Masterclass with Jane Borges
By Maham Khalid
The second WBB masterclass was presented by Jane Borges, a keen journalist who applies her skillset to writing books deeply rooted in rich, textured real-life communities, individuals, and experiences. An engaging speaker, it was fascinating to listen to Borges explain the various threads she pulled together in order to construct her novels and short stories.
Borges generously shared her personal experiences with writing her novel, Bombay Balchão, from its conception, the process of writing, derailments and rejuvenations, and (copious!) rewriting. It was an incredibly fascinating look into the grit of a process so shrouded in mystery for aspiring writers, particularly those with little professional experience such as some of the mentees, including me! Borges also discussed her experience of co-writing her first book at the age of 22, and how it compares to writing solo, as well as her experience in publishing poems and stories since her childhood, which garnered much favorable attention due to her prodigious skill.
Due to her journalism background, Borges was an invaluable person to speak to about the process of threading fact and fiction together, and the myriad sticky concerns that arise for everyone who wants to write both truthfully and respectfully about what they see and who they love and what their world is like. Borges explained that although she began in fact, with real people inspiring her characters, she made an effort not to learn about their stories so she could write away from their reality and create fictional characters. Borges’s intricate and thorough explanation about her process when it came to constructing a warm, thrilling portrait of her community in Mumbai, the Goan-Catholic township of Cavel, was both enthralling to listen to and deeply useful for the mentees.
Another deeply fascinating aspect of Borges’s masterclass was her confession that she was an ardent re-writer who had to be gently rebuffed by her editors when it got out of hand. The intricacy and warmth of her writing makes it clear that her re-writing is an integral part of her process, and this taught the mentees to be unafraid to rewrite, as Borges herself is. Furthermore, Borges highlighted some aspects of how to research and locate primary sources for your writing, and encouraged us to be fearless and hands-on in our search for useful information.
For the mentees, this masterclass was invaluable in numerous aspects, and brought freshness to the task of writing. She demystified the gritty work of novel-writing and the process of publication and she was incredibly generous with both her time and her thoughts. We were very grateful for Borges’s kindness and instruction, and are keen to apply what we’ve learnt to our own works-in-progress.
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