Goodreads
Goodreads asked Laxmi Hariharan:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Laxmi Hariharan Follow your instinct.

Why do you want to write?
You must answer this. Is it fame, money, bestseller lists? Is it to express yourself? Me? I write because I thrive on the reactions from my readers. I want them to laugh, cry, swear. I want them to hate me, love me. I want to write so I touch them enough for them to reach out to me. Took me only like a decade to realize that!

What do you want to write?
what kind of character makes YOU want to pick up a book? What trope resonates with you. What genre/ sub-genre most motivates you to get on the keyboard and dash off the words.

It took me many years to drill down into the fact that I wanted to write romance, in fact, dark romance with themes that lit up my subconscious. Emotions that I had hidden away and wanted to explore. Put my characters in difficult situations from which it was difficult to get out... which pushed them to find hidden reserves of themselves, reinventing themselves... and me in the process. Most of all, write.

Keep writing
The more you write, the more you understand what you want to say. The more you complete a book, the shorter the cycle gets. The rhytmn of the journey of the character mirrors the circle of your life... my life... the more you write, the more you understand yourself, what you want, what your characters want.

"To thine own self be true" - Yep the Bard said it best!
The more truthful you get in what you say... this... that shining moment of clarity, when you bare yourself, and stand naked, revealing your darkest deepest desires... that is what your readers want. That is why they will pick up your books.

Have more questions? Comment and let me know!

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