listing all the phases I went through before bringing out my first book.

1. The Pre-writing phase - This is the very beginning; the conception of an idea. It happens over a period of time; from when the idea first hits you to it slowing taking shape inside your head. Once the idea shows potential to be a story, the next phase begins. 
2. The Plotting phase - This is the phase were I find myself desperately searching for a pen and paper to jot down an idea before I lose it. This is also the phase where one completes the story. A rough outline is made, describing the story from start to finish. Character profiles are made for all the main characters. This is the phase where we tie them all together. 
3. The First Draft phase - A first draft is nothing more than a glorified outline. It's just a big messy draft, including all the scenes and dialogue one has planned for the book. Personally, I think it's the most exhausting phase, as one has to set their sights on completing it, and not on the quality of the piece. 
4. The Drafting phase - This is probably the longest phase in writing. Basically, it is the act of stretching out the initial story like a rubber band; stretching and stretching until its breaking point. With each rewrite, it gets bigger and better. So, naturally, that takes a lot of time. After about 4 or 5 drafts, I am ready for the next phase. 
5. The Beta Reading phase - This is the phase I'm most excited for. Once I'm done with multiple drafts, I send the latest one to a few handpicked beta readers, who read and review the book. Then we do a 20 to 25 question interview, where they tell me what they liked and didn't like about the book. My beta readers are awesome, because they give extremely helpful constructive criticism. 
6. The Rewriting phase - Once the beta reviews arrive, there will most likely be scenes that stick out like a sore thumb. It is in the rewriting phase that we address all those major and minor flaws. After another couple of drafts, it's ready for the next phase. Almost there. 
7. The Critic phase - This is where I send my draft out for critic review. A critic is often a person with a respectable background in literature and language; teachers, scholars, professors and other writers, who read the manuscript and write a critical review. A critic reviews from a professional standpoint, while beta reviews are from the perspective of readers. 
8. The Final Drafting phase - Critics may or may not give suggestions for improvement, but this is the phase where we correct all the mistakes we can find, and make small changes wherever necessary.
9. The Publishing phase - I chose to publish traditionally, as opposed to self-publishing. Once the publishers accept your manuscript, there are a couple more stages of proof-reading, and the book goes in for printing. 
10. The Post-writing phase - This phase includes the official release, marketing, etc. It's all about spreading the word. 

Home Safe Home will be available on Amazon soon.

Click here to buy my book.

Writing is an extremely personal and intimate journey on the road to discovering yourself. We write to tell stories and to have our voices heard. It's what I live for. It's what keeps me going. I write to live, and I live to write.

Scaring Children into Praying

Eight year old children are generally curious; and I was no different. My dad was watching a movie on his computer one day when I, naturally, peeped in to watch. If I knew what I was about to see would haunt me for weeks to come, I would have left just as quickly as I had come in.

A man was in an interrogation room with 3 other men in suits standing around him. They have a conversation and suddenly, the man's mouth literally seals shut. The men in suits seize the helpless man. They rip open his shirt as he is kicking and squirming, unable to scream. One of the suited men pull out an electronic device with long tentacles. They released the device, (or should I say creature, as it bore an uncanny resemblance to a shrimp in its movement and behavior)  over the struggling man's bare stomach. The thing crawled forward and then, to my horror, went inside his body through his belly button, just as the man awoke from what appeared to be a dream.

8 year old me was utterly petrified, as I quietly slipped out of the room. What I saw shook me to the core, haunting me for days; for weeks.

Fast forward to five years later. I was 13 when I first saw The Matrix. The scene where the Agents implant Neo with a probe through his navel in the interrogation room brought back so many memories. I was amused by the memory of how much this scene had affected me as a child. Now, I watched, unshaken, enjoying the movie for what it was.

Fast forward again. Tenth grade. I was 15. Every year, our convent-run school arranges a two day retreat for Catholic students from classes 5 to 12. This year was no different. Personally, I hate retreats (why? The list of reasons are a blog post for another day). I only turned up because it was mandatory. This year, they just gave me another reason to dislike it even more.

We walked into the hall and saw a projector screen set up in front. It was pretty common for the priests and brothers leading the retreat to show us clips, short films and devotional music videos. I was definitely not expecting what they were going to show us that day.

As part of a "prayer", they played a compilation video of the most gruesome and gut-wrenching scenes from the movie The Passion Of The Christ. And when I say gruesome, I mean raw, unadulterated, R-rated violence and gore. They played it repeatedly (5 times, to be precise, as we recited the Mercy Rosary) in a school hall with children as young as 9 & 10 watching right in the front row.

By the age of 15, I had seen my fair share of R-rated movies, and was not one to be easily put off by violence or sights of blood. But this movie (or rather, these scenes) were unwatchable. I found myself looking away more than once. If it was this hard for me to watch, I can only imagine what the young children in the front must have been going through.

Movies are given ratings for a reason. As evidenced by my little Matrix incident, age matters a lot. It's when you're young, that such scenes affect you the most. R-ratings are given to movies to protect children from things they shouldn't be seeing at their age. These people (the priests and brothers) completely ignored that when they showed the video at a school retreat. They made 10 year olds sit through severely uncomfortable and nightmarish scenes, all in the name of prayer.

What they did was unnecessary, and I was not in a position to protest. This was not prayer. It had nothing to do with spirituality. By forcing children to watch something this harrowing, they were implementing religion in young minds through fear. Their lack of concern shocked me, perhaps, more than what I saw on screen.

This incident is something I'll never forget, because, to some small extent, I understood what it felt like to watch something horrendous you can never entirely get over. All that shock, fear and confusion... it doesn't go away easily. At such a young age, it cuts deep.

Movies are given ratings for a reason. And using such a violent movie to scare children into praying? Bad move, brothers. Bad move.

Holiday hobbies

With eleventh grade coming to a close this Wednesday, hopefully, I get a week of holidays. And after the disaster that was the finals, I've been determined to enjoy this week to the fullest.

For me, a fun vacation equals a productive vacation. There's nothing worse than the feeling of emptiness of not having achieved anything, that seems to creep up as the reopening day draws close. So here I am, trying to accomplish as much as I can in the little time I have.

I pulled out my knitting needles the day school closed. Oh, how I missed the calming monotony of the needles as it repeated each stitch! A couple of hours were all it took to make a small yet useful neck cowl.

Day 2. I looked down at my hands and saw my barren nails. For some odd and rather unfair reason, our school does not allow painted nails. I spend the day giving myself a manicure. I used deep pink as a base, over which I applied a coat of Claire's fluorescent pink glow-in-the-dark nail polish (my nails actually glow in the dark now). Onto this thick coat, I stuck on some sequins, because why not? I topped it off with a clear coat for that all important finish.

Day 3 and I was running out of things to do. That's when I noticed whole boxes of paint that had been drying on my shelf for the past few months. Brushing off the dust, I sat down to paint. An old plate served as the perfect site. I can now use this as a wall hanging. After a whole afternoon of painting, this was the result:

I'm halfway through the holidays. As excited as I am for school to reopen, I don't want to go back without having done anything. These little hobbies are what make each day a little better, and a little brighter.

5 Reasons Why Old Books Make Perfect Gifts

 

Looking for the perfect gift? Look no further than your cramped up bookshelf.

Here are 5 reasons why old books make exemplary gifts...

1. Old books smell awesome: There is no denying that the magical smell that emanates from books is how nerds get high. You know you're an ardent bibliophile when the first thing you do after getting your hands on a book is open the pages and bury your nose in it. There is a clear cut difference between the smells of new and old books; each of them are engaging in their own way. But old books own a smell that's utterly intoxicating. And the older the better. Which is why the aging books in your shelves would make a priceless gift. 
2. Save yourself some space: Your bookshelves are overflowing with hardbacks and paperbacks, and the new set of books are homeless. You stare at the shelf for an hour or so, before acknowledging the hard reality that your perfect arrangement has to be changed to accommodate the new comers. And most of the time, they end up getting squeezed into whatever little space there is between the old books, because we can't seem to part with any book that has made our bookshelf its home. We've all been there... right? Or is that just me? Books make brilliant gifts, no matter the occasion. And by choosing to gift a book from your collection, you're freeing up space for more books to come.
3. Adds meaning to the gift: An old book from your shelf has much more meaning as a gift than a new book you picked up at the store based on a one-line review on the back cover. You've read the book. You've experienced it. You know how good it is. And now, you're sharing that experience with a loved one. You are opening them up to the same experience that you've had. That adds great meaning to an otherwise normal gift. 
4. Receiver values it more: To them, it isn't just another one of a million copies. It is the book that has seen the tears and smiles of another reader. It has a history. And that makes it an invaluable possession for years to come. 
5. Letting go: It all comes down to how much you welcome change. Its about letting go of the past, and making room for the future. By gifting an old book, you are giving it new life, in the hands of someone else. It is time for it, and you, to move on. 

 

Books are not like any other gift. Books are eternal. And they only get better with age, like fine wine. Make someone happy today with a gift that will always hold a part of you, a book that tells more than the story within its pages. Books are precious, intimate and deeply personal. It's more than just a gift. It's a shared experience. It's a lifetime of memories.