Researching your Novel

Masterclass with Catherine Menon

By Megha Nayar

On 22nd May, ten emerging writers of South Asian descent – complete strangers to one another until the week before – came together to share a Zoom frame. We may have logged in from places as distinct as Kohima and Karachi and Lucknow and Lahore, but we had (and have) the singular motive of enhancing ourselves as writers, thanks to the ten wonderful authors who will mentor us through our Write Beyond Borders journey. 

This first WBB session was helmed by author Catherine Menon, who has a novel and a short story collection to her credit, in addition to several other laurels. Catherine expounded on the methods and methodologies of conducting research for fiction. 

Drawing from her own experiences of researching for her book Fragile Monsters, Catherine shone a bright light on the distinctions between primary and secondary research, ways and means of accessing academic research, and the importance of evaluating the dependability of various sources of information. Among other important things, Catherine emphasized on the need for writers to manage the twin tasks of research and writing simultaneously, without letting one impede the other. And when she reminded us not to “go down the rabbit hole” of endless Googling, she elicited knowing/guilty smiles from all of us! 

Catherine’s session was particularly memorable, and not just because she kick-started the programme. What made the interaction especially joyful was the way she injected little doses of humour into the discussion, by using literary references and comic strips. We listened wide-eyed when she narrated her own experience of finding a literary agent and seeing her first book come to life. As smooth as the process was for Catherine, it was also a pretty long journey from acceptance to launch, so she cautioned us to be patient and never lose hope. 

The Q&A round at the end of this interaction was very helpful too. We asked questions related to research, of course, but also on other allied aspects of writing that she is conversant with.  

For all of us WBB mentees, this discussion with Catherine Menon sets the right tone and stage for literary development. Having understood the nuances of researching for a book, we will now move on to learning all about effective openings, world building, plotting and setting. Considering how much we took away from the first session, we anticipate the upcoming discussions to be equally enlightening. 

Do visit this blog every week, for more updates on the Write Beyond Borders masterclasses.