It was my autobiography, `Courage My Companion`, published in 2009 when I was 67, that launched my new avatar as a writer/author. After I wrote a few chapters, I had an opportunity to listen to Mr S.Muthiah, a well known journalist, give a talk at a Madras Book Club meeting on the topic `Biography as History`- He talked about Biography as a social history- providing insights into life, happenings, values and mores of a city or a community or a profession at a certain point of time`. His talk gave my writing focus. It was Mr.Muthiah who discovered a writer in me after reading my autobiography and encouraged me to write articles on various topics. He also helped me in getting them published in the magazines that he was associated with as Editor. With his guidance, I evolved as an engaging writer who could win the hearts of his readers. I have published 13 books in 15 years, covering eight genres of writing. I thought I would share some tips about writing your memoirs or autobiography post-retirement or even earlier.
I can hear you saying ` Oh, I am no good at writing`, ` My English
is no good`, ` I have not maintained any diary or notes`.`I am not a famous
person.` etc
Here I would like to share a quote from the autobiography
of Sanjay Manjrekar, the cricket commentator and
erstwhile member of the Indian Cricket team. In the Preface to his
autobiography titled` Imperfect`, he says, “I feel we have an obligation
to the next generation to chronicle our lives. Every individual lives a
uniquely different life. He does not need to be famous to share his life
experiences- Life stories are always interesting”.
As long as you have memories of
your past, you can easily share your experiences by penning them on paper or
typing them on your PC or laptop. Going down memory lane is always
a fascinating experience. What do we do when we meet old friends from school or college
days? Don't we have great fun talking about old times? The same thing happens
when you are writing your memoirs. Even if you have not maintained any diary or
notes , don`t worry.
I started writing my autobiography the day after I retired as the
CMD of my own advertising agency at the age of 65- without any diary, notes or
records - purely depending on my memory. Though I generally suffer from poor
memory I found that every time I sat down to write, the events and characters
would float in front of me like a film. Going down memory lane was not only fun
but it was also a stress buster and therapeutic for me.
Here are some approaches to writing your memoirs
1.The most popular is a linear narrative of your life-
starting from your birth to the current in a sequential manner combining both
personal and your professional lives. While recording personal life go
into your family history- go back by a couple of generations if you have the
information.
2. Record only your personal life or professional life.
3.The third approach is to record interesting
anecdotes from different periods of your life. You can always sequence them
later. Anecdotes make a memoir interesting. Recall as many
interesting anecdotes you can remember.
4.Write your memoirs in the language you are comfortable with.
English or Tamil or any language you feel proficient
5. Write
regularly- Devote sometime every day or every week for writing. Don`t
worry about being perfect in English or in the chosen language.
Just record your thoughts as they are flowing in your mind. You can
always get your writings corrected by a friend or an expert in the language
that you are writing.
6. While
you are writing, you can share drafts with some near and dear ones for
their comments, which can help in improving the content.
7. If you
are writing In English you can download an app called ~Grammarly` and run
through your drafts using the app to correct the mistakes you have made. It not
only helps in correcting grammatical and other mistakes but also helps by
providing alternative ideas for expressing your thoughts.
Self Publishing
Having
got the manuscript of your memoirs ready , the next stage is to get it
published. Getting your book published through a publisher is a
very difficult proposition. No publisher is interested in the story of a common
man.
If you
have the resources go for self publishing Thanks to self-publishing and
print-on-demand facilities today every other writer is able to become a
published author. Nowadays, Self publishing is an accepted norm in the
world of writers/authors. It is also an ideal solution for those who want to
see their writings in book form.
Today
Digital printing offers you the facility
of print on demand which allows you to print limited copies at
a time. You can print anywhere from 5 copies to 200 copies or
more. If you don't want to sell the copies, decide on the
number of people you want to give the book for free and decide on the
quantity.
Approximate costing – 100 pages- 100 copies can
roughly cost you about Rs12,000 to Rs 15,000 depending on the size of the
book which will have the cover page printed in colour and the rest of the
inside pages in black and white. There are printers who specialize in this form
of printing. I normally use the services of Compuprint based in Chennai.
If you are more ambitious and
feel you can sell your books it is important to get your book
reviewed by some celebrity friends or a couple of
publications. Use the positive responses you get from readers to promote the
book online. Promote the book shamelessly because while the Publishers help you
initially, after sometime they lose interest in your book.
Today social media ( email, facebook, twitter, Linked in etc)
offers you wonderful opportunities to reach your message to a large audience
virtually at no cost.
If you
are selling the book, Ensure that your books are available through online-
Amazon.in, flipkart etc.
There
is one more alternative. With the increasing tendency of youngsters to read
books online, Instead of printing the book you can share the book in its final
form as a PDF file. You save a considerable amount incurred in printing books
in physical format. However, there is a great joy in holding the first copy of
your books in print form- almost akin to holding a new born baby. I would
recommend printing at least 50 copies of the book, in physical form.
Remember age is no barrier for writing a memoir, novel, collection
of poems, short stories or essays. Above all, once you are determined to be a writer/author pursue
the dream relentlessly. You will succeed.
With the experience of publishing 13 books in 15
years covering eight genres of writing I have motivated 20 friends to self
publish their books. I will be happy to offer my services, pro bono,
to anyone needing advice on self publishing their books. My email id: rvrajan42@gmail.com
