When do you think someone should call themselves a writer?
One should never hurry to call themselves a writer until they have written a good deal of articles/books/quotes/poems. When your pile of write-ups inspires you to write more and write better, only then you should call yourself a writer.
What difference do you see between a writer and an author?
A writer can be a freelancer, writing articles for clients in various niches. A writer can be a book writer if he has the assignment to share. You are a writer if you have some ideas but you are only an author if you have some story to tell that moves the readers. An author is more of a storyteller and a writer is someone who writes well. An author is someone who intrigues well by the story he creates. Long answer short, A writer has skills but an author has stories.
What do the words “writer’s block” mean to you?
Writer's block comes with you having to force yourself to write. It doesn't always mean you have nothing to write. It means you have nothing that you feel worthy of writing.
How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?
To put it simply, negative reviews are the stepping stones towards becoming a better writer if they are coming from a better reader or an editor. A negative review for me is better than having no review at all. It denotes you are at least going somewhere. You are moving. You aren't stagnant. That's a wonderful feeling. You will come across negative reviews as an Author from time to time. After all, a piece of writing, which may be a short story, a novel, or even poetry is subjective. Your girlfriend, friends, and acquaintances might hate your work but someone on the other corner of the world might be crazy to email you how good they felt after reading your book.
What is the most challenging part of your writing process?
Draft two is the most challenging one. Writing a story for the first time is a joyous ride every writer enjoys or must enjoy. The inner self-critic is shut off when you are pouring your heart out. It's only when you start questioning or doubting if what you wrote makes sense, you get a little nervous and begin the process of "editing." From Draft Two and ahead, I begin editing, the toughest part of my writing process.
How long have you been writing, or when did you start?
Back in 2017, I started writing quotes, then gradually poetry came to me. In 2019, I learned a little about content writing and started writing articles and listicles. In the same year, various author interviews and courses that I watched for free inspired me to write my first book named, Frenemy. Before 2017, I don't think I ever dreamed of becoming an author.
What advice would you give writers working on their first book?
I would like new writers to read as much as they can. Gradually they will develop their unique writing voice. The most important advice is to keep improvising a scene. They should ask themselves how far they can take their ideas. Moreover, they should ask how better they can make way for their ideas in their imaginative world.
How do you develop your plot and characters?
Observation is the key to developing characters. My characters are ready in the outside world to be placed in my story. Yes, they go through subtle to drastic changes later. But they find me, not the other way around. The plot is a mixture of observation and imagination. I note down what I saw and then imagine what I can do with it. That's how things take form for me.
How many books have you written, and which is your favorite?
I'm a young writer...very young. I published one book and I'm now writing a new suspense thriller. A totally different Genre. The first one was kids' fiction. Of many favorite books, If I were to pick one then that would be "Walden" my all-time favorite. The love the way Henry describes nature and its significance. I feel like I'm with him in the woods when I read this book.
What part of the book did you have the hardest time writing?
The first ever story in my first book was not so easy to write. Writing a second sequel of the already famed story, "The Hare and the Tortoise," ain't a cream puff, after all. The idea of beginning, mid-part, and climax was clear in my mind. But, a conflict that led to the final scene was the hardest to imagine and write. The questions like, how impactful is this conflict? Will it make sense? Does it fit well in the entire narration? and more hit my mind repeatedly. But there is always a point of exhaustion where you have to trust that people will like what you like and just move ahead to finalizing things.
When was the last time you Googled yourself and what did you find?
The last time was after you asked this question, haha. Well...I can't recall the exact last time but I'm sure now and even then I wasn't on page 1. I hate the whole SEO thing. I'm here to touch people with my words and not impress any algorithms. I love Google and would love to be on page 1, but not by the means of SEO. When I google myself, all I found were many people sharing my name. They were stubborn competitors fighting endlessly using SEO to retain their position on page 1. I didn't check page 2 though! smiles.