| Young writers tap into youth issues to reach new readers |
31st Aug 2013
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Tishaa Khosla
ollowing Chetan Bhagat's success writing light reads aimed at young readers, a whole crop of young writers writing for an audience their age has emerged. Guardian20caught up with some of these teenage authors in Chandigarh.
Sumrit Shahi's first book, Just Fiends, hit the market when he was only 17. His next, A Lot like Love and A Li'l like chocolate, was released last year, and the 20-year-old is now working on the sequel to Just Friends. Just Friends has sold more than one lakh copies so far while A Lot like Love and A Li'l like chocolate has sold more than 40,000 copies in less than a year. "There's been a huge transformation in my life. My Facebook account has become messier, my wallet heavier and my friends know me now as the guy who wrote a book," Shahi beams. Shahi is currently dabbling in writing for television. Is writing a book easy? "Yes it is, but writing the end is the most challenging part. You know you're bidding adieu to a world you created. There is also pressure to make the ending an unconventional one. Honestly, nobody wants to be conventional these days!" he says. Tishaa Khosla wrote her first book, Pink or Black, at the age of 18 and so far over 1 lakh copies have been sold. The sequel, Pink or Black 2, launched last year, is also doing well. Khosla is busy working on her third book, and she loves reading Jane Austen. "I think my aim is to keep youngsters interested in reading books, not just my books, but books in general," she says.
Finding a publisher, though, remains a challenge. Hardeep Singh Chandpuri, Founder, Ferntree Publishing, believes, "It takes a lot to be a writer and there is no second thought to it. Today's young authors may not write well in terms of vocabulary or from a literary point of view, but they connect well with the youth. They pick up the same situations, they talk a similar language, they craft plots that appeal to young readers and that's how they gain in popularity. Despite the trend, selecting a book for publication remains a tough call because you cannot pick anything and everything as the name of your publishing house is effected by the outcome. You have to be selective and very honest with the decision."
Sumrit Shahi [L]; Nikhil Mukhija
Toeing the same line, Sumita Misra, Chairperson, Chandigarh Literary Society, says, "This indeed is an encouraging trend as children today don't want to be 30-40 years old to achieve in life. Today's generation is confident and knows how to make the reader relate to their stories. I believe scientists, authors and poets are most creative and productive in their youth. Books by these young authors are received well as the reader too wants to read something that is an interpretation of his own life, written in a casual speech."
Nikhil Mukhija, who wrote his first book at 20, wants to be taken seriously as a writer and wants to write about more than love and friendship. "I want to write an intense research based novel on a serious subject. It could be about terrorism or prostitution. I am inspired by Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and Paulo Coelho's Eleven Minutes," he toldGuardian20.
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