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Authors drive and reinvent writing for us time and again and when I had the opportunity to ask them one thing that continually challenges their writing, this is what international and Indian women authors had to say.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging for you while you are writing and did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Rasana Atreya: Writing dialogue is supposed to be hard, right? Not for me. I zoom through, writing whole chapters in only dialogue. Obviously that is only half the story – literally – so I go back and fill in the hows/wheres/whats of what the characters are thinking/doing/seeing/feeling – you know, all that ‘filler’ material that makes up the story! I’ve learnt from writing three books that any writing that involves my emotions – be it grief or comedy – often is my best work.

Debbie Herbert: My biggest challenge in writing is plotting. I like to start with a unique premise and then spin a world from there. To do this, I often look at local legends. In my last book, Siren’s Call, I struck gold in discovering a mermaid legend from Native American mythology. I found the Choctaw Nation culture fascinating and learned so much about them and their history.

Sreemoyee Kundu: The biggest challenge I have is also my strength – being true to the characters and allowing them to breathe and live out their own destinies. If there is something I have learnt, it is this that books have their own destinies and writers are just a medium for a story waiting to be told.

Falguni Kothari: What I find most challenging is writing less. I want to pour all my research and knowledge of my characters and their lives into the book, even things not related to the plot! That I’m told is unnecessary and I’m bogging the book down with Too Much Information (TMI). What I learnt…what I keep learning from every story I write is that the world can’t do without conflict. Write an un-conflicted character and bleah, no one is interested. Write one with a mountain of issues…and suddenly everyone identifies with him/her. Go figure.

Aditi Mathur: The most challenging part for me when I am writing is to keep a check on the word count. I tend to go with the flow and end up writing a little too much. For my book Soldier & Spice: An Army Wife’s Life, the first draft was of *gasp* over 87000 words. I promptly edited it myself, and knowing that the genre did not ask for such a huge content, I got it down to somewhere around 62K. But editing your own work is a nightmare, and feels downright cruel. So keeping a piece within the required world count is my biggest challenge.

From writing my first book I learned that you can build as many plot frameworks as you want, and you can finalize whatever algorithms/twist/turn you can – but in the end, the story tells itself. I’ve learned that the story comes to life on it’s own, author is a medium. So many times I’ve started a piece, knowing where I want it to go – but by the end, I surprise myself by the totally unplanned turns it takes. I learned to listen to the story, and I try not to dictate it. Makes sense?

Bhaavna Arora: The most challenging part about writing is only writing and you can only overcome it by writing. I’ve learnt a lot through my own writings. The research that I’ve done for both my books was intense and very informative. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the journey of writing both my books.

Kirthi Jayakumar: There is one challenge when I write – and that is to be satisfied with what I write. Oftentimes, I am not impressed with what comes out, so I wind up ditching it altogether. Writing has helped me discover and embrace empathy with ease and that is what makes it a powerful experience – regardless of what I write!

Karen Mueller Bryson: My biggest challenge is finding the time to write as much as I would like to. I still work a full-time day job, so I have to carve out time to write in the mornings and evenings. I’d love to be able to write full-time. We’ll see if I can make that dream a reality. Whenever I write a new book I have to concentrate just on that project. It can be difficult to remain focused because I have so many stories waiting to be told! (A USA TODAY bestselling author, Karen Mueller Bryson writes contemporary romance under the pen names Dakota Madison, Savannah Young, Sierra Avalon and Ren Monterrey.)

Usha Narayanan: I am by nature a friendly, sunny person and so it’s always difficult for me to create really evil characters. And then, I must make sure that they’re not over-the-top caricatures, but believable and a powerful foil to the hero. When I finish my book, I realize that this is wholly my responsibility; it will sail out into the world bearing my name and will either sink or swim. So I must plan carefully, work wisely, make sure it’s as perfect as I can make it―for it’s my baby and no else cares about it the way I do!