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Before I go along outpouring my pits and falls along my writing journey, I would like to warn the readers that this is my first personal post:-). The intention behind this post is to help readers, fellow writers, authors really connect and seep through their own personal interests and passion. Hopefully this helps some of the new writers; I like to call writers as creative minds, because writers don’t just write/type, their creative mind is flowing incessantly which produces such beautiful words and voices, bringing characters to life and entertaining or educating the readers.
A little about me and myself: I have a beautiful, successful professional career that pays well. I have come a long way in the corporate world. But, yet, I chose to write, why? Passion drives work and when you love what you do, it brings you contentment, happiness 🙂
I first conceived this idea of becoming a writer in 2012, but I knew absolutely nothing about writing or its world!! I read several novels when I grew up as a teenager, I loved and cherished many words and lines in those novels, but never thought of writing. I read Arundhathi Roy’s; “God of small things,” pretty late; but when I read that book, something sparked within me. I read more about her. Her strength as an activist, as a novelist, her deep expression in her writing told me that she as a woman, proved herself.
The other book that equally carried influence on me was the “seven habits of highly effective people.” This book has proven and showed ways and means to be successful, motivating at a level that each one of us, regardless of which field we are in, can be inspired. So, I said to myself- “Why can’t I try?”
But then, the reality bewildered me, there are many writers that only saw rejections for over years, that had literature as their career, and I am nowhere closer to writing from my background or career. So, just write and shelve it? Can’t show to the world? Maybe give it to a few friends to read? I had these questions, but never had I told myself, that I would not write. So, I went ahead and started writing my first ever fiction book: the first draft: which later I discovered was crap!!
It took almost over an year to just write about 10K words and finally threw it in the trash. I stayed away for a few weeks from the writing world and continued to focus on my full time job and career.
But, every once in awhile, I got weird and strange feelings that used to tap my inner self, sometimes gently, sometimes harshly, questioning me, what meaningful work am I doing? For me, meaningful and purposeful phrases(I call them phrases) are so closely connected to your passion. When you cannot do something you are passionate about, then your life is meaningless. That’s something that bothered me.
So around 2014, I started working on the same story idea which is in women’s fiction genre but with an overlapping love, religion, spirituality genres in a subtle manner. (By the way, I am inclined to women’s fiction in general, so I wanted to write what I wanted to write and enjoy writing.) With full time job, household stuff, small kids; getting time was hard, but I have not given up. I wrote in a disciplined manner and did several edits myself before I gave it to the editor(firstonlineediting services). I got a good feedback, compared to many stories I heard, but I had my doubts. Nevertheless, I moved along and started making/incorporating final changes.
And of course self publishing revolution pushed me further into the publishing thought process and gave me a way!! Yay!! No rejections : -)
All along the journey, I got several questions around editing(who to choose and how to choose and to what level?), writing discipline, balancing work/life/sleep, overcoming fear/judgment, self publishing, marketing, etc. I had written blog posts from what I had learned along my journey around these topics. Check them out if interested in my blog right here: -). I welcome any suggestions/comments.
And check out my first published work of fiction in the below link on Amazon
#Fiction #Womensfiction #IndianAmerican #relationships #love #feelgood #inspirational #amwriting #amreading #amazon #kindle #publishing
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