Ishita Das, winner of the second edition of Femina Fast Fiction, meets HarperCollins Publisher Karthika VK and comes away enlightened about the writing and publishing process. She writes about her experience...
"I was waiting for an opportunity to open a new door in my life: to write a short story, which gets published in a leading Indian magazine. Little did I know that participating in Femina Fast Fiction would provide me the key to opening that door. I was extremely excited to write a story that would convey the central idea within 500 words. After submitting the story, I felt an immense sense of satisfaction—not because I was happy with the end product, but because the journey of writing the story itself was so indescribably beautiful.
"When I got the congratulatory call from Femina and the opportunity to meet VK Karthika, I realised that the key actually led me to two doors. And standing on the other side of the second door was Karthika, the editing wizard at HarperCollins Publisher India. I was very curious to find out about a lot of things, so I went home and prepared a list of questions.
"However, the spontaneity of the thought process, triggered by Karthika’s observations on a range of issues, such as the qualities they look for in a writer, the elements which make a novel work, both in a fiction and in a non-fiction setting, the importance of character development, etc did not allow a mechanical reference to the questionnaire.
"My interaction with her was very enlightening and enriching. I am deeply indebted to Femina for making this happen. And as Karthika also said—the publishers are on the lookout for fresh talent and if they get to come across potential writers through platforms such as Femina Fast Fiction, it does really help. After all, the publisher wants to be a part of the evolutionary journey that the writer undertakes, right from the inception of an idea to the execution of the same."
Ishita Das won the second edition of Femina Fast Fiction for her entry—an original story titled The Wizard’s Daughter. She met Karthika VK, Publisher and Chief Editor, HarperCollins Publisher India, in Delhi on September 8. To read all the winning Femina Fast Fiction stories, grab a copy of our Fashion Special issue from the stands now.
- By Ishita Das