Interview with Samit Basu
"Let us imagine that you had bought, in secret, the world’s most precious jewel, the Eye of Empire, a massive ruby known to have left a trail of lives—violently lost—behind it as it journeyed across harsh lands in the care of desperate men." So begins Samit Basu's new book Terror on the Titanic - his first Young Adult novel.Meet Samit, India's first fantasy novelist and the first well-known Indian author to cross over into comics. He is the author of an extremely popular trilogy of fantasy novels, the GameWorld Trilogy, comprising The Simoqin Prophecies (2004) The Manticore's Secret (2005) and The Unwaba Revelations (2007). He has written comics for Marvel Comics in India. Outlook featured him as one of the Indians under 25 to watch for along with Shreya Ghoshal - India's top playback singer and Konkona Sen Sharma the brilliant actress. He got inspired to start a career as an author during a dull class at IIM (Ahmedabad) while pursuing his MBA. Read on what this talented writer is all about.With a degree in Eco from Presidency College, Kolkata and having got admission to IIM Ahmedabad, you dropped out because you had figured out the ending of your first novel Simoquin Prophecies. Then went on to write a trilogy. How did your friends and family react to your decision? Did they always suspect you would do something like this - if the past is any indication?SAMIT BASU: They were all surprised. It happened in circles I think - immediate family and close friends were immensely supportive, which surprised me in turn - I remember that my mother, all those years ago when I told her I was serious about dropping out, said 'Good.' It was also a great source of relief, and I don't know if I could have gone through with it without that support. Outside that inner circle, there were plenty of people who had lots of opinions to share that I wasn't particularly interested in - how my life was ruined, how it was such a shame because I had seemed intelligent, and was I taking drugs? It was funny when it wasn't irritating. But it was easy to deal with because the people who knew me believed in me.It sounds strange to say it, but it really wasn't such a big deal. I could have finished my course and gone on to write - just like so many successful B-school writers. It was a wave that started then. Maybe there was something in the water. The reason I chose not to finish the course but to drop out was that I really didn't want to wait two years, and even more, to start now that I had finally worked myself up to a point where I was ready to start writing. It was really all I wanted to do. Also, the people I met at IIM, my fellow students - they really wanted to be there. They were really interested. I wasn't.You did a course in broadcasting and documentary film making from University of Westminster, London. What prompted your interest in documentaries?SAMIT BASU: It was more journalism and broadcasting in general than documentaries in particular. I did work as a journalist when I came back to India - I really enjoyed that, it's such a great line of work. I had to quit when I just couldn't find time to write, because journalism, especially the early years, really sucks up your life. I found out Simoqin was getting published before I returned to India, so I didn't even try working in TV. Those people never have any time.
Your profession is listed as novelist. You have written three fantasy novels, graphic novels, childrens stories etc. How easy is it for a novelist to switch genres?SAMIT BASU: It's easy enough to write something if you're genuinely interested in the medium. I wasn't a literature student, so no one told me which were good and bad media to consume - I just read and saw everything I got my hands/eyes on. Which is why, at this point, its easier to work across media. I've written screenplays as well - they are sitting with producers who were kind enough to ask me to write them, and will hopefully be produced some day. I'm also now actually on the verge of writing a video game. Since I don't do anything other than write, it's very rewarding to work across media because each kind of writing is very different from the others. I loved learning how to write comics; writing screenplays is much easier once you've picked that up. In terms of sheer writing pleasure, though, there's nothing like writing a book. You're free to do what you want there.That said, there's also much joy to be found in collaboration, especially for those rare projects when the finished work is so much better than something you could have done on your own. Switching genres is also much fun because it's like acting - you find a different voice for a different story, you see the world through the eyes of a completely different type of person, and that is another of the really rewarding things about getting deep into writing. I have two new novels this year - one is a Yung Adult historical/fantasy/crime book, Mowgli's son solving a mystery on the Titanic, another is a more mainstream novel, not fantasy, but a superhero story for adults, set in India, Pakistan and England. Both of these are completely different from the trilogy, and both have been great fun to writeYou write comics for Marvel comics or was it Virgin? Tell us about the process of writing the plotline for a comic. How does it differ from writing a novel or a short story or a children's book? How do you break up a story into frames? Do you write it like the script of a play? What does that look like?SAMIT BASU: I wish I wrote comics for Marvel. Alas, they're unlikely to ever ask, because they already have an overflowing list of supremely talented writers. Writing comics is a multi-step process. You give your editor the idea. She likes it. You write an outline, a list of characters and descriptions. The artist starts work on character design. You start work on a detailed outline, a beat sheet. It's much more structured and rigorous than any other kind of writing. Then you break it down into even smaller sections, including sub-plots and so on, and then fight with your editor over that issue's standalone story and its place in a wider story arc. Then you write the script. Then you rewrite it until it's shiny. Then the artist does his thing. In several stages. Then lettering, colouring, cover, and voila, comic. It was much fun. I hope I get to do it again soon. I''m focussing on books at present though, because really, that's what I'm best at.What does it look like? Here's a sample set of two panels.
Page 1 Panel 1Wide shot. The CRITIC, a Buscemi-esque young man in a crumpled shirt and jeans, unshaven, stands at his desk, looking in horror at Abhijit. We're in the Critic's office. Desk, computer, lots of books lying around, maybe a Filmfare or two. A potted plant, unwatered and dead. A picture of Kafka on the wall, framed and garlanded. We don't see Abhijit in this shot; we can see him from behind in the lower right, or as silhouette, or have Critic looking at the readerCRITIC: What is the meaning of this?ABHIJIT: I know authors aren't supposed to respond to reviews...Page 1 Panel 2Abhijit, full length. His shirt is torn, his muscles rippling, his face calm, maybe a slight smile. In his hands is a chainsaw.ABHIJIT: ...but hey.
What is the comic that you co-authored with Mike Carey of X-Men and Lucofer fame. How was that experience different from writing a comic by yourself?SAMIT BASU: If you were a guitarist and you suddenly got to play with someone like Santana? It was like that. I've been a huge fan of Mike's since I started reading comics, so the prospect of working with him was both a dream come true and extremely intimidating. I would have been happy to just let him do the whole thing and have my name on it; I would also have been happy to do all the work just to have his name on it. As it turned out, we both wrote different halves, then rewrote each other's halves to make it all fit in better. For someone that successful, he was incredibly nice and patient. It was a really fascinating experience, and I learned a great deal.If someone wants your advise on choosing between doing an MBA. making documentaries, writing sci-fi, blogging, doing comics, writing columns and becoming a novelist, what would you suggest they choose?SAMIT BASU: Whatever they feel like at the time. I do get asked this sometimes, but there's no way I'm going to take responsibility for anyone else's choices. I don't know if my own were perfect. I'm muddling along myself, and am in no position to give advice.---------------------Check out Samit's website samitbasu.com, You can follow him @samitbasu on twitter.