YA fantasy stories often have gritty worlds and tough problems, but in the end, the protagonist has the power to change things even if it costs them a lot. – Swetha S
Goldspun When the Golden Kurinji flowers filled the fields at the foot of the mountains, a peasant girl’s father brought her a petal and told her how the flower had the power to make one a scholar. But that was years ago, and the girl with no name is tired of hiding outside her town’s school and peeking into its compounds to learn what she needs to be worthy of the flower. Being born a peasant, she is not allowed to read or write, let alone touch the flower. But everything changes when she meets Aavirai, a scholar entrusted with gifting the Golden Kurinji to the crown princess. Source: Goodreads
Check out this exclusive interview we had with Meraki's author, Swetha S to find out about what inspired her to write the novel, some of her challenges, and her tips for aspiring authors and more!
What set you off on writing Goldspun?
Goldspun was initially a short story (roughly the first few chapters). I didn’t expect to expand the story when I first wrote it. But I was captured by the world, the lush setting, the magic, and felt that I wanted to return to that world for a novel with different characters, mainly Samudra. However, as I workshopped the story, a few readers told me that they were curious about the relationship between the two characters—the peasant girl and Aavirai—who come from completely different places and form an alliance that alters their lives overnight. They wanted to know more about these characters. This questioning prompted me to push further into the characters, flesh out their lives, and eventually expand the story into something much longer than what it originally was. The first few parts have since been rewritten many times, but the essence has remained the same.
What feels personal about Goldspun? How much of your own experiences and memories made it into the book?
That is a very interesting question! There are so many details in Goldspun that are taken from my immediate surroundings and memories. For instance, I grew up around so many beautiful trees and flowers but I knew the names of very few of them. I often read books that mentioned trees like pines and oaks, but rarely portia trees and vaagai trees. So I paid a lot of attention to these details and tried to build the story’s world by twisting my reality rather than deriving from other fantasy works. Other than that, the story has a strong chosen family, bringing together characters who have varying relationships with their birth families, which is certainly based on my real life experiences.
Why do you choose to write YA Fantasy?
To be entirely honest, I don’t have a specific reason for this, and I do write more realist adult fiction as well. I generally like reading YA fantasy when I need stories that give me hope. YA fantasy stories often have gritty worlds and tough problems, but in the end, the protagonist has the power to change things even if it costs them a lot. I think that solvability and hope plus the option to nerd out about a new fantasy world is what pulls me to YA Fantasy.
What effect are you hoping to have with your work?
Stories are powerful. One of my friends once told me that the narratives we tell ourselves are very important. They can reshape our reality. Goldspun does not show a perfect world or perfect people. But the story’s world is made of people who are fundamentally good, who try their best to make the world a better place. I hope this narrative will help make our world become that way too. I also hope that the novel helps normalise different, non-traditional families and chosen families.
What’s your biggest challenge as a writer?
I sometimes get too caught up in the details of the world to fully flesh out the characters, and vice versa. In this manuscript, I had the first issue. It took me a couple of drafts to fully understand the three characters, and even after that I had to revise every scene until the very last minute to get them right.
How would you describe your book in one sentence to convince someone to read it?
Here’s a pitch: Goldspun is the story of a peasant girl who will do anything to learn, even if that means snagging the last Golden Flower meant for the princess of a ruthless royal family.
For aspiring writers…
What is one piece of advice that you have for aspiring writers of fantasy novels?
My advice is here is very specific to science fiction and fantasy and is based on my experiences so this may not work out for everyone. That being said, it is important to keep things simple in a fantasy novel’s world. A lot of the worlds we read in books seem fleshed out and complex, but there is a simplicity underneath it all, a strong foundation made of strict in-world logic that is holding up the whole world. It is very important to understand this aspect of the world and stick to it. If it is fuzzy or too complex, it might affect the readers’ suspension of disbelief and pull them out of the story. Plus, a lot of readers love world building and these parts are necessary, but it is ultimately the characters and their desires that keep the readers here, not the flourishes of the world.
Can you tell us about your writing process?
I generally start with a character and a lack the character feels. Then I come up with a rough overall outline and dive right into writing the story. Once I’m done with the draft, I make a few changes that likely came up as I was working on the draft and put the story to rest for a few days. I come back, revise a bit more and send the manuscript to readers for feedback. Based on what feedback resonates, I generate a new revision plan and jump back in. This goes on and on until it is close to finished.
According to you, what are the easiest parts to write in a story, and what are the most difficult? How would you suggest tackling the latter?
What I find easiest would be the initial drafting part when I’m still bursting with inspiration and getting it all out there. The most difficult part is when the draft is completely out there and it falls short of what I envisioned. It takes a lot to overcome perfectionism and to remember that writing is rewriting. The best way to tackle this has been to be fine with bad writing, to know that not everything I write is going to be perfect and to accept that I am constantly learning and changing and so is my story.
How do you usually plan out your story? Do you plot it all out in the beginning, or do you add elements as you go along?
I generally don’t plan every detail. I do come up with a rough outline that tells me what the beginning, middle, and end are. Then I write the story to discover the rest of the details and keep revising it and restructuring it until I’m satisfied.
Goldspun by Swetha S will be published on 26th June, but is now available for preorder on Shopee!
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