Trying to predict the reception to a creative work is a fool’s game: Vikram Chandra

“I try not to think of anything but the writing while I’m writing,” says Indian novelist Vikram Chandra in his interview with The Hindustan Times.  “The great Hollywood screenwriter William Goldman once wrote that “the single most important fact, perhaps, of the entire movie industry” is “NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING” (all-caps in the original).  That is, trying to predict the reception to a creative work is a fool’s game.  And, during the writing process, the urge to anticipate is hugely distracting.  I do the work for myself and a couple of first readers; what happens after the book’s release, and in the years that follow, is always a surprise.”