A Novel Experience began in the academic year of 2004-2005 as an extracurricular activity at Generation’s School, North Nazimabad, Karachi. From the very beginning, the goal was clear: to utilize the writing talent of youth to indigenously produce quality fiction.

Twenty-one students from Class X had been hand-picked for this purpose. I still remember their awestruck faces that very first day. As students of Generation’s School, they were accustomed to striving for excellence; and as my former students, they were used to surprises. But this was beyond their wildest imaginations!

Writing a novel for publication sounded exciting, and most students that day decided to participate. They chose genres they wished to pursue and they formed groups according to their selections. In the ensuing weeks, each of the three groups brainstormed and proactively created respective skeleton plotlines. Mrs. Yasmene Razi and Ms. Huma Nasim were my fellow mentors. We facilitated these discussions, ensuring flow and coherence of ideas.

However, as O Level exams drew nearer, student interest began to falter and the project all but died. There came a time when Dur-e-Shahwar and her first chapter were all that remained of my group. The other teams had also disintegrated. Once an achievable reality, A Novel Experience now sparkled like a mirage in front of my eyes. Then, after O Levels, Rajab came on board. Suddenly, Arsalan and Taha, part of the original group, reappeared. I recruited Yumna and Hiba when they came for their graduation ceremony at Generation’s School. With gasps and jolts, A Novel Experience was revived.

Rajab, followed by Yumna, Arsalan, Taha, and Hiba each continued the story individually as initiated by Dur-e-Shahwar. Another rotation took place. Now, we had twelve chapters. We met up to review the work, and trashed most of it. We reshaped the plot, decided to rewrite chapters. Another six chapters were written. Running out of time – by now, they were done with A Levels and planning to scatter for further studies – we began discussing actual content and shifted strategy. So, instead of rotations, we began the parallel writing phase.

This approach speeded up the submissions, and in just a few months, we were done with the writing part of the book. Hereon, I took over the reins fully. I compiled, edited, and, at times, rewrote thechapters into a seamless novel. Then, I began exploring publishing options. In the process, I ended up learning quite a bit about marketing and distribution as well.

Contrary to our initial intentions, we decided not to submit the manuscript to a publisher. The numbers just weren’t adding up. Besides, we had talked so much about the project with everyone we knew that we weren’t willing to wait one to two years before it saw the light of day. However, we did get it independently reviewed before printing it.

I certainly hope that A Novel Experience will not fade with the publication of this novel. I only wish that it would be the first in a long line of indigenously produced quality fiction in English within Pakistan. Let us replicate this pilot project so that similar groups of youth are mentored by various Pakistani writers, causing a greater quantity of such books to be in the market, leading to an increase in interest in reading and writing among the general population. In the process, we will create an environment of support for writers in our society, instilling in our youth the confidence to pursue writing as a career or as a hobby no matter where their lives lead them.