“Read what you like to write” by Sundari Venkatraman

<< Don’t focus on publishing while writing  

Author-itative tips on writing, publishing, marketing

4. Read what you like to write

There’s story-telling verbally and there’s writing. Though both may appear to be the same, they are not completely synonymous. You can be an excellent story-teller when you listen to stories. This could be at your grandmother’s knee or even on YouTube nowadays. This could really open up your imagination and make a grand story-teller out of you. Story-telling is more focussed towards creating scenes while you talk.

But does that help you become a writer?

To an extent, yes! Since this can help open up your imagination. But to actually paint pictures in words on the pages of a book, you need to read. I know a few people who have planned their writing careers without reading a single book, or maybe after reading sporadically; a book or two in a year. 

Writing is a play of words. For this, you need to find out the many ways words can be played with. How better than to read? Read voraciously, ideally, anything that you can lay your hands on. There was a time when my sister and I used to fight over the piece of paper in which peanuts came wrapped in, to be the first one to read the print. If you don’t enjoy reading everything in front of you, at least read the books of some favourite authors. 

Okay, you need to read quite a bit to get a list of favourites in the first place. But I am sure you see what I mean. Reading helps to open up your minds, gets you more creative and hones your language. 

After reading a lot of books, you begin to understand which genre truly excites you. Then, you can turn your attention to reading that kind of books. This will go a long way in helping you decide how and what you want to write. 

I like romances. Not just romances, I love those that have “Happily Ever After” endings. Nowadays, I read those the most and I write HEA Romances. But well, I had to read (I still do actually) a lot of books from different genres before I realised what I wanted to do. 

Over and above all that, so much of reading has made my imagination abundant and helps me create my stories and characters. 

Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author of 15 titles—13 romance novels & two short story collections, all on Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon. 

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“Don’t focus on publishing while writing” by Sundari Venkatraman

<< Creativity VS Rules

Author-itative tips on writing, publishing, marketing

3. Don’t focus on publishing while writing

As I had mentioned in my first article, you are a fiction writer because you want to tell a story and the story is not letting you rest till you are done. 

When you begin penning this masterpiece, try to remain focussed on it. If you begin to procrastinate on who’s going to publish it, you are bound to be distracted. And believe me, you will suddenly realise that a few months have gone by and you have written barely a thousand words. 

In such a scenario, a publisher becomes redundant as you don’t have a book to publish.

A writer is a dreamer first. I am sure you all agree with me on that. 

But there is dreaming and there is procrastination. The dictionary meaning of procrastination is, “the action of delaying or postponing something”. So, you spin a story in your mind and dream of publishing it with the biggest publisher in the world, it might be just a waste of time and even worse, a waste of energy.

First write the book. Then think of publishing after your first draft is ready. Imagine the joy of having people read your work, rather than the fame of getting published. You can be published by a famous publisher and even sell a lot, but that still doesn’t guarantee that your books are actually being read. Of course, nothing can guarantee that. But wouldn’t you rather people really read and valued your book than having it just published? And for that the book needs to be written first. 

Focus on writing. Dream of your characters. Allow them to play in your mind. Let them free to deal with each other. Then write down what they have to tell you. 

This is how I breathe life into my characters. Believe me when I say that you can’t fail with your writing in such a scenario. 

If your story is good and well told, publishing is too easy nowadays with the advent of indie publishing. And if you are a success at that, big publishers will knock at your door.

All this is for those writers who are in this game for the long run. We aren’t talking about flash in the pans here.

Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author of 14 titles—12 romance novels & two short story collections, all on Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon. 

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Creativity VS Rules by Sundari Venkatraman

<<Why write? 

Author-itative tips on writing, publishing, marketing

2. Creativity VS Rules

People will tell you there are a number of rules to follow while writing. It could be about how a story should be written only from a protagonist’s view point, it should have a perfect introduction, characters should be brought into the picture at exact points, the story should flow smoothly, you should stick to your genre, the conflict should be perfect, the correct amount of dialogue against narration, first person story or third person story...

You get the drift!

But creativity does not work that way. If you keep concentrating on the rules, your story will probably escape from the window. I would say, just go with the flow. Let your fiction flow along with your imagination and put everything into words. When you open your imagination, you will see your story in pictures. Just follow what your characters tell you and write the scenes and dialogues. This will form the best possible story you can write and believe me when I tell you that your readers will enjoy reading such stories. If you keep stopping in the middle of your writing to keep checking for rules, you will probably blow the death knell on your creativity. The flow will be obstructed for all you know.

There are beta readers and editors or it could be even you when you give your story a proper reading after you complete it, to adapt all the rules and make necessary changes. Rules don’t have a role to play when you are creating your first draft. They will only curtail your creativity. Do not forget this important point when you begin to pen your bestseller.

A piece of fiction is written because it’s waiting to burst forth from within you and you might just die if you aren’t able to put it into words. Don’t break the flow while you think about the rules. Keep this in mind and you are sure to write a winner.

Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author of 14 titles—12 romance novels & two short story collections, all on Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon.

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Why Write? by Sundari Venkatraman

Authoritative Tips on Writing, Publishing,

and Marketing

1. Why write?

Are you on the threshold of the most exciting journey of your life—to becoming a creator? Yeah, that’s what writing fiction is all about. It’s like playing God as you breathe life into your character, give her a name, a shape, features, characteristics, idiosyncrasies and more. Even as you unleash your imagination, people and places come alive on the pages of your story.

If this is how you feel when you write, then you are moving in the right direction.

You are reading a book and at the end of it, you can’t stop thinking about what could have happened after you shut the back flap; you keep imagining an ending that is way different from what the author has written or maybe even a variety of ways the story could have ended; you keep weaving a story on similar lines but with characters based in your hometown; scenes keep floating about in your head, not letting you sleep...

...then story-telling is your forte.

The above are reasons enough to choose writing as a profession and nowadays it’s very much possible to make it a lucrative one.

But...

If you are trying to write a story just because it’s the fashionable thing to do or because it is what your peers are doing, then please don’t bother.

If you are penning a novel just because you see a lot of authors becoming millionaires, and feel it’s a quick way to make money, you couldn’t be more wrong.

If you are writing a block buster (in your imagination) because you think it’s cool, then please get a job.

Writing needs passion, imagination, language skills, story-telling ability and very importantly, a strong sense of discipline. Above all these, you need self-motivation. Nobody’s going to tell you how to write or how much to write, day after day. All those stories that run in your mind, cannot be published if they are not put in words, more like a Word doc.

If you like the idea of playing God and are ready to work a couple of hours every day, actually writing your story; you have the patience to get it published – indie or traditional; market it shrewdly, then yes, writing is definitely a career option for you.

Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author of 14 titles—12 romance novels and two short story collections, all on Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon.

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Sundari Venkatraman
www.sundarivenkatraman.com