Rooprashi's Blog, page 3

BOOK WRITING AND PUBLISHING FOR ASPIRING WRITERS IN INDIA

Q: How to start writing a book?

A: Every new writer is confused about how to start writing a book and whether he/she will be able to write a book or not. I would suggest that you just need to pick up your pen and write and take the first step, everything else will follow. When I started writing my first book, I tried to pour the thoughts as raw as they were coming in my mind because I think that the best way to write thoughts is to pen them down as raw as they are.

 

Q: What are the hardships one faces during writing a book?

A: Writing a book is an amazing journey. Its not easy but you will enjoy it if you love writing. A few times you may feel stuck too and you may think that you would not be able to proceed further as writing a book can be mentally draining at times where you feel short of thoughts and ideas. I think at that time what can help you a lot is reading. You can stop writing at those moments and read. I think reading opens up your mind if you are stuck with ideas. Reading can be the best way to open up your mind when it feels tired and short of ideas. It gives you other perspectives and other angles to see things around you. You can perceive things, other’s emotions and perspectives in a better way. So, I think reading and writing go hand in hand. You can proceed slowly and only wrote when you actually feel like writing and never take it as a task to complete. I think writing is something which comes from the soul. If you do it as a task or job, it loses a bit of its flavour.

 

Q: Why is editing important?

A: A good editor gives your book a new look grammatically, formation of sentences and expression of words. I think it acts like garnishing a food item to make it look beautiful and presentable. Good editing can make a huge difference to your book’s performance. So, I would recommend a book to be edited before being sent to the publishers for final publishing.

 

Q: How to get book published?

A: I think getting published has become very easy these days. You can easily get your kindle version published. Self-publishing has also opened the way and made path easier for writers. Getting published used to be a big thing in the past but now a day many publishers offer self-publishing packages. But I do not believe in getting published this way. I think one should always try to get published traditionally. Getting published traditionally is still a very tough task. Traditional publishing means that the publisher selects your script to be published from their publishing house. They do this because they see the potential in the book and expect the book to sale and do good business for their publishing house. I think one should compete and try to get their book published through traditional publishing if they really want to grow as a writer. I feel that before getting the book published, the book should have all the qualities to be read and be appreciated by the readers. Because in the end the quality of book matters a lot.

 

Q: What are the basic requirements of publishers when we contact to get published?

 A: Most publishers usually accept the manuscripts through emails. You can send the 2-3 sample chapters to different publishers. Every publisher has their specific guidelines for manuscript submission which you can find on their websites. Some of the main publishers where new authors stand a chance to get published are:

HarperCollins

Rupa Publications

Penguin

Random House

Srishti Publishers

Leadstart

Fingerprints

Petals Publishers

Juggernaut

Mahaveer

Roli books

Westland

Getting published traditionally can be a tough job many times. So, I would advise not to lose patience and keep trying. The publishing houses usually take 2-3 months to respond and it can a quite a tough time sometimes. But if the book is selected for publishing traditionally, you will be at a great advantage because the real struggle starts after getting the book published. So, the whole process of book writing and publishing will require a lot of patience and most importantly belief in oneself. All the best.

 

-Rooprashi (Author of The Girl Who Saw It All)

PC: Anukampa Sharma (@astralrover)

The post BOOK WRITING AND PUBLISHING FOR ASPIRING WRITERS IN INDIA appeared first on Rooprashi | Author Of "The Girl Who Saw It All".

BOOK WRITING AND PUBLISHING IN INDIA FOR NEW WRITERS

Q: How to start writing a book?

A: Every new writer is confused about how to start writing a book and whether he/she will be able to write a book or not. I would suggest that you just need to pick up your pen and write and take the first step, everything else will follow. When I started writing my first book, I tried to pour the thoughts as raw as they were coming to my mind because I think that the best way to write is pen down your thoughts as raw as they are.

Q: What are the hardships one faces during writing a book?

A: Writing a book is an amazing journey. Its not easy but you will enjoy it if you love writing. A few times you may feel stuck too and you may think that you would not be able to proceed further as writing a book is can be mentally draining at times where you feel short of thoughts and ideas. I think at that time what can help you a lot is reading. You can stop writing at those moments and read a book. I think reading opens up your mind if you are stuck with ideas. I am sharing the key to writing a book which I think helped me a lot. Reading can be the best way to open up your mind when it feels tired and short of ideas. It gives you other perspectives and other angles to see things around you. You can better perceive things, other’s emotions and perspectives. So, I think reading and writing go hand in hand. You can proceed slowly and write only when you actually feel like writing. You should never take it as a task to complete. I think writing is something which comes from the soul. If you do it as a task or job, I think it loses a bit of its flavor.

Q: Why is editing important?

A: A good editor gives your book a new look grammatically, formation of sentences and expression of words. I think it acts like garnishing a food item to make it look beautiful and presentable. Good editing can make a huge difference to your book’s performance. So, I would recommend a book to be edited before being sent to the publishers for final publishing.

Q: How to get book published?

A: I think getting published has become very easy these days. You can easily get your kindle version published. Self-publishing has also opened the way and made path easier for writers. Getting published used to be a big thing in the past but now a day many publishers offer self-publishing packages. All you need to do is to give money and script and your book will be published. But I do not believe in getting published this way. I think one should always try to get published traditionally. Getting published traditionally is still a very tough task. Traditional publishing means that the publisher finds your script worth being published for free from their publishing house. They do this because they see the potential in the book and expect the book to sale and do good business for their publishing house. I think one should compete and try to get their book published through traditional publishing if they really want to grow as a writer. I feel that before getting the book published, the book should have all the qualities to be read and be appreciated by the readers. Because in the end the quality of book matters a lot.

Q: What are the basic requirements of publishers when we contact to get published?

A: Most publishers usually accept the manuscripts through emails. You can send the 2-3 sample chapters to different publishers. Every publisher has their specific guidelines for manuscript submission which you can find on their websites. Some of the main publishers where new authors stand a chance to get published are:

HarperCollins

Rupa Publications

Penguin

Random House

Srishti Publishers

Leadstart

Fingerprints

Petals Publishers

Juggernaut

Mahaveer

Roli books

Westland

Getting published traditionally can be a tough job many times. So, I would advise not to lose patience and keep trying. The publishing houses usually take 2-3 months to respond and it can be quite tough to wait sometimes. But if the book is selected for publishing traditionally, you will be at a great advantage. But I would also say that the real struggle starts after getting the book published. So, the whole process of book writing and publishing will require a lot of patience and most importantly belief in oneself.

I hope this blog will help the new writers in India. I wish them all the best.

-Rooprashi (Author of “The Girl Who Saw It All”)

HOW BOOKS IMPACT PERSONALITY

When you finish a book, you are not the same person that you were before reading it. A book impacts our personality to the extent that we cannot imagine. This is the reason for the increasing sales of the books which bring positivity and motivate you. Every good book stores a magic within itself and leaves an everlasting impact on the readers’ minds. Let’s see the reasons how it happens:

 

Connection: The story of the book makes an invisible connection with the reader’s mind. They start to co-relate with the story and the happenings. The readers start to imagine the things they could have done in that similar situation and accordingly it effects their way of thinking and makes them think broader in the way story takes turn in the book.

 

Introspection: Books give a chance to the reader to introspect about themselves through various ways like from the protagonist’s role in the book or the teachings in the book. The readers feel the urge to explore themselves, to think out of the box, to look at things from the other angles too.

 

Effect On Sub-conscious Mind: Books have a great effect on the sub-conscious mind. The things which happened in the past, the feelings which we suppressed, the situations which we avoided. We move on but all these remain dumped somewhere in the sub-conscious mind. The books make us realize the importance of expression and relieve us from the burden of these sub-conscious memories.

 

Confrontation with reality: Books take us to an imaginary world away from today’s materialistic world and artificiality. They confront us with the realities, real emotions and the things that actually matter in life. They help us see beyond the curtain that covers our mind when we get too much involved in the worldly things.

 

Decision Making: Many a times when we are stuck in a situation in life, books come to our rescue. They suggest and guide us to take a decision in life. They give a clarity of thought and helps us quantify the pros and cons of a particular decision. Just the way, Bhagwat Gita stores the solution to every problem in life because it gives the readers a clear perspective of the situation and its solution. Books also help us to find strength within ourselves to do things which we want to do and take decisions accordingly.

Books are your greatest friends. They teach us things in a unique way and never leave us alone. A person is never alone when he/she has a book in hand. The books have the same impact on the reader’s mind as a friend/guardian can have on you. That why, pen is said to be a powerful weapon which can leave everlasting impression on a reader’s mind.

– Published by Author Rooprashi (@rooprashi)

PC: Anukampa Sharma (@astralrover_) 

HOLD THE REINS OF YOUR LIFE IN YOUR HANDS

You gather the courage sometimes a bit late but you do. It comes to you when it has to. The courage to take a step, a decision, to safegaurd yourself and your dreams. The courage to be alone, to be self-dependent when you need to. It does come with time, with experience and with patience.

You become in-charge of your happiness. You stop depending on anyone else for it. There comes a time when you feel the liberty. The liberty from your own thoughts, your self-created boundaries in the mind. You realize that you are not in the prison of your thoughts anymore and you can live as you want. You understand that no one was ever stopping you and holding you back. It was you,  keeping yourself tied in all the strings and self-created boundaries.

This is the real freedom and its an awesome feeling, an addiction. Once you live this feeling, you realize your true self and you yearn to live this way forever. You cease to go back to your earlier self. In a dark room, you may be misguided about the space in the room but once the light is switched on, the realization comes that it is not a small room but a much bigger hall you are standing in. Once enlightened, you can never go back to your earlier self because this is what enlightenment is meant for. Its for forever.

-Rooprashi

WOMEN – WHY ARE THEY HELD BACK?

One should feel lucky to be a woman. Specially, in a country like India, where women are discriminated from the very time they take birth. Women are given challenge at every step to overcome because of their gender. This may be the reason that women are excelling in every field because the one who faces hardships becomes stronger and works harder. It may be sports, studies, management, science, politics or any other field, we are finding women excelling in every field. But there are also many cases where women succumb to this discrimination and lose their identity.

Surprisingly, the biggest catalyst of this discrimination are the women itself. The saddest ones on the birth of a girl are majorly the women of the family. The first ones to support discrimination of a girl child are the mothers. With a boy and a girl child at home, only the girl child is taught the household work, making her realize from the very beginning that her brother and father is superior coz they are males so they need not learn these tasks. She is made to realize from the very childhood that it is her job to do the household work just like her mother is doing right now.

The brother will be served by his mother before marriage and then she will hand over this overgrown male child to his wife. He is taught from very beginning that household work is not his job and he will get a permanent maid in the form of wife to do these stuffs later.

The girls are given education sometimes only basic and sometimes more. But the sole purpose of education is to find a good groom for her. She is allowed to do job but later is also pressurized to leave the job to get married or after becoming mother. “Allowed” is the word whose importance she is made to realize from time to time. It gets imbibed in her personality so well that she thinks before doing anything “Am I allowed to do this?”. Even before doing the simple tasks she thinks “Can I drive alone?” , “Can I travel alone?”, “What will people think if I go out leaving the baby with other’s at home?”, ” Am I being a good mother by pursuing my job?”

Her freedom is decided by her family before marriage and her husband/in-laws afterwards. There are always people there who are there to decide what she is allowed to do and what she is not.

In many families these days, women are going to work and handling home simultaneously. But at what cost? She is expected to be a robot. To do the household work single handedly with her job. To add the cherry to the cake, there are families who do not allow her to keep a maid too and if she does, it is like a taboo and she is accused of being inefficient.

When she somehow lives in these multiple boundaries set for her, she is praised for being multi-tasking and a good daughter-in-law. No one thinks about the damage so much stress is causing to her physically and mentally. This is the reason that we find depression cases mostly in women. Even her depression is not understood by her so called nears and dears and she is accused of being irritated without reason and being hyper over small issues. Why is it so? Because her crime is to be a women?

This is the scenario most commonly seen in the households of my nation even the ones who call themselves educated on one hand and start to plan about marriage of their daughter from her very birth. Their sole aim is to get her married to a nice family. Do we really have the reason to complain when dowry accident occur with our daughters. Are we mothers not the ones who told her to adjust in that family and that she has no life if she would leave that family. We tell her to keep dying inside but live with that family. No one gives a thought as to how alone that girl would be feeling who does not have the support of even her parents/husband. She breaks down inside. Either she gives up her life or if she tries to fight alone her life is taken away from her by her in-laws.

The day to day crimes against women happening or the gender-bias everywhere, even at work is a result of this mentality deep rooted in the minds of some males who have been grown up to consider women as objects. The family is so proud at the birth of the male child and treats him as a prince while discriminating the females of house in front of him. He has been grown up with the feeling of superiority that he can not accept a “No” from anyone that too from an object like female.

It is said that the times are changing. But are they really? Or may be very slowly. The times will change when we raise our daughter as equals. Its a good to learn household work and be independent. But not with a gender bias. Either both son and daughter learn or none. It is good to educate our daughters but not with an aim to find a good groom in future. Educate them to be independent, teach them that they are self-efficient and do not depend on anyone. Give them the freedom to decide their life.

Lucky are those who have got a mother and a family to raise them without a gender bias. Times will only change when we stop the bias we do knowingly/unknowingly at our home with our babies. Specially, we women have to stop considering ourselves as the weaker ones and accepting discrimination as our fate. Its all in the mind and its the thinking and the mentality that makes a society. Its high time to change our mindset and help the nation to progress in true sense. Looking forward to live in better times and a truly evolved society in coming future.

-Rooprashi

DISCONNECT TO CONNECT

As rightly said “The light isn’t at the end of the tunnel, it’s in you”. To connect with your inner-self is the biggest connection. These days we are connected with everyone with just click of a button but the major connection is lost, the connection with ourselves. We are aware of everything that is happening outside but are ignorant about what is happening within us, what we really want or is everything we are doing or fighting for everyday really worth it?

How often do we really talk with ourselves, connect with our own thoughts and try to realize what we really want? Sometimes, connecting with oneself by disconnecting with everything else is the only therapy one needs. It could be disconnection from the things that distract us from the right path, the people who bring the negativity in our life, the weaknesses which drag us towards a stressful life.

There are things which we need to discuss with ourselves to avoid many unnecessary confusions in life. Most complications in life are due to being too over-involved in the outer world and ignoring our inner voice. Disconnection may mean different to different people and may involve moving to a distant place, changing a job, being away from technology or a person etc. Disconnect from anything that disturbs your inner peace and prohibits you from being the person that you are. For positivity in life, just be who you are and try to be with the ones who accept you as you are. So, just log out and unplug every stress and negativity and find happiness within yourself.

-Rooprashi

MOTHERHOOD: AN OCEAN OF FEELINGS

I have always struggled in expressing my feelings in words. But this time I very much feel like expressing my feelings of Motherhood coz my heart is so full of love as it was never before. As rightly said by someone “I have been proud of many things in my life but nothing beats being a mother.”

I have never been fond of kids. So, I just wonder how such a tiny creature who has not yet even started speaking can give rise to an ocean of feelings within you. I wonder how her smile changes my whole mood, how I understand her every gesture, how can someone love you so unconditionally that all that matters to them is your love and attention.

Sometimes I just wish I had the power to stop the time coz I don’t want this time to pass. I don’t want her to grow up. I feel like cherishing this time forever. It just seems like a thing of yesterday that she came into my life and everyone said that she looks like me. Yes, she looks like me and is like me too and I feel so damn happy about it. It feels like seeing myself growing up in her. The way she cuddled me when she was born and recognised me at the very first glance made me feel like I felt never before.

There are secret codes between me and her which she knows only I would understand. As soon as she comes in my lap she just gives me her secret indication of what she needs. Sometimes, when I know she is making noise just to get my attention, I laugh at her and she laughs back as if I have caught her red handed. While doing mischievous activities, when I look into her eyes, she tries to escape the eye contact like a thief who is caught stealing. In the crowd, when she is astonished and is behaving like a serious good baby, she secretly gives me a toothless smile.

She has a “Mommy Antenna” on her head, which keeps on checking if her mommy is within the permitted distance. Whenever, I move out of that region, she starts looking for me for some time and then making hue and cry over the matter. Frankly speaking, I enjoy this feeling of being so important to this little creature. A feeling of being the most important person in someone’s life, like literally the most important person.

As I enjoy every stage of motherhood, her stages of growing up, I feel every stage has its own pleasures. Yes, it does come with responsibility. But the pleasure outshines every other feeling. The pleasure of seeing her smile in her dreams after waking up whole night, the pleasure when she starts jumping with joy when she sees me coming near her, the pleasure of holding her in my arms close to my heart, the pleasure to see her giggle, the pleasure when she says “ma ma” and the pleasure of pretending to sleep to make her sleep and my actually falling asleep in the process. I am thankful to my daughter for making me aware of this feeling of Motherhood which I never thought existed within me.

I write this blog, while I see her sleeping peacefully by my side, her fingers touching my hand to ensure that her mommy is there besides her. In her sub-conscious mind, she is content with the thought that mommy is besides her. I wish I can make her feel the same way throughout my life that no matter what the situation is her mother would be besides her through thick and thin as a friend, partner in crime, guide, advisor and most importantly as a mother.

-Rooprashi

FORGIVE YOURSELF

Why is it so hard to forgive ourselves? Sometimes, we find it easier to forgive others but we fail at forgiving ourselves. There are situations in life which do not turn out as expected. Since our mind is so much conditioned for things to turn out as we want, we are unable to accept the truth and start considering ourselves responsible for the failure. We keep carrying the load of this guilt in our conscience.

We may seem like a normal happy person to the world but deep inside we burn in our own guilt. Why does it happen? Why can’t we consider ourselves as normal human who can err, who can not predict things, who is not responsible for all the reasoning and the surprises life has in store for us.

The things which happen to us are carried with us throughout our life, changing our personalities and the perception of the world from time to time. Some call it getting matured with age; some say that we grow up while some call it experience. It is all the load we carry on our mind just like carrying a sack full of unwanted things on the back. We carry this baggage of emotions and self blaming with us. We forget to be kind with ourselves, to expect less from ourselves and end up becoming a person which we never were.

We need to remember that whatever we do in a situation at a particular time is the best we can do. Whether we do it with all the thinking and wisdom or not, it would have been the best thing to happen at that time. So, we should not regret about it. We always try to do the best that we can so why to blame yourself later on. Just let things play out, what’s supposed to happen will happen. We don’t have to carry the blame and load on our souls.

Once we learn to forgive ourselves and not to over-think the issues, life becomes easier. Then why not practise it and live life as it is destined to be. Let go of the things meant to break you and thank God for this beautiful life.

-Rooprashi

SLEEPING WITH A TODDLER

She yawns 3 times and starts rubbing her eyes. Its 11 at night and all your hopes are high. She is giving you all the positive signs and you are damn sure that this little volcano is finally going to sleep after all day’s blasts. She lays cradled in your lap and closes her eyes. You are relaxed and looking at her innocent face. Suddenly, her eyes are wide open and she gives you a big naughty smile and then tries to get up, agile to play. You don’t know how to react and you try to put her back to sleep. But all efforts in vain. She is looking at you exuberantly like you are the best mom in the world. The smile takes your heart away and you too start playing with her.

Its 12 at night, she is tired by now and wants to sleep. You take her in your lap, she cuddles you and sleeps instantly. You too complete your chores and sleep. In the middle of night, you are startled by the kicking of  two small feet on your face. You wake up to see that your teeny-weeny has rotated by 90 degrees and is making space for her. You correct her sleeping position. Your teeny-weeny opens her eyes, sees you, feels relaxed and sleeps again peacefully. After an hour, you feel your hair being pulled. By now, you are enough experienced to guess the situation, you immediately wake up and prepare baby’s feed. The little angel gives you a sleepy smile and takes her feed and sleeps.

Its 6 in the morning and your toddler has the good habit of waking up early. She wakes you up with her cute calls. You try to play with her, reposed, with half eyes open. She is playing with her toys by your side. Suddenly, you smell something familiar and yes, its the poop time. She is not worried at all about the poop cleaning and is playing with her stuff earnestly. You open your eyes, she gives you her cute toothless smile and offers you her toy to play. You hug and kiss this little angel in disguise and are ready for the day.

-Rooprashi