Durjoy Datta loves to talk about the very concept of romance, after all, that is what brought him fame at the very young age of 21. When Datta’s first book got published, it sold more than 50000 copies in a year and there was literally no looking back for the author, more than a decade has passed on and he still remains a favourite for young readers.
In this exclusive chat with NW18, Durjoy talks about the many shades of romance that he writes about, his writing process and much more.
Starting from novels to short stories, to television show scripts, you have had the experience of writing all of them a lot in these few years. What is your preferred format and why?
Novels, any day. In television, you have a lot of constraints, but in novels, you can do anything. Short stories are not something that I like a lot, because you have to sort of finish everything right there but novels give me the freedom to tell a story the way I want to.
You define romance in multiple ways and in multiple shades when it comes to your books, what does it truly mean to you?
Romance to me has meant different kinds of things at different points in life. When I was younger it was obviously like that initial rush of looking at someone and all and thinking that this is the person I would like to spend the rest of my life with but with time the thought procedure changed. Now, it is trying to live with some with whom you can share everything and have a witness to your life.
Do you think the very concept of romance evolves with every generation?
Of course, it does but as you grow older, I believe you eventually converge to the same feeling that you do not want to go unnoticed, you want someone around, and the feeling of wanting to be important remains.
Does it mundane trying to recreate different shades of romance in your books? What do you do when it starts to feel banal?
Absolutely, it does. I do not care about romance, I care more about characters. The romance bit in my books is the least bit that I am concerned about. I write about characters that I want to fall in love with, I keep thinking about what if I ever met a particular character that I have written about and fell in love with. There are only so many ways that you can say that you love a person, but a character can sort of contain multitudes, that is what I am interested in. I am told that I am a romance writer and I certainly am because I love my characters.
What is your writing process like, could you please take us through it?
I like starting with the character’s journey, if I have a character in mind I like putting them in situations to analyse how they would react to it, that is the initial bit of any of the books, and the rest simply follows.
You got published at the young age of 21, what are the advantages and disadvantages of being published at such a young age?
Well, I can certainly tell you more about the disadvantages. Once you start getting paid for what you wrote at 21, it means that you really cannot grow drastically as a writer. When I was 21, I wrote a book which sold a lot of copies, and then the drive for me to become a way better writer sort of diminished. I only feel it now, when I am 37 years old and I see other people my age writing way better than I do. I became complacent. But to get published at 21 is an insane thing and the feeling of it is perhaps the biggest advantage, it is self-fulfilling in a lot of ways.
What is your secret to writing one bestseller after the other?
I have no secrets, to be honest. I have sort of tried to deconstruct my own work and bring out bestsellers it but sadly that did not work. But an actionable piece of advice from me would be, do not be boring and do not indulge in what you want to write, sometimes what happens is you end up writing just for yourself, which is great but you need to think about what is needed from you and what your readers want you to write as well.
In all the years that you have been writing, what are some of your major key takeaways?
I think I often go back and try to analyse why my books work, even though I might not always like what I write, I try to understand why my books work out in the market, as much as they do- there has to be a reason and that is what I am constantly trying to know about. A lot of reactions from the audience shock me at times but you never know what the readers end up liking and disliking. Once your book is out, the ball is in the readers’ court. What I have understood in these years is the fact that authenticity works.
What is in the pipeline for you?
A lot of books and a series of audiobooks. I am slowly getting more inclined towards audio books because I really like the idea of it and I do listen to a lot of them, myself.
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