Young guns take big shots: Fledgling writers give adults a run for their money

Of late, the city has been witnessing the birth of many young published writers, who are suggesting that writing a book and publishing it is no more an adult-only business. Meet two children authors, who have already created a buzz among the literary circles.

Shraddha Anu Shekar, a Class 7 student at Vidya Mandir, never imagined that she’ll turn an author-storyteller. “I started writing when I was in Grade 2 just to pass my free time. When my dad realised that I had talent in writing, he encouraged me to develop what I am scribbling into a story and my first book The Adventures of Morty was born. It took me four years to finish my first book. Initially, I wasn’t sure of what exactly I want. But as a child, I knew what other children love to read and this helped me to develop exciting stories,” says the 12-year-old author.

After receiving a positive response to her book, Shraddha launched her second book, Muruga: The God of War, at the recently concluded Chennai Book Fair. You might wonder how a 12-year-old would be able to pen Lord Muruga’s stories; you’ll be even more surprised when she explains about the research she has done while penning the book. “The credit goes to my grandparents — they used to tell me stories about Gods and those tales intrigued me. If you ask an ardent devotee of Lord Muruga, who he is, they will simply say— Muruga is Lord Ganesha’s brother; like it is a given identity and they stop with that detail. But after reading Kandha Puranam and researching on Murugan, I understood that there is much more to this God than just the label of being a brother! This information kindled my interest and I visited a couple of temples, met the priests and collected some interesting information about Murugan. I also did the illustrations for the book,” shares the youngster.

Thirteen-year-old Ananya V Ganesh published her first book when she was 11. When Ananya’s parents introduced her to the world of literature, the little girl felt that she could contribute to the literature in her own way — by writing quirky stories for all age groups. “After started reading books from a tender age, I have become a voracious reader over the years. I started off with penning skits and poems. That’s when I decided to take writing seriously and conveyed my interest to my parents. They were totally supportive and I published my first book 9 Chocolatey Bites, a collection of short stories. The book has a mix of Indian culture and magical realism,” says the young author.

Interestingly, Ananya’s book has a foreword written by Dr Kiran Bedi. “I was so lucky to get a foreword written by someone the entire country admires. She asked me to never stop writing and explore the world of literature,” she reminisces.

Here are a few lines from the foreword written by Kiran Bedi for Ananya’s book: “Ananya is a good example of how early reading habits instill a good value system in a child. Writing a book requires a rich flow of imagination, hard work and most importantly dedication. I am very impressed that Ananya has managed to pull together such qualities while writing these stories, at the tender age of ten.”

The adage ‘don’t judge a book by its covers’ is applicable to these young authors as well. The reason is the overwhelming responses they received for their books. “Thankfully, the readers didn’t consider my age and judged my books accordingly. That’s a huge appreciation and encouragement for budding writers like me. That said, I think more children should be encouraged to write so that we’ll get to read interesting stories from various perspectives,” asserts Shraddha.

There’s definitely a constant tug and pull in the literary world as to which genre ring the cash register. Certain adult authors believe that it’s important to focus on a single genre but the children authors beg to differ. Why one genre, why can’t I write in all genres?” they ask. Shraddha loves Agatha Christie for her fictional detective novels and Devdutt Pattanaik for his mythological books. “I think a writer shouldn’t confine to one genre. They should be experimental and have the mindset to explore multiple genres. I wrote my first book in the fictional genre and the second in the mythological genre. I am open to experimenting with all the genres to know where my expertise lies,” says Shraddha.

It is interesting to notice how children display their creativity and this quality is developed by their way of selecting books. “Usually, parents pick books that they think is apt for their kids. But I think it’s completely wrong. Kids should be allowed to select books under the parents’ guidance. When a child starts reading it is very important to make a first impression. This helps in developing an interest in writing among children,” sums up Shraddha.