Nidhi Taparia

Imagine writing a 20-chapter mystery thriller in a couple of weeks, with just a few clicks of your mouse. No writer's block, no conjuring up story ideas, no thinking up of characters, twists and turns, subplots, dialogues… nothing. Log on to Hamara Shehar (http://www.hamarashehar.com), and become an instant novelist. Or, if you prefer, star in one.

Inspired by Stephen King's foray into online writing (http://www.stephenking.com) and his success with e-novels, this site now hosts one of India's first interactive novels. Titled, The Beautiful Enemy, the basic story has already been written. It is a suspense thriller by G V Ammareswara Rao, the writer of many movie scripts and books. Now all a wannabe novelist has to do is fill in the blanks and pick and choose from a number of drop-down menus and rustle up their own novel. Surfers can write in three different languages: Hindi, English, Telugu. If your creative juices aren't flowing the way they should, you can even confer with other writers as to what kind of names, or characters have been popularly voted for.

There's more. If the writer in you is not happy with the way the story seems to be going, you can always change its direction midway. Comedy, tragedy, action, drama… Or hit the rewind button, if something you have written earlier needs to be changed. You can even add illustrations, pictures and customised sketches.

And the number of takers for this experience of backseat writing has been phenomenal, claim the makers of the site. Currently having completed eight weeks, this novel spread over 20 weeks, was customised for desktop reading. Explains, Prasad Bodepudi, the man behind this Web site, "Not only do we have the classic bookmark where writers and readers can know which page they had written or read earlier, this instant novel also has your names and descriptions fitted into the story whenever you log in."

Well, that's not all. You can read your magnum opus after 20 weeks by ordering a printed copy or even avail of it in PDF format so that you can mail it to all and sundry. And for those worried about the strain on their eyes, you can choose a larger print size without changing browser settings or being computer savvy.

"This is just the beginning," explains Prasad Bodepudi. "There are five such interactive novels in the pipeline. We are in the final stages of negotiations to publish this e-novel."

"When in Bodepudi came to India from the US to inaugurate the Telugu version of the site, he explained the Interactive e-Novel concept to me,'' says Rao, about how this novel came about. ''I planned and authored the story as per the idea." This experience was quite different from the nearly 45 novels and scripts Rao has written. "Most of my work has been in Telugu and targeted for the Telugu audience. However, with this novel now due to get published online and offline in English, Telugu and Hindi, the target is a global audience. That is why there is a lot of thought in the story. Besides, since the story splits into two, and each takes different directions in the eleventh week, I have to think of different treatments for both.''

It's been a challenging task. "In fact, it is even tougher than writing two novels. Besides, I spend an hour a day replying to the feedback and mail I get from readers who cannot get over the thrill of playing the lead role. Even if it is plain fantasy," he adds. "I have never received such great feedback for any of the 45 novels that I ever wrote."

The novel, the duo, say is extremely Internet savvy. "The reader can click for context sensitive information on any subject. For example, a description of a murder scene with a Smith & Wesson gun has link to their site, which displays full specifications and pictures of that gun. Or, at another point, where Shilpa Shetty is mentioned, we have a link to a picture of her that fits the description contained in the story," explains the author.

Their only worry now is of future competition. "Sooner or later, some other dot com will think of the idea, even though they may not be able to publish the same e-novel in multiple languages."

Till then, they want to make you famous in a hurry.

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