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My Profile Top News Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day. Subscribe You are here: Home > News > Entertainment > Article Home Business & Finance News U.S. Politics International Technology Entertainment Film Music People Television Arts Industry Sports Lifestyle Oddly Enough Health Science Special Coverage Video Pictures Your View The Great Debate Blogs Weather Reader Feedback Do More With Reuters RSS Widgets Mobile Podcasts Newsletters Your View Make Reuters My Homepage Partner Services CareerBuilder Affiliate Network Professional Products Support (Customer Zone) Reuters Media Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Celebrity Indian blogger publishes first novel Wed Jun 3, 2009 3:24am EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page [-] Text [+] By Shilpa Jamkhandikar MUMBAI (Reuters) - Amit Varma, one of India's most popular bloggers, once wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal, worked on a cricket website and also dabbled in advertising. Now, he's turning his writing skills to books. Varma's debut novel, "My Friend Sancho," which was published in India this month, tells of the unlikely friendship between a wisecracking young crime reporter and the daughter of a man who has been mistakenly killed by police. The novel was long-listed for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize. Varma, who won the Bastiat Prize for Journalism in 2007, is working on his second novel. He spoke to Reuters about books and blogging (www.indiauncut.com). Q: You call yourself a writer who blogged along the way. Did the blogging help with the writing? A: "Blogging and writing a novel are two entirely different disciplines. However, when you write every day, it does make you a better writer. In the 19th century, novelists would sometimes keep a daily diary to sharpen their writing skills. I blogged every day, and for the first couple of years of my blogging, I wrote about five posts a day on average. "All that writing made me a crisper writer. Online readers are impatient, and have many options for their time. If you're self-indulgent or use 10 words where five will do, you'll find it hard to build a readership. Blogging -- the sheer practice of writing -- certainly made me a better writer in terms of craft and discipline." Q: How do you approach your writing? A: "Writing a novel requires discipline. I'm not a morning person, so I chose to work all night and sleep during the day. There were less distractions that way, and I got more work done that way." Q: You have said writing is a lonely, insecure process. How do you cope? A: "Well, I enjoy the actual process of writing immensely, so that is its own gratification. And yes, it can get lonely, but that's one of the trade-offs one accepts as part of being a writer. I am my own master, I don't have to go by deadlines set by other people, I sleep and eat when I want, I don't have to commute, and, most importantly, I'm doing what I love. Whenever I feel down, I remind myself of all these marvelous privileges." Q: As one of India's most well-known bloggers, do you think it will take time for you to be perceived as a writer who also blogs? A: "Hopefully, with time, my books will speak for themselves. I'm convinced that 10 years from now, with at least 10 more books out there, I'll be regarded as a novelist who also happened to once have a blog. I love India Uncut, but I hope it ends up as just a footnote in my career." Q: In "My Friend Sancho," you've written about a lot of things that you must be familiar with: Mumbai, journalism, even your blog. Is there comfort in familiarity? A: "Writers are often advised, 'Write about what you know.' I've lived in Mumbai for 14 years, and love this city and know it pretty well. It made sense to base the novel here. That said, while the settings in 'My Friend Sancho' are familiar ones, the book itself isn't remotely autobiographical, and my main character, Abir Ganguly, isn't like me at all. As this is a first novel in the first person, some readers assume otherwise." Q: You had said this book could be the first of a series. How do you see yourself taking this story forward? Continued... View article on single page Share: Del.icio.us Digg Mixx Yahoo! Facebook LinkedIn Next Article: Novelist explores psychotic side in memoirs also on reuters Blog: E3: Hey Tetris guy — did you get paid? Interview: Web changes exile for Tiananmen leader Video Video: Obama gets King Tut tribute ahead of Egypt trip More Entertainment News Baron Cohen MTV landing was staged, writer says Susan Boyle worried about career: brother Cher, Bono heirs sue Universal Music over royalties Nyman music made available to indie filmmakers Nia Vardalos says life is far from "in Ruins" More Entertainment News... 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