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.

TM: What was the most difficult part of writing your book, and getting it published? Did you ever feel like giving up?
NC: The most difficult part in writing Zero Percentile was when suddenly all my ideas dried up. That’s the moment when you shut down your laptop and want to stop writing altogether. And then, when you finish the book and start looking for a publisher, you realise that writing was just a small part of that big charade which you had unknowingly started. Writing is entirely in your control.