The write code: It’s all in the name

Everyone believes they have a great book in them. But to write it down is the real work of a writer. Wannabe writers, newbie novelists and aspiring authors made a beeline for a talk by popular writer Stephen Alter and Irish author Sean O’ Reilly. The session was moderated by travel write Devapriya Roy.
Both, incidentally, have been teaching creative writing for the last 10 years and had some useful tips to share. Their first advice: get a character down. “From the name to the surname,” said O’Reilly, adding if he doesn’t have a proper name, the story never takes off. Alter mentioned how a name also lent the character a back story and a whole lot of baggage that forms the course of how the story pans out.
Alter said writing as a craft could be taught because it’s all about discipline; the art, though, is another matter. “All aspiring writers have to understand: you can’t write until you write,” he said. Alter also gave tips on being a travel writer. The most important thing, for him, is to bring in the flavour. “It’s very important to tell people how a place smells. So you have to listen in with your nose too,” he said.
Ultimately, said O’Reilly, a lot of writing is rewriting and revisiting what you have written. “Behind the story that comes out is a whole different story. The published version is just a camouflage for a deeper story,” he said. And Alter’s advice to budding writers? “For every acceptance there are nearly half-a-dozen rejections. In short, you can’t write for everybody.”