Happiness quotient

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Rachna Singh, who recently finished writing her second book, Nuptial Knots, shifts gears from ‘anecdotal humour’ in her book Dating, Diapers and Denial, to ‘therapeutic fiction’.

Her short stories are sprinkled with nuggets of advice; Rachna puts together her learning from the marital counselling sessions that she has conducted with couples going through issues in their marriages. We explore the genre of therapeutic fiction with five questions.
What are your views on therapeutic fiction?
‘Therapeutic fiction’ is a term I have created to label writing that pegs itself between a pure storytelling approach and the self-help genre. It blends the wealth of both forms by infusing learning tips subtly into stories that unfold in a fiction format. Today’s Gen Y does not want to be ‘told’. One has to get the message across without sounding pontificating.
Which are the best movies one can watch on therapeutic fiction
Avengers, Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall – are all superhero/action flicks. At their core, they are “good vs. evil” morality plays. They are about the pursuit of justice and defense of the defenseless. They are about sacrifice and loyalty and love. English Vinglish was brilliant: without getting preachy or melodramatic, it brought tears to our eyes. We learnt to recognise a mother as a person with needs, fears and emotions. Why it falls under the domain of therapeutic fiction is the beautiful speech made by Sridevi at the end of the movie, tying up the messages.
Name a few best authors you look upto for therapeutic fiction?
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez, The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov and all books of Amitav Ghosh and Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra.
Where did the idea on therapeutic fiction evolve from?
I read a book called The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning, which talks about how emphatic stories can be to deliver the message. I felt I could use leverage the beauty of stories to, ultimately, talk about what it takes to deal with marital issues. I read somewhere that Anne Hathaway’s favourite book is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It happens to be one of my favourite books as well, the message to persist against odds, and believe that things can be improved is phenomenal.
What is the best way such a concept works?
The best way is to steer the writing away from any path that becomes preachy. One should write a story ‘as-is’ and just gently nudge the readers to derive the message via short, interesting insertions.