Writer's Corner: Bengaluru-based Andaleeb Wajid on embracing multiple genres, coping with loss, and how routine helps an author
Romance, horror, mystery, young adult literature – works in these genres usually form a solid chunk of any good bookstore's collection. But for Bengaluru-based writer Andaleeb Wajid, this is a brief description of the genres she has written in, adding up to dozens of books over the years.
In her works, Bengaluru often makes its presence felt to readers who know the city. Speaking to The Indian Express, Wajid said, 'Almost all my books have a Bangalore connection, barring one or two. I have lived here all my life. I wanted to be authentic in what I write…so it made sense for me to write about Bangalore in that way.'
Wajid added that she wrote on and off throughout her school and college years, getting more seriously into it in her twenties while writing short stories for the Deccan Herald's youth supplement Open Sesame. 'Then I got into writing short stories for adults, and a full-fledged novel, Kite Strings, which was published in 2009,' she said.
While Wajid has authored several romance books and series, they sit alongside other works aimed at younger audiences, and even horror novels. Another set of books, the Aunty Millennial series, has Wajid's character Iqra as one of the newer entrants to Bengaluru's eclectic collection of detectives and mystery-solvers. 'I don't want to be restricted to one genre….experimenting in different genres helps me as a writer since otherwise it is very easy to become complacent in what you know is your forte. I enjoy the process of doing something that is outside my comfort zone.'
Interestingly, the character Iqra first appeared in a romance series by Wajid before making it into another series as an amateur detective.
More recently, she has come out with a memoir, Learning to Make Tea for One. 'My husband and mother-in-law passed away during the second wave of the pandemic due to post-Covid complications. My memoir was a way of making sense of the world as it was,' Wajid said. The book was officially released on Saturday.
As far as her writing habits go, Wajid has a routine, which might explain how she has managed to come out with so many published works. She said, 'If I have a plan to write something on a particular day, I sit down after breakfast and try and write as much as I can. The process is about building a routine. I try not to stop unless something really important comes up. As soon as one book is done, I want to move to the next and keep writing.'
When it comes to reading, however, her tastes are slightly different. Andaleeb Wajid is a fan of crime procedurals, though they are not something she feels equipped to tackle as a writer. At least not yet. She notes that reading, in general, should always be a writer's habit, noting, 'My advice to writers all over is to read a lot and write every day. It is the sort of thing that needs practice. You can't suddenly decide to write a book one day… I like to compare it to a tap that you don't use. The water will not flow as smoothly. You can't also say I don't want to read, I just want to write.'
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