Ask the Author: Kartik Sharma
Answered Questions (4)
Kartik Sharma
Write on a subject that you feel strongly about. This is the only way to be genuine and authentic, especially when writing your first novel. I wrote a few novel length manuscripts that I had thoroughly researched for before writing The Quest of the Sparrows - on a subject that was really close to my heart. The difference in the quality was immediately evident.
Also, writing is hard work. It requires you to be sincere. So please be mentally prepared for the same. It will require you to be resilient since you'll have to take criticism in your stride. Not every reader, every critic will love your book equally. However, take the criticism as a learning opportunity to improve your future work.
Lastly, enjoy the process of writing because there's no better feeling in the world.
Also, writing is hard work. It requires you to be sincere. So please be mentally prepared for the same. It will require you to be resilient since you'll have to take criticism in your stride. Not every reader, every critic will love your book equally. However, take the criticism as a learning opportunity to improve your future work.
Lastly, enjoy the process of writing because there's no better feeling in the world.
Kartik Sharma
I am currently writing a short, adventure-comedy novel, a literary fiction novella and a science fiction trilogy. It helps to write across these multiple genres as it keeps me going whenever I feel too daunted or too confused on any book.
Kartik Sharma
The boring answer to this question, but also the honest truth, is that it is super exciting to create new worlds and new characters. It lets you live many, many lives - make decisions you wouldn't or couldn't in this reality and also live out the consequences of the choices you didn't make. It's like tapping into a parallel universe to meet yourself in an alternate reality. It also helps you understand your decisions in the past that define your present - like a cathartic meditation.
On a personal note, for me, a thing that I enjoy a great deal about writing is that it makes me feel fortunate for having found my one-true purpose. I love that I don't have to struggle over existential matters like what is the purpose of my life and what am I doing here. It's awesome when some idiot at a party asks the uncomfortable question - 'what's the one thing you are passionate about?' and you have a one word answer ready and don't have to search for a long winded explanation that would make you sound smart! You can quickly go back to being lost in your thoughts and that chapter you were working on.
On a personal note, for me, a thing that I enjoy a great deal about writing is that it makes me feel fortunate for having found my one-true purpose. I love that I don't have to struggle over existential matters like what is the purpose of my life and what am I doing here. It's awesome when some idiot at a party asks the uncomfortable question - 'what's the one thing you are passionate about?' and you have a one word answer ready and don't have to search for a long winded explanation that would make you sound smart! You can quickly go back to being lost in your thoughts and that chapter you were working on.
Kartik Sharma
I haven't found a go-to remedy for writer's block yet. I am still learning how to cope with it. Given my utter lack of choice in the matter, when I am struggling with the block, I simply don't write. There's a lot going on in anyone's life at any point in time and there are several other pressing things I go to - like doing the laundry, ironing my clothes, fixing my wardrobe, arranging books in my bookshelves in alphabetical order first, and then redoing the sorting by author names, instead. During my most recent block, I sorted the books into a read section and a to-read section which overwhelmed me with the amount of books I own, but am yet to read. It's also a good time to start using that gym membership finally!
However, I have found ways to reduce the block. I have found that reading helps a lot. I try to insert myself in the author's mind to understand what motivated him to write a certain section the way he did and how would I have done it, instead. That helps get those creative juices flowing again. Other times, I let myself get bored out of my mind by not doing anything for days at end and it stimulates me to get out of the rut and it motivates me like nothing else!
Let me know how you deal with it in the comments section.
However, I have found ways to reduce the block. I have found that reading helps a lot. I try to insert myself in the author's mind to understand what motivated him to write a certain section the way he did and how would I have done it, instead. That helps get those creative juices flowing again. Other times, I let myself get bored out of my mind by not doing anything for days at end and it stimulates me to get out of the rut and it motivates me like nothing else!
Let me know how you deal with it in the comments section.
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