Ask the Author: Rahul Kanakia
Answered Questions (3)
Rahul Kanakia
I've thought about this myself. Part of the answer is that this is just how she came to me. But I think there's a reason I felt like this story would work better with a female protagonist. A major part of the book deals with perfectionism. And that entails not just the pressure to achieve, but also the pressure to make it look easy. Reshma's rivals aren't the jocks or the cheerleaders. Her rivals are the perfects: kids who get good grades and play sports and lead clubs and run fundraisers and look attractive and go to parties and have lots of friends. They're kids who seem to have it all.
And I think that pressure is something that women and girls face to a much greater extent than men, so for me a female character felt like a better fit.
And I think that pressure is something that women and girls face to a much greater extent than men, so for me a female character felt like a better fit.
Rahul Kanakia
Weirdly, the idea has almost nothing to do with the book as it currently stands. I was reading an article about South Korea, where after a rash of protests students organized a mass movement to have less homework. They marched in the streets, chanting "We are not study machines." And I was like, hmm, that's intriguing. Maybe I should write a dystopian book about a world where people are forced to study really really really hard.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was no need for this to be a dystopia, because for many kids, our own world requires studying really really hard. So I decided to write a book about one of those characters.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was no need for this to be a dystopia, because for many kids, our own world requires studying really really hard. So I decided to write a book about one of those characters.
Rahul Kanakia
Hey, sorry I'm coming to this two months late! I just realized this feature existed. I have no real writing process. Or, rather, it's constantly changing. For ENTER TITLE HERE, I had no outline, just three sentences of plot points, and I wrote straight through, fueled on fear and adrenaline. For my current book, I've been much slower, working through everything very carefully. I literally have three composition books entirely filled with everything from notes, musings, and doodles to extensive musings in the characters' voices.
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