Ask the Author: Sitharaam Jayakumar
Answered Questions (6)
Sitharaam Jayakumar
Well, the most recent and only book I have written is 'Eighty Hours To Save Karen.' The idea for this book was born when I decided to participate in Blogchatter's A to Z blogging festival. The rules of the festival state that in the month of April you have to write twenty-six posts on your blog, each connected to a letter of the alphabet in order. At that point in time, I had never written fiction. I realized this would be a golden opportunity to add fiction to my repertoire. And the result was 'Eighty Hours To Save Karen'.
Sitharaam Jayakumar
Well, I have already said a lot about how I started my writing journey in my author profile. So I will not harp on that again. I post articles as well as poetry on my blog. As far as articles go, whenever a headline in the newspaper or the television affects me strongly I write about it. But for poetry, I admit I have to wait for inspiration. A chance comment by someone or some line or phrase I happen to hear somewhere makes me sit down and write poetry. I write flash fiction and short stories taking cues from photo prompts provided by sites such as Friday Fictioneers, Sunday Photo Fiction, Sue Vincent's Daily Echo and several other such sites. As far as full-length novels are concerned I am a fan of Stephen King. I simply love his books. I get inspiration by reading his novels. I dream of being able to emulate him someday which is a very very tall order and sounds ridiculous even to me.
Sitharaam Jayakumar
Before completing 'Eighty Hours To Save Karen', I had begun work on another psychological thriller. I wrote a hundred pages and then put it on the back burner. I have just started working on it again. Other than that I post articles regularly on my blog. Sometimes I post poetry too.
Sitharaam Jayakumar
Well, it would be slightly out of place for me to give advice to aspiring writers because I am myself an aspiring writer. But I would like to share something from my brief writing experience. Before I began writing 'Eighty Hours To Save Karen' I had read a lot of interviews given by thriller writers. Most writers held the opinion that before beginning a book it is very important to have the plot clearly laid out in one's mind. They also mentioned that a lot of thought has to go into developing the characters and mentioned several such things. I tried to sit down and think of a plot and I could not come up with a single idea. I felt like big Moose in an Archie comic trying to solve an Algebra problem. I almost gave up the idea of writing a book.
But just for the heck of it I switched on my laptop and typed out some five or six paragraphs. This ultimately became the first chapter of 'Eighty Hours To Save Karen' which I hope you will all like. Mind you, I don't mean to belittle anyone. The interviews I read were from really fantastic authors. I am myself a fan of those writers. They are far far superior to me and their advice definitely is valid. All I am saying is you may be a person for whom such advice may not work. So do not go with pre-conceived notions. Work out your own method by experimentation.
But just for the heck of it I switched on my laptop and typed out some five or six paragraphs. This ultimately became the first chapter of 'Eighty Hours To Save Karen' which I hope you will all like. Mind you, I don't mean to belittle anyone. The interviews I read were from really fantastic authors. I am myself a fan of those writers. They are far far superior to me and their advice definitely is valid. All I am saying is you may be a person for whom such advice may not work. So do not go with pre-conceived notions. Work out your own method by experimentation.
Sitharaam Jayakumar
Of course, there are the usual things one can say like it gives you a means to express your creativity, it helps you to improve your insight, imagination and so on. But for me, the greatest gain has been the soothing effect writing has on my nerves. I am an IT professional and have a heavy work schedule. When I have time to spare, it is extremely relaxing to sit back and let my pen flow as it pleases. Most of the articles and poems in my blog have been written when I have sat with my laptop in front of me and let my fingers wander over the keyboard.
Sitharaam Jayakumar
I have been writing for just fifteen months and have been fortunate enough not to be afflicted with writer's block too often. In my short career as a writer, there have been just two instances when I have faced a writer's block. These happened when I was writing 'Eighty Hours To Save Karen'. On both occasions, I took a deep breath, sat back and tried to understand why I was not able to proceed further with my book. I discovered that the problem was that I was trying to think too far ahead into the book. I was trying to think of the tenth chapter while I was still writing the fifth. I was trying to work out things in my head beforehand. The minute I quit doing this and started taking smaller steps, the blocks automatically disappeared and I was able to move towards the completion of my book.
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