PB First Lines

Featuring Sandhya Acharya and Living Bridges

Today I’m delighted to have Sandhya Acharya here sharing the first line revision journey of her non-fiction book Living Bridges The Hidden World of India’s Woven Trees, art by Avani Dwivedi.

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Here’s the evolution of the first line of my upcoming narrative non-fiction LIVING BRIDGES

Back in 2021, I had just come across an article about the Living Bridges in Meghalaya, India, and was enthralled. I knew there was a story there. After a lot of research, I began looking for an entry point.

ATTEMPT 1: Feb 2021

An aspect that fascinated me was how the indigenous War Khasi-Jaintia people in Meghalaya, faced with the problem of monsoon flooding, used the natural resources they had to devise a solution. They used the roots of the abundant ficus trees and wove them together over years to make a bridge. Their story deserved to be told. This was my first attempt.

We stand on two sides of a full river

“Help!” we whisper to the trees,

ATTEMPT 2: July 2021

I wasn’t satisfied with this. Though there was a clear problem-solution arc, this wasn’t the story structure that felt right. I wanted to give readers an image of how wonderful these bridges were. What if I focused on the ficus trees used to make this bridge? I asked myself, what was so different about these trees? Why should the reader care? I thought of how these trees spanned a river, growing wide. What would it feel like to be that tree? I tried starting with the voice of the seed.

A little seed asked

Why can’t I grow as other seeds do

Straight

Tall

Reaching through the clouds

Touching the skies

Though the lines were lyrical, I soon realized, they weren’t entirely true. These trees were tall AND grew wide. And I wasn’t sure how to take the story forward. I decided to put the draft aside. I was working on a PBChat mentorship at this time. So I focused on my other stories and queried with them. But this story continued working itself out in the background.

ATTEMPT 3: Nov 2021

I came back to the manuscript after a break. In a fresh attempt, I decided to journey with my reader and introduce this phenomenon with a voice that captures awe and wonder.

Deep inside a forest

Thickly blanketed in clouds

Stands a bridge

This first line excited me. It was lyrical. It was a strong narrative voice. Maybe I was getting there! But first, winter vacations!

ATTEMPT 4: Feb 2022

When I came back to the manuscript, I was in self-doubt. Can I really tell the story about a bridge with no traditional story arc? Would it be better to have child characters in it? Maybe it could be a story of two girls in two villages on two sides of the river. I gave it a try.

In the summer, Charu and her family moved a river away.

I didn’t like it. It didn’t have the lyricism I liked from the previous attempt. It felt like I was losing focus on the trees and the feeling of wonder. This detour wasn’t working.

ATTEMPT 5: Mar 2022

I went back to the version I liked. I told myself to stop fearing what would happen with the arc. Lean into the lyricism and let the story flow. This is what resulted.

Up in the mountains

Under a cover of clouds that seem to shower forever

Stands a Bridge

Yes! This was the voice that worked for me. At this point, the rest of the story flowed out as a poem. I was excited to see it on paper. It had emotion, rhythm, information. I strengthened it with more research—I actually visited the Living Bridges—and details. With further revision, I introduced the bridge over a few spreads vs. the first spread, but most of the first line stayed.

Later, while working with the editor, we ended up adding a child character, and I liked how that made the manuscript feel more personal, like we were living it with this character, going on a journey together. We also retained the narrative voice and the lyrical attempts that made this manuscript special for me.

This is the first line in the book now.

Up in the mountains of Meghalaya, India,

under a cover of clouds,

sits my village.

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Revision tip: I love how the final version was a combination of attempts. This goes to show that no writing is wasted! Experiment with different entry points and styles. Writing is a journey!

If you read and enjoy Living Bridges, leave a review! If you need help getting started writing a review, read this blog post.