Manisha Gauchan is the author of three books including the popular, White Cane and Walliko Diary. Gauchan, who works as a playwright at the Antenna Foundation Nepal, also dabbles with poetry and fiction and uses the mediums to explore theme such as the complexity of human emotions, our perceptions and mental frailty. In this conversation with the Post’s Samikshya Bhattarai, Gauchan talks about the importance of research and character development while writing. Excerpts:

Your last book White Cane was quite successful. What made the novel so readable? 

It is hard to determine what propelled the book to the success that it saw, but I do believe the subject and the context of the book aroused a certain curiosity among readers. The main character of my story was a blind man. In the story, I portrayed the blind man as a normal person and did not try to illicit sympathy for him in the prose. I think this different depiction of the blind was key to the book’s success. 

How easy or difficult was it to write a story from the perspective of a blind man? What are some ways that you sought to relate to the character?

As a writer, it’s always hard to write a character because you are creating a new being and creating a real person from scratch is a tough endeavour. We, writers, usually use our personal experience to create characters but, in this case, the character was different from me in a lot of ways, including gender to the disability. So, initially it was hard to create him, as well as to understand his thought processes. However, I had worked with the differently abled for a long time and have some friends who were disabled. So, I keenly observed them, their activities, gestures and nuances to first create the character. Later, I sometimes walked on the streets with my eyes closed or worked blindfolded at home to understand and live my life as a blind person. This helped me quite a lot in relating with the character. I also read a lot of books about blindness and the blind.

What are some methods writers can use to really get into the psyche of the characters that they are writing about?

As a writer, you need to create different characters all the time but it is always just hard as the very first time. I would not say that there is an exact method through which the writer can get into a character’s head, although I do think it’s a must for a writer to research about their character beforehand. I think the writer should go in depth even before starting to write a book so that they can create a lucid story while also paying attention to details related with the character.

How important is character depth? Do you prefer books that are driven by its characters (and their internal dilemmas) or by the plot lines itself?

Character is one of the most important parts of a book. A book with shallow characters will be ruined even if the plotline is stellar. So, a writer must always find the required gravity while creating a character. That being said, we cannot ignore the importance of plot. We think that characters drive the plot but it is not always true. Both the character and plotlines are equally important and I prefer books that have a good balance. 

As we enter the new Nepali year, what are some books on your reading list?

I read books of Banira Giri last year and they were really good. This year, I want to read, Life Mantra by Subrata Roy, The Winds of Winter by George RR Martin, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, Avatar by Shikar Ghimire, After the Fall by Julie Cohen and Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami.

What are three books that you reckon should be on everybody’s reading list?

Books are important sources of knowledge so it’s essential that everyone reads books whenever they can. I think there are many books that are must-reads but I would say books by Banira Giri, Memoirs of Geisha by Arthur Golden and The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir are some books everyone should read  once.