Binder1 Inner_JRD

ART & CULTURE
Priyanka believes she is many people rolled into one
poet, writer, teacher, and copywriter but in reality,
she is just a dreamer. As a romantic novelist, her poetry
oscillates between romance and erotica to feminist and
political beats. She recounts her brush with writing a
novel five years ago, when Mills and Boon India started
an online contest called ‘PASSIONS’ where they were
on the lookout for Indian romance writers. Her first
two attempts were bleak, but on her third attempt, she
blazed through and won she self a sweet two-book deal
with the publisher. That’s how The One That Got Away
made its way into the world.
From her school days, Priyanka picked up quite an
unruly habit of always jumping straight to the climax
every time she picked up a book to read. Not much has
changed since then. As far as writing/plotting her novel
is concerned, she starts from the end. She pictures the
ending way before she starts during which the character,
plots, and subplots start taking shape in her head. Also,
she needs to link a face to her my protagonist(s). She
requires knowing whether her hero is going to look like
Hugh Jackman or Ranveer Singh. Although her father
being a voracious reader in the family, it was her mother
who was her bedtime storyteller. Priyanka owes a lot of
whom she is and who she has become to her mother,
because she never stopped reading to her and also
credits to be her biggest influencer.
Telling you just as it is, writing is not a simple affair.
In order to be fair and sincere to your subject and
readers, research becomes imperative. At the same time,
you also owe it to yourself as a writer to write the book
the way you want to. So, at the end of the day, it is a bit of
a Hobson’s choice. But all is not lost. Priyanka spends a
lot of time developing her characters which are inspired
by the people she has met during the course of her life.
For a writer, observing people in real life is a must, so as
to lend credibility to the characters you’ve created.
Up until a few years ago, Priyanka was an aspiring
novelist herself. The day she sort of breathed easy was
when she saw her name on the book cover. To aspiring
novelists all she can declare is that patience is golden.
Sift and bookmark your rejections. They’re the ultimate
psychological hurdles to overcome, as well as your main
propellers. Also, keep a set of people closest to you and
have them read your work from time to time. It helps
immensely. As partial as they may be to you, most of the
time they help you become a better version of yourself.
And as writer, constant evolution is critical.
MARCH 2017 55