Guest post by Riti Prasad, Author of Wicked Temptations, a delightful short story collection

 

The journey of a writer perhaps begins with the first alphabet that one writes, haltingly, painstakingly, with a

hopeful parent or a no-nonsense teacher holding and guiding the hand. Each day of the hallowed journey

teaches a new word and the discovery of these exciting words provides an inexplicable delight. Slowly but

surely as the love for the written word sets in deeper, a wordsmith is born.

I believe that one does not become a writer only when one publishes a book but the process begins even

before one realizes that a book could become one of the results of the writing. When I discovered that I could

weave words together way back in school, when I realized that every time I read a beautifully written book I

thought fervently that how I wish I could write something like this; I decided that maybe I should try writing a

book. With my Mommy blog and book review blog, my journey of becoming a writer began. However that was

a small step and when I got down to actually writing a book, I had no idea how complex and challenging the

The first two books that I published were for children. Mathematics Fun, Fact and Fiction and Folk Tales from

around the world were fun to do books. Mathematics gave me the joy of exploring the best of the two worlds

that fascinate me- English and Mathematics. I had fun researching the topics, creating challenges and telling

The writing bug was hard to shake off and I took my tentative steps to writing fiction. Wicked Temptations was

born after a few years of patiently collecting 21 stories that would finally make the book.

The challenge and therefore the most difficult part of writing Wicked Temptations was to get the plot in

motion. I had many ideas but when I began to write the stories I stopped several times to mull over the writing

from the viewpoint of the reader. Will my reader understand what I want to say? Am I taking aspects in the

story for granted? Shouldn’t I explain the whole idea better? Am I telling rather than showing? It was a totally

different experience writing for adults as compared to writing for children.

I strongly believe that a writer is a work in progress. Each day or experience brings new material for the books.

A writer needs to employ the facilities of all sense organs and more to seek the story out. For instance; a keen

eye to look for inspirations, strong olfactory skills to smell stories out, imagination to coax a story from random

incidents or a stray conversation that the ears chance upon and a great deal of perseverance to give life to the

In Wicked Temptations, I experimented with several types of narrative. I used synesthesia, personification of

emotions, verse, chat transcript, diary excerpts and reinvented a classic tale. Story Mirror gave me a free hand

to explore and that helped me think laterally and work with several styles. Since it is an anthology, I had the

creative width to make the book relevant for people across age groups and across reader types. Wicked

Temptations is a light read, one that can be taken along on a journey or a Metro ride or read by those who are

easily daunted by heavy and complex books.

I started writing with a deep desire to pen a story, to see my name published on a book and feel that I have

ticked one of the tasks that I wanted to achieve in my life. But now, when people come back to me about their

views on the books and when I think deeply, I would say that if my writing manages to make a difference to

even a single person in the world, I will consider that my work was worth the time and effort I spent on it.

I hate it when writers say o write a story, write a bit every day and you will have your story or book at the end

of it all. But like the other writers, I would like to say the same thing! Write a bit every day, make every word

count and maximize its impact in your masterpiece. You might want to begin at the end of the story because

the best writers know when or where the story ends. Moreover, to write well, read as many genres as you can,

read as much as you can and read for yourself and not for the world.

 

Riti Prasad works for a Fragrance MNC as the Fragrance Development Head in Chennai. She has written three

books and was part of three published anthologies. She blogs at The Reading Corner-

http://www.itchingtoread.blogspot.com and http://www.itchingtowriteblogs.blogspot.com

Her books can be bought on amazon here