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Literary Review
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WITH the media having used the recent festival of literature as a pretext to republish comparative tables of royalty advances Indian novelists in English have received, and with the vast number of nine-day wonders being churned out by publishers, our average Eng Lit type might be pardoned for thinking he'd make a pretty good — and consequently rich — novelist if only he sat down and wrote that book.
There is help on-line for all of us. StoryCraft promises it will teach you to "write your OWN blockbusters, best-sellers, and modern-day classics! ...WHATEVER YOUR SKILL LEVEL..." If, on the other hand, you think the market for the "modern day classic", which now signifies a trans-generational historico-familial epic, is saturated, you are encouraged to diversify into writing romances.
For those in search of specific tips in this area, eHarlequin.com demonstrates "The top ten reasons the military man makes an irresistible hero." One of the ten reasons, they tell you poker-faced, is that he "knows how to shoot his gun". A senior Harlequin Romances editor tells aspiring writers to prepare themselves particularly well when writing certain portions of the book. It sounds like fun: for a properly sensual sex scene, she advises, "You may wish to set a seductive stage for yourself to get yourself in the mood. Candles, a silk negligee, music, maybe a glass of wine."
The basic necessities aren't just some stationery and a mind, after all.
Early Calcutta Advertisements, edited by Ranabir Ray Choudhury, The Statesman, p.661, price circa Rs. 500.
Anuradha Roy
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