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The first draft was a complete mess
Updated On: 19 September, 2019 10:22 PM IST | | Dalreen Ramos
In Mumbai for her book launch, Madhuri Vijay talks about her award-winning debut novel, her writing style, and Kashmir
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Madhuri Vijay
The Far Field to me reads like a lucid account. Did you have a vision from the start or did it grow organically?
I did not plan the novel in advance. I wrote it scene by scene, trusting that the arc of the story would become clearer as I progressed. As you can imagine, the first draft was a complete mess, full of characters that disappeared midway and conversations that had no precedent in the text, and it required many subsequent drafts to give the book any semblance of coherence.
Having won the Pushcart Prize, you're now longlisted for the JCB Prize for literature. I gather that you faced some challenges with Indian publishers. What were some of your thoughts on learning you made the longlist?
It's always gratifying to be recognized in any way, and I am thrilled to be on the longlist with writers I respect. As for the challenges, I see them ultimately, as a form of good fortune, because the result was that I landed up with HarperCollins, who have been nothing short of wonderful to work with.
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