TM: Do you write to a schedule?
AMK: Oh, how I wish! I have no schedule whatsoever and I don’t understand how people can write according to a schedule. Write daily for three hours is the type of writing tip that has never worked for me. I am either completely detached and don’t write a word for a month, or I am completely consumed with an idea, writing throughout the day (and half the night). If an idea grabs me, I find it hard to stop. But that’s just me. I’ve heard schedules work for people.

The MAG: What made you start writing? Was it something that came to you naturally, or was it a result of some external factors?
Ritu Lalit: I’ve been writing ever since I can remember, making up stories, verses etc. I wrote my first novella of 30 thousand words in longhand in registers when I was fourteen. Of course it was a controversial one featuring thinly disguised versions of my extended family and my father made me burn it and advised me to first live and then, when I was mature, write.