What does it take to churn out page after page of readable stories? Samit Basu, author of the Gameworld trilogy, is here to share
Can you learn how to write? Or is it something you are born with?
You can learn. Some people are born with it; others get there through a mixture of being stubborn, open-minded and aware of at least a few of their shortcomings. In any case, some of the most successful books of the last few years have shown us there’s no such thing as good or bad writing – just writing that can be sold, and writing that can’t.
How do you plot your story? Do you decide the structure and plot beforehand or as you write? Do you write the end or beginning first? Does this depend on genre?
I plot first, fairly carefully. Final story usually deviates from the initial plan, but that’s allowed. Characters behave differently, are more or less interesting than you thought they would be, things change. People who make it up as they go along usually get stuck somewhere and take a really long time to move on. I usually write from beginning to end — it depends more on the structure of the overall story than the genre it’s in.
(This story appears in the 05 February, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)