We are sharing excerpts from our Live Chat with award winning author Anita Saran with those who could not attend the chat. Post your comments and queries to our Guest authors at our forums and interact with fellow writers.
Anita is the published author of the short story, ‘City of Victory’ broadcast on BBC Radio 4; a collection of short stories – ‘Dolphin Girl and Other Stories’ published by Har Anand; ‘Aditya, the Underwater Boy’ — a novella which won an award in the Nehru Children’s Book Trust national competition, and was published by them in 1996; ‘The Enlightened Robot’, a short story in the online literary journal, Cezanne’s Carrot, and many stories, poems and articles published in the leading newspapers of Karnataka. Her funny fantasy novel ‘Circe’ has been published by Mojocastle Press and will soon be available as an Amazon Paperback.
Q: Is it possible to just start a story with one line in mind and no other thought…and slowly build a theme on that one line?
A: Yes, a line can begin a story but it should be powerful – start with the conflict or lead quickly to dramatic unfolding. Start with the moment of intrigue, change or conflict.
Q: In India there is only one children’s magazine that actually pays for stories. Others don’t even revert back. Could you suggest some of these publishers?
A: Just do an online search for children’s publishers and check them up with Preditors and Editors – they have a list of various publishers that are recommended or not recommended. Here’s one RED DEER PRESS
http://www.reddeerpress.com/submissions/submission_guidelines.htm
—Red Deer Press is looking for quality writing for children across the ages, from picture books to young adult fiction and non-fiction. Currently we have less interest in picture book manuscripts, and are focusing more on middle grade and young adult fiction. You normally have to send a query first maybe along with first 3 chapters.
Q: How safe is it to expose your writings so much? I mean the stories could be copied or used by some other writers.
A: Put your writing through the Internet Writing Workshop run by the University of Pennsylvania. You’ll get feedback from other writers and can then polish your ms. If your work is going through the IWW. Everyone can see your work there so if they do steal, they’ll be found out.
Q: Is it worthwhile to do a small survey of the market before publishing one’s short story? I may be passionate about something but understanding my readers’ passion matters most if I intend to get any returns at all from my initiative.
A: Yes but write from your heart first is my advice. Then look for a market.
Q: How did you get started out?
A: It was my London School of Journalism tutor who urged me to write novels and the result was the award winning Aditya the Underwater Boy for the CBT national competition. So I say, you need pro feedback and guidance. I did the Advanced Short Story Course with the London School via correspondence. The London School gave me a year I think – lots of time
Sure a certificate helps on your resume – and it definitely helps writers. It was such a relief to get feedback for my work and learn a few things I didn’t know. Reading comes first though. Read lots. Read the stuff you want to write.
Related posts:
- Interview with eBook Author Anita Saran
- Writer Interview – Anita Saran
- Interview with eBook Author Sabarna Roy
- How to Write a Short Story
- About the Guide How to Begin and End a Short Story
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