Kiran Desai
Kiran Desai is the youngest woman ever to receive the Booker Prize for her novel, The Inheritance of Loss, published in 2006. But she started out like everybody else with her first book called Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, not knowing exactly what she was doing and by plowing through anyway.
Below are excerpts from an interview conducted a few years ago where she talks about the “incredibly messy” process of writing a first book, how to know when to quit revising, her writing rituals and she gives some advice to aspiring writers.
Bold Type: What was your process for writing this book–did you start with the characters or with the plot?
Kiran Desai: When I started writing it I had no idea what the story would be; I had no idea of the plot. It sort of gathered momentum and drew me along. It was an incredibly messy process and I don’t know if it was the smartest way to go about it because this was my first book, so I had to teach myself how to write as I was writing it, and I don’t know if I went about it the right way but I certainly had a lot of fun. It was very messy though–I had to throw out many pages–about half the book I think I ended up editing. Once I was aware of all the different ways to go, all the plot turns to take.
BT: So how did you know when you were done, when the story was complete?
KD: I think that’s perhaps the hardest thing, to know when you’ve finished, because it seems like you can always go on polishing and polishing and working on it some more. But after a while I think I was so close to it that I couldn’t even see it anymore; it didn’t make sense to continue on my own, and so I finally showed it to my agent and wanted an editor to help me take it to the next level. But, I also realized that after a point you can’t go on perfecting something and polishing it and making it better, because you lose something in the process, the freshness of it, and I realized that even if it wasn’t completely perfect I had to leave it; it was enough–I couldn’t work on it any more. It’s a balance; if you perfect one thing you lose something else, and that’s the stage where I think you have to know when to stop.
BT: Do you have any private rituals or special environments that you need to create in order to write best?
KD: Well, I carried this book around all over the place when I was writing it, just took it with me everywhere–I was writing in India and in this country and in Mexico and in different environments and different rooms everywhere. I had to be quite adaptable, I think, to try and work wherever I was….
I really like working in the kitchen; I find that wherever I am I work near the kitchen or in the kitchen itself. I can constantly make myself little things to eat or cups of tea; I find it’s the perfect balance, in that I can write a bit, eat a cookie, and then I write a bit more, eat some ice cream. Reward myself– it’s constant rewards. And I work best in the morning, as soon as I get out of bed I start writing, and late at night. I have dead space in the afternoon, which I think comes from growing up with an afternoon siesta; my brain just shuts off from about two to five.
BT: In writing classes one’s often taught to flesh out every character and plot twist well in advance, and you’re proof that that’s not always the necessary formula. As you said, you had an unconventional method for writing Hullabaloo; this being your first book, do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
KD: There are all kinds of theories that you get told in writing workshops–“Write what you know,” and that sort of thing, which I don’t believe at all. I think one of the great joys of writing is to try and explore what you don’t know, that’s exciting to me. There are all kinds of little things–show, don’t tell–I just wouldn’t pay attention to any of that really. I don’t think you can write according to a set of rules and laws; every writer is so different. I can’t imagine how they come up with these rules–they’re really ludicrous. You can’t learn to write in that fashion. What inspired me really was reading, reading a lot and learning from other writers. Learning how they are going about something–I was very aware of that when I was writing this book. Every book that I read at the same time I’d think, “Hmm–how do they do this?” Looking at it in that way, from a technical point of view, which we don’t usually do as a reader. But really I think that’s for me what was important; I was training myself to look at my work with a critical eye….
If you want to read the rest of the interview, you can find it here.
So what do you think of Kiran Desai? Do you agree? Disagree? Did you learn anything new? As always, I’d love to hear from you.
P.S. I am an ex-shrink who writes novels. Check out my books here.
I certainly agree with her that there’s no “one way” to write. I can also identify with her growth as a writer. Really, no one knows how to do anything until you do it, and once you’ve done it, you start thinking about how you could do it better next time. Writing is no exception. I just finished a manuscript last week, and I approached the “pre-writing” phase much different for this MS than I have in the past. It worked. But I think what I did last time worked too. Who knows what’s next?
One of the most interesting parts of what she said was about polishing, and how you can polish something to the point that you take away its freshness. I’ve always struggled with polishing (when I’m done with something, I don’t go back much) but I’ve been trying to be better about it. Hers is a good reminder not to take things too far in the other direction.
Hi Sonja,
I struggle with not knowing when to quit revising, too. Sometimes I think I overdid it on Seeking Sara Summers. My agent at the time told me the story was too much of a bummer, the whole breast cancer thing, so I ended up editing a lot of the intense stuff out. I think the character development may have suffered as a result.
Maintaining artistic integrity is hard when it’s your first book and you just want to get it published and read. But it is what it is. A lot of people still really enjoy the book. It’s selling really well and I get a lot of emails thanking me for it. So maybe the agent was right?? Who knows. But we learn as we go along, right?
P.S. Congrat’s on finishing your manuscript!!
Well, I loved Seeking Sara Summers – that’s why I’m here at your blog! For me, there wasn’t anything missing from the breast cancer storyline. Then again, I didn’t read the other version(s?).
PS Thanks! It’s nice to have the draft done. I should get some feedback in the next couple of weeks. Then I’ll find out if it’s any good. I’m too close to it right now to have any idea. You know how it goes…
Go for it, Sonja!
Here’s a comment from one of my lovely email subscribers:
“I’m out of my league here because I am not really a novelist. I have no patience for novels. I do love reading them, however. ( and, having one read to me is, sheer heaven) I write plays, short stories and poetry. I like this best because I can quickly get into the characters and plots. I have to, if for no other reason than to see the outcome myself. (I hope that makes sense to you.)
Crazy,
Tr.”
Susan: I haven’t read the whole interview yet, but I wanted to say one thing before I forgot it later—
“My agent at the time told me the story was too much of a bummer, the whole breast cancer thing, so I ended up editing a lot of the intense stuff out. I think the character development may have suffered as a result.”
NEVER listen to this sort of stuff. Write what is in you. That’s why the story happened in the first place. I tend to have an “either take it or leave it” attitude, unless I really truly do agree with the suggestion.
Thanks for sticking up for me, John. I appreciate it. It’s all a learning process. I haven’t myself had breast cancer, though I’ve had friends who have. It’s an intense thing (and a “bummer”) no matter how you look at it.
Meanwhile, every year that I write, I become clearer on what my goal is as a novelist, which is to write a really good story. Thankfully, I trust my current agent to identify anything that I’ve missed that might stand in the way of that objective, and I’m not afraid to say “no” to something that I truly disagree with.
As for the rest of the interview (now that I’ve finished reading it) this could be me talking. Agree with every word, especially her statement that these workshops, books, etc., that tell you “how” to write are ludicrous. Everyone breaks these rules, not just to break them for the fun of it, but because we have to, because no rules can encompass the whole of human experience. And if we follow the rules we’re following a computer program, really, and the results will be the same as if a computer tried to simulate the human experience.
> every year that I write, I become clearer on what my goal
> is as a novelist, which is to write a really good story.
When I read her interview I felt she could be me talking. Like her I don’t like to “stick to what I know,” and I write to learn and experience new things. The point of writing, to me, is to explore. If I already “know” it, what’s the point?
Yes, exactly.