WRITING - the activity or occupation of composing text for publication.
To me, writing is a mystical way to transport yourself into a paracosm away from your daily life on Earth. Similar to reading, except when you write, you start from scratch, building what you see, hear, feel and so much more around you. It's like a clean slate upon which opportunities are endless and what you create after months- or even years of hard work is something that makes you proud to share with the world.
I have always loved reading and writing as a child- I grew up reading fantasy books and writing my own picture books or half-a-page stories inspired by the books I read and the people around me.
In the early years of my school, we had this weekly assignment- "Narrative Writing" where every week, we had to write a short essay on a random topic. In grade 5, I was infatuated with the idea of a secret passageway that leads the main character into a mystical land, full of adventure and friendship. Therefore, I wrote an 80-100 word essay on that topic for this assignment. Months later, I was unable to think of another idea to write about and was flipping through my previous assignments. The one about the door, in particular, caught my eye and I saw potential. I decided to extend that story further in my next assignment. I then had two assignments in a school book of a plethora of essays which made the perfect foundation for a new adventure.
A few years later, I was cleaning out my cupboards and desk when I stumbled upon my old Narrative Writing book. Taking a break, I flipped through all the pages, reading my creative stories- and not-so-good ones. I took a trip down memory lane, recollecting all my ideas. I then approached the piece about an ancient door. "This could be a book," I thought. That was the moment it clicked. After finishing my spring cleaning, I whipped out a diary and began re-writing that piece using my expanded imagination, literary techniques and vocabulary. I thoroughly enjoyed developing that story and had so many ideas throughout the course of it. It excited me so much, that I carried that diary everywhere. I carried it to school and whenever we had free time, I added to my story. One day, I wanted to show my hard work to my family and my English teacher. After reading it, their reaction was beyond me, and I realised how much bigger my work could be. That's what gave me the motivation to make that short story- scribbled into a diary, a book.
I spent a year writing the book- the most enthralling experience of the process. Every time I sat down to write, I'd teleport into Rockileville, and enter a completely different frame of mind. My surroundings would fade away, and I would write endlessly! Getting myself to sit down and begin writing was always hard- I wanted to do different things. With a little bit of effort though, I would open up my laptop and begin typing.
I recall the night I finished the first draft of my book. Though I had school the next day, I was so close to what I thought was the finish line, and the adrenaline rushing through me kept me awake while my home fell asleep. I sat for hours in the lingering silence typing away until finally, it was finished. I was unable to process the fact that I had just finished writing a 23-chapter book. After tethering myself back to reality, I let the uncontrollable, brewing excitement take over me at 2 am and ran to tell my parents what I had just completed. After a couple of moments of celebration and a few happy tears, it was time to put that excitement to bed.
The process of publishing was slow at first and didn't pick up the way I imagined it would. I was completely unaware of the work left to do. Little did I know, that I had only completed one step toward becoming an author.
The next step was to contact an illustrator. After talking to a close friend and amazing artist Yash, we had 5 illustrations complete. Another one was done by my cousin Diya. Seeing the other talent around me bring my book to life was unreal. Soon though, we realised that other kids my age also had a lot to do, and it wouldn't be possible to have them illustrate all my visions. We then contacted an illustrator from JJ School of Arts- Akash Patil. I jotted down my concepts for the illustrations and he turned my words into pictures.
After we finalised the illustrations, step 2 toward becoming an author was complete.
It wasn't until we entered phase 3- the hardest phase, that I was truly able to comprehend the time and effort that goes into writing and publishing a book. Phase 3 was the editing phase. My teacher Ms Jasmine went through the book and gave her suggestions. My parents went through the book numerous times and gave their wise inputs as well. I myself may have gone through the book over 20 times, changing grammar, vocabulary and small aspects of the story. After contacting our publisher Vakils- Imprint, their editing team also went through the book and exchanged hundreds of emails.
Phase 4 was occurring simultaneously- formatting. The publishing team formatted my book in numerous ways, and after innumerable emails and meetings, we finalised the cover page, order of pages in the book, the font, page format etc.
Soon, the lengthy process of editing was complete. All that was left to do was print and publish.
Watching my book come to life over two years was an absolutely magical experience. I would love to do it a thousand times more, and encourage any unsure authors out there to give it a go! Take a leap of faith and see where you land. You may never know, where writing a short narrative story for a school assignment will take you.
In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take. ~ Lewis Carroll
