Bestselling writer Preeti Shenoy discussed writing various genres, and the tricks she has up her sleeve to get her kids to read, before a select audience at An Author’s Afternoon — presented by Shree Cement and Taj Bengal, held in association with t2, Prabha Khaitan Foundation and literary agency Siyahi — at the New Alipore star hotel. Excerpts from Preeti speak...

CALCUTTA CONNECT 

My connection with Calcutta runs deep because my husband studied here. His dad was in the Air Force, so they stayed in Fort William. And my brother married someone from Calcutta. I keep coming back to Calcutta. When you enter Calcutta — I don’t know whether you guys feel it as residents — there’s this peaceful vibe and this vibe of culture. I absolutely love it. It felt so good when I saw the yellow taxis. 

TECH TALK 

I don’t think the digital age has hindered reading, but the way people consume what they read has changed. I write on medium.com (a writing website) myself. There is so much to choose from these days. I think it’s a wonderful time in the world of literature. As an author, I think you’re in competition not with other authors but with a smartphone. Your phone always buzzes and takes you away from your reading time. I think the digital age can be both a blessing and a hindrance, depending on how you utilise it. When I am writing, I turn off the Internet. Facebook and Twitter are a big black hole that sucks your time. It doesn’t even make you feel good because you feel others are having a good time and have better lives. It just makes you feel empty. With all due respect to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is not how we should connect. 

I WROTE ‘SEX AND THE CITY’ 

When I write for a blog, it’s very informal. I don’t have to think much, it’s like a little friendly exchange with my readers. It’s like thinking out loud, but of course it follows the basic rules of storytelling. The format of the blog would be very different from what I write on Medium, which demands a certain kind of writing. I used to write a column called Sex and the City in the Financial Chronicle and everyone was scandalised. Now it’s called Slice of Life. So, that’s a different kind of writing compared to my books.
 
I SKETCH PEOPLE AT AIRPORTS 

I see art and writing as two separate compartments. I have started illustrated journaling, where I journal my daily life through illustrations. So I carry my journal everywhere. Does it really help in my writing? It doesn’t. All writers are very observant, even if they’re not artists. Illustrating has made me very sharp. I sketch people at airports, so I would have noticed every single detail of that person, from the colour of the shoe to the scarf, I would have taken mental notes and that person would never even have known. For my novels, I quietly eavesdrop. Sometimes my kids will tell me, ‘Mamma, don’t stare!’ I don’t even realise I’m doing it because it’s such a habit. If there is a link between art and writing, it is not conscious. 

NEW-AGE ROMANCES

I find it very amusing… how ‘new’ is ‘new’? I’ve been writing for so long! I guess it’s just a label that newspapers like to give. My books are really not romance or the average boy-meets-girl story. I’ve written about bipolar disorder, marital rape and I feel the label ‘new-age romantic’ makes it frivolous. I research topics and then weave a story around it. 

FANMAIL 

I always manage to reply to my fans, especially when I’m caught in Bangalore traffic! There was a man who bought one of my books because it was on discount and then he bought all my books. He said he’d found a friend. There was also a 15-year-old girl who had been on the verge of committing suicide before she read one of my books. 

I SET MYSELF A WORD LIMIT

I hate routines but I ensure I go for a walk for one-and-a-half hours every morning and on my walks I get time to think. I go back home to cook because I hate cooks cooking for me. And then I sit down to write. If I’m working on a book, it’s relentless. Writing a novel requires that kind of discipline and I set myself a word limit. Sometimes I’m so engrossed, I’ll forget to eat. To find time alone, trying to find a balance between my family and my characters is the hardest part. Sometimes I’ll be completely lost in writing and then my husband will come and ask me, ‘Are there tomatoes in the fridge?’ I can’t even process the question at that moment. 

ON MY SHELF

I have a book on me all the time. I’m currently reading Curtis Sittenfeld but my favourites are Audrey Niffenegger, Roald Dahl, Neil Gaiman, Liane Moriarty, Ruskin Bond and Mitch Albom. I would say my writing style is an amalgamation of these influences but the short stories I’m working on are dark, like Roald Dahl’s. My prose is simple. I don’t want the reader running to the dictionary. 

PAGE TO SCREEN

I have got several offers but sometimes I didn’t like the script and the way it was commercialised. There was so much of my blood, sweat and tears in it, I didn’t want it cheapened. I am working on a couple of scripts but to be honest I am primarily a writer, not a scriptwriter. 

FICTION VS NON-FICTION

When I was writing non-fiction, I felt bogged down by the amount of research. I discovered I like writing fiction more… there is a story in there and the research can be woven beautifully into the story. Non-fiction can become tiresome with all the citations but I think it’s easier because it requires less imagination. 

READING WALL AT HOME

I started a reading wall — a chart that has four names on it: mine, my husband’s, my son’s and my daughter’s. The goal was to read 40 books each and the incentive was that the person who reads maximum books will get Rs 10,000 at the end of the year, the second person will get Rs 7,500, the third person will get Rs 5,000 and the last will get Rs 2,500. Every time all of us finish a book each, we’ll go for dinner to a nice place. The competition is on and my husband finished three books by January 17. Now I don’t abandon a book even if I find it boring because it has to go on the wall!

I’M JUST TELLING A STORY

I don’t think I have to change society with my writing. I’m just telling a story. This a responsibility conferred upon writers. There are politicians and social workers for that. I want to express an idea and if other people get a positive message out of it, then wonderful. I think writing novels is the slowest form of change. There are other avenues for that. Writing is like standing naked in a room full of people because anyone can say anything. You have to chuck any notions of what people think. 

Pictures: Rashbehari Das