Yes, recession has wiped out several businesses and it’s likely that your flow of well paying writing contracts may have all but dried up, but drawing inspiration from other people who made it through some tough times helps.
From a young girl who loved telling stories to a single mother who wrote furiously in a near by café while her daughter slept in their tiny home her magical tales went on to hold the attention of millions of readers across the globe and a bureaucrat who turned writer while his family traveled to India – here are two inspiring stories. That of J. K. Rowling and Vikas Swarup.
The woman who wouldn’t take NO for an answer!
As a young girl she shared fables with fellow students right from her days in secondary school, Rowling always had a passion for story telling. Sadly, life is much more complicated than fairytales. In 1990, difficult times assumed tragic proportions when her mother succumbed to multiple sclerosis after a decade long battle with the disease. Personal losses multiplied with a brief marriage followed by a divorce in 1995 after which Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her daughter. Life as a single mother was hardly easy but it was during this period that she finished writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first in a seven book series. The idea about the adventures of a young boy who attended a school of wizardry had come to her on a delayed train trip while she worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary soon after completing her studies at Exeter University. This was turned in to printed material during one of the lowest phases in her life.
The phenomenal success that came with the Harry Potter series transformed Rowling’s life completely. From an unheated flat in Edinburgh to Killiechassie House, a luxurious 19th-century mansion in Scotland her journey wasn’t an easy one. The first agent to whom she sent her first three chapters returned them pronto and her new agent took one year to find a publisher after being turned down by several others. With personal fortune estimates at £576 million as per the February 2004 edition of the Forbes magazine, Rowling became the first US dollar billionaire in the world who got there by writing books.
Having won international acclaim and awards she stands second to Oprah Winfrey in the line up of the world’s richest female entertainers. In personal wealth ratings that place her as the wealthiest woman in the United Kingdom, she is ahead of the Queen.
India’s own unexpected success story
Another example closer to home is that of Vikas Swarup whose book Q & A was written when he was at a loose end during his family’s visit to India. This Indian bureaucrat used his free time on foreign shores to script a story inspired by the then very popular television game show “Kaun Banega Crorepati”. Instead of twiddling his thumbs, this first time writer discussed his plot based on a participant in a reality show with an agent who encouraged him to capitalize on the growing public interest in reality shows. Though Vikas Swarup was neither unemployed nor hard up his endeavor should be an inspiration to all of us on how a person saw opportunity where there seemed to be little other than boredom and loneliness.
The importance of keeping your spirits up when the times are bad
If you thought being unemployed was the worst thing that could happen to anyone let alone a freelance writer like you who lost out on several lucrative projects since recession set in then think again. In Rowling’s case perseverance paid off so don’t lose heart if one publisher turns you down there are several options available. A quick online search should help you to come up with information about them.
The key is to capture reader interest with keen observation skills like Swarup who found inspiration in what most of us shrug off as mundane. A terror attack, social butterflies, confused teenagers….your inspiration to write is all around you, a dash of creativity and voila your plot could be ready as you walk back from buying groceries or wait for a bus ride.
- Mariam Noronha
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