Chennai: When R V Raman visited a small town in Madhya Pradesh for a family wedding, his mind revved with imagination. Returning to his room late in the evening, Raman sieved his flooding fictional thoughts by penning them down on paper for the setting was a perfect place to ignite his imagination to write a mystery thriller. After all, that’s how the mind of a writer works.
Raman is a Chennai-based former professional-turned-author. After a corporate career spanning over 30 years, he now teaches business strategy, mentors young entrepreneurs and clients.
His collection of four corporate thrillers, Fraudster, Insider, Saboteur and Conspirator have been well-received. His newest thriller, A Will to Kill, published by Harper Collins India, is set in a haunted manor at a cosy hill station.
Raman told News Today his love for writing came late in his fifties. “My sons once told me to create a world of my own and eventually I wrote a fantasy book,” he says. “I self-published in Amazon.” He adds that he grew up reading books. On his experience of diving into a fantasy world in the initial stages of his writing journey, he says, “I found that there was no market for fantasy by Indian writers.” That was when an idea bulb glowed above his head. “I asked myself why not try writing corporate thrillers?” says Raman.
“As I have many years of experience in the corporate sector, I thought it will be a good genre to explore.” Yet, he points that it is always ‘imagination which plays a major role’ while plotting his novels.
“I strongly believe that plotting varies based on a genre,” says Raman. “While I wrote my fantasy series, I didn’t know what will happen to my characters as I just trusted my pen and started writing. However, when it comes to writing crime fiction, you should make sure that you don’t leave any loose ends. Hence, it becomes important to plan what will happen to your characters towards the end, plan out ways that connect them to the evidence and motive of crime.”
Talking about his writing schedule, Raman says, “I always feel that if I plan a lot, I may loose my love for writing,” he explains. “That is why I take it as a hobby. Sometimes, I write for 8-10 hours a day, sometimes I don’t even write for weeks.”
When asked for tips on getting a work published, Raman starts with a cautious statement saying that writing fiction can’t be taken as a full-time profession. “However, there are still many fiction writers because they write what they love,” he says. “People opt for self-publishing because it is easier; but if you get the opportunity, it is best to get your work selected by a traditional publisher.”