It’s been more than 4 years since I started this beautiful blog to celebrate the extraordinary lives of ordinary women around us. These stories not just inspired and changed the lives of readers of this blog but mine too. I got so thrilled, excited, and emotional while writing the stories of the incredible women from different parts of India and the globe that I just couldn’t stop myself from giving a try to live a life of my own dreams! This spark in me got the chance to turn into the fire during the hard-hitting worldwide Corona wave.
So, I started my writing journey as an author 2 years back in mid-2019 during the COVID 19 lockdown period. During the lockdown, someone suggested to me during an Insta Live why don’t you write a book on women? I thought it was a great idea.
A Glimpse into My Books
Since I loved writing poems and felt deeply about my fellow women suffering in silence, I penned down my first book I am in Love with Myself a collection of 50 poems dedicated to women. My second book 50 Shades of Life Me was in continuation of my first book- poems celebrating the strength of women! Kuchh Ankahe Ehsaas was my first attempt at writing Hindi poetry which contains poems on different topics including naari shakti. My fourth book Shivaay is one of my personal favorites. It’s again a poetry book in the Hindi language. Shivaay is a collection of 40 poems dedicated to Lord Shiva celebrating His various forms. Fifth book Being a Macho Man is also very close to my heart as it celebrates the men who are crushed under the weight of patriarchal traditions in Indian society and seeks freedom for them to be what they want to be.
My latest book Not a Superwoman is again a collection of poems saluting the spirit of Indian women. It’s an attempt to make women believe in their uniqueness without feeling any need to be a superwoman overburdening themselves with work and responsibilities. I am so happy with this journey. My genre is poetry. I don’t feel like expressing myself in stories or novels. So I will always be writing in this genre only.
Challenges I faced
The biggest challenge I have faced in my writing journey so far is marketing. Making your work available to the masses is a big challenge. You need to promote your book a lot as even a book with great content, if not read by your targeted people will be a waste. Promotion in today’s time needs a lot of money which a newbie author finds difficult to manage.
My Writing Process
It depends on my mood and the free and relaxed time I have in a day. Sometimes I may write 2-3 poems in a day while sometimes I don’t write at all in even a month! My book writing process is simple. I first decide the topic on which I have to write (about which I feel deeply ). Then I start writing my poems. After completing 40-50 poems I prepare my About the Author and About the Book in two styles one for the back cover of the book and one for the beginning pages inside the book. Decide the pic to be published on the book back cover of the book and I am ready to submit the manuscript to my publisher.
The most important piece of advice I can give to anyone trying to establish herself/himself as an author, especially as a poet is to write only when you feel like it. Don’t write only to fulfill your commitment or to complete the task. Let it take time. Don’t rush. And, the only skill mandatory for every author is being true and honest in expressing himself/herself. Without this skill, you will fail miserably.
I idolise Najwa Zebian. Her writings have touched my heart deeply. The way she expresses strong emotions in simple easy to understand English is marvelous. I also like reading Rupi Kaur. Chetan Bhagat though a novelist, but one of my favorite Indian authors of our time.
Writing lets me breathe. It lets me pour down all my pent-up emotions and feelings on paper. I feel so free and relaxed after writing. It’s just like medicine that heals me. 🙂
My only goal is to write good content which can not only touch people’s hearts but also help them in overcoming the problems in their lives. I love to break stereotypes and stigmas prevalent in our society through my writings and will keep doing so.
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