Falguni's Blog: FICTION WITH A CAPITAL F.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

FICTION WITH A CAPITAL F.

Authors, especially published ones, get asked a lot of strange questions. Anywhere from, How do you come up with a story? to Do you write by hand or type or shout out words from your rooftop till someone hears and records them all? All relatively normal queries from those fascinated by the writing process and more or less benign, in terms of annoyance ratio (to said author). But by far the weirdest question I have been asked, several times now, is whether my romance novels are based on my own life experiences and is my main character me?

It is true that an author brings some of his/her self into his/her book/s, into the plot and in the characterizations of the characters, in so far as his/her understanding and knowledge of the world goes. But, to answer your question, Dear Non-Reader (clearly such persons are non-readers) NO! My "fictional" novels are not "memoirs." When I write a memoir or an autobiography, I will call it such and not "fiction."

Think about it. So far, I have completed 3 manuscripts, of which 2 have been published already. In those 3 manuscripts are 3 male protagonists, 3 female protagonists and dozens of secondary characters interacting with each other and living in their fictional worlds, surviving their particular set of trials and tribulations to get from the beginning of the novel to the end. Agreed, all of which have come out of my head. But, all characters and situations, I hope to hell, as per my research and double-double-toil-and-trouble cauldron boiling skills are unique in their own ways and equally scintillating to read.

Now to address your question again, while I do not lead a dull life (not by a long shot) I couldn't possibly base or even identify with,all those dozens of characters or even the 6 main ones. Or have the energy to get into the hair-raising escapades that some of them get into and still live to write it all down. Sorry, shout it from the rooftops!