Autobiography Of A Book

By Tuhina Neogi

Writing Contest – Post 2

Author – Tuhina Neogi

TITLE:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A BOOK

It’s the third week since my inception and it’s the tenth chapter running but my author, Hannah Green seems to have hit a snag. Hannah calls me ‘Life in Cardboards’ and my characters sound interesting. Though she has outlined my story pretty well, she’s often stuck with myriads of ideas or overpowered by them.

Oh! Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself. I am a book and you already know my name or title as the layman calls it. Hannah has been working on me since a long time, is extremely passionate about me, and expects a lot from me.

I am still in my first draft if that isn’t obvious. It will be a while till I find a place in a bookstore’s neat shelf and you get to read my complete, unabridged version. But since this is my autobiography, I will let you in on some secrets.

See, most bookworms take up a copy, shuffle the pages, enjoy the story, and shut it with their opinions reeking all over the book. What they fail to understand is that there’s more to a book than that. There’s a story behind the story, a journey that the book itself has covered, and an interesting one perhaps.

Wise men say that the journey is more important than the destination. That’s because you grow in the journey, learn and experience new things, and most importantly, you become self-taught in it.

Hannah and I are barely halfway through the journey and yet, I feel like she has already discovered her hidden aspects. She has explored, questioned, inquired, read, and learned balance. The idea of writing a book struck her when she ventured into YA.

The interesting folklore blended with mythical characters, metaphorical circumstances, and mysticism intrigued her. YA genre played with her imagination and tapped into hitherto unknown emotions. From her small room, she could experience the world outside and it thrilled her.

Hannah was stunned by the spell of carefully concocted words. She was fascinated by writers. The fact that someone can manoeuvre such complex plots and yet keep the connection intact was beyond her comprehension.

She failed to fathom the excellence of these minds, and that was the moment when she anticipated me. Initially, I started taking shape in her Dad’s A4 sheets but soon she transferred me to a brand new diary. When I opened my eyes for the first time, I saw a pair of bright, beautiful, and eager eyes staring at me.

Hannah’s excitement was similar to a pregnant woman, and the same can be said about any serious author. When a woman comes to know of her pregnancy, she is filled with emotions to the brim. She is nervous, careful, excited, and scared, but most of all she is full of hope, dreams, love, and warmth.

She probably knows nothing about the embryo taking shape within her, but she has already planned so many things in her mind. She is perfectly aware that it’s a long time before she will hold her baby but she perseveres with patience and tries her best to keep her baby safe and strong.

Yes, my dear reader. I am not just a book to Hannah; I am her unborn child for whom she is working so hard. Throughout the day, she has so many things to do. She is 24, has got her own job, has an apartment, and has friends and family but ever since I came into her life, she has shown unwavering faith and undying devotion towards me.

She has kept me a secret though, afraid she might face backlash from others. She knows that some will even try to talk her out of it but I’ll tell you, my Hannah isn’t a quitter. But sometimes, her faith in me scares the hell out of me. What if I fail her? What if I don’t make her proud? These questions often haunt me but as soon as she’s back, they all vanish.

Truth be told, there is a good chance that I will fail her and probably won’t live up to her expectations, but I’ll always be her first. She might have trouble finding a good publisher or even have problems with self-publishing. Marketing can go wrong. I mean the odds are a million but it doesn’t matter because come what may, Hannah and I will become each other’s identity.

My journey as a book will come to an end with my publishing, but Hannah’s story will have just begun. With my success, she may get to live her dreams but with my failure, she will grow and work harder on her next child, her second book. But as of now, just wish us luck folks, and pray that we succeed for I cross my heart and hope to die.

By Tuhina Neogi