WriterStory Interviews of Writers
Chetan completed his Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications with specialisation in Public Relations from EMPI Business School, New Delhi. He is currently working as a PR Consultant, working with Gutenberg Communications as Account Supervisor. He is also a Professional Astrologer. Let us know more about his writing.
What inspired you to start writing?
Writing for me is a way to express myself. The things which I observe around me, especially society. I believe the way we are brought up marks a significant impression on the way we perceive things in life. Each of us has our own story to tell, the battles we are facing and the storms we have faced.
Every person has his/her own perspective and a way of behaving at things. All these in totality gives me ideas and reason to think, that how different situations influences our lives. All my stories are nothing but a situation in an individual’s life and their corollary reaction to it.
What did you like to read when you were a boy?
Reading has not been my passion or hobby till now but I hope to get on it soon. Every person I meet advices me to read all great authors and improve my writing skills further. I respect this suggestion from all my well-wishers, but I think as a writer / storyteller, I am still exploring myself. I want to see how well I can capture the emotions of people on paper crafting them in the kind of stories with which we can relate to. There are still lots of perspectives and issues on which I would like to see my own take and thoughts first.
In general, I am more interested in reading inspirational books such as – Dale Carnegi series, Man are from Mars and Women are from Venus, Robin Sharma collection of books on life and motivation. Apart from fiction and non-fiction, I love to read literature on occult science especially on astrology. I have read many books from the likes of Parashara, Mridula Trivedi and Jamini Sutra.
What is the greatest challenge in writing a book?
Well I think, Its not just about writing a book or any other goal of life. Self belief and perseverance are two things which you learn in the journey of achieving the goal, and without which it’s impossible to sustain that passion.
I have met many people which have shown no interest in my stories and have given me absolutely negative feedback. At the same time, I have met people who have always supported and motivated me to write better. So, at the end of the day it’s your own self belief which makes you to decide what you want to chose, the criticism of the people or the praise of your supporters. If you can’t read your own story beyond two pages after completing it, nobody else will.
How much research do you do before writing the book?
In my case, I would not like to use the word ‘research’ instead I would call it ‘observation’. I love to observe people around me and the way they behave in different situations. These situations gives me ideas and issues to think and develop a story which can actually capture the actual reason of the situation, the real emotion behind the main cause and so on. In this process, I often need to find reasons of that particular behaviour or reaction. Here comes the role of ‘research’, to be able to give the story a real touch/ LOGIC despite the entire idea being supernatural.
In Meet The Strings also, there are two stories which are based on the supernatural ideas, but because of the help of comprehensive research both the stories seems very much realistic and imaginably possible.
What motivated you to write the book “Meet The Strings”?
Meet The Strings is not my first book which I have written. Before moving to Delhi, I was already working on a novel called – ‘The Way I Took it”. It was still in progress when I joined my MBA college. The crazy hostel life and very hectic academic schedule didn’t allow me to work on it further with the same focus.
Here came the idea of writing short stories which again gave me the way to express my thoughts and observations. I started writing short stories on a blog for sometime. After my masters and during this entire journey, I met few people whose support and motivation gave me a direction and a dream compile a short story collection and attempt to get it publish. This is how, Meet The Strings saw the light of the day.
Can you tell us more about your latest book “Meet The Strings”?
Meet The Strings is a collection of nine short stories.
In my first book – ‘Meet The Strings‘, I have penned some of the most ubiquitous emotions such as Love, Hate, Guilt, Fear, Obsessions and Self-esteem hemmed with the contemporary issues of the society such as Love marriage, Prostitution and Feminism.
Story 1: The Winter Night
Story of an old lady who develops an incorrigible hatred towards men out of the hard circumstances she has faced in life,and how it feels to accept that true love stories are always incomplete.
Story 2: Tale of her thoughts
Story a lady who gets completely transformed because of that one incident which happened with her at a railway platform, while she went there to pick-up her son.
Story 3 & 4: Post-Meridian
This is the fist story of the book based on a super natural idea. The story of a boy who seems to be the last person existing on the planet. Story gradually reveals the way he behave second by second while realizing this abrupt reality and what happens in the end?
Story 5: Stories Across Borders
Two love tales of two different nations, narrated by the two trees of a park under which the love of these couples blossomed.
Story 6: The Guilt
As the title suggest, this story explores the limit of human psyche. How a single feeling/emotion can change a person so much that he plans his own murder.
Story 7: Cybin Demise
Story of an old lady who experiences a very exciting near death experience on a Christmas night.
Story 8: Love Behind Shadow
It’s a kind of psychological thriller. The story of an Indian damsel who falls in love with her own shadow.
Story 9: An Hour of Truth
This is my favourite story in the book. Story is full of high octane emotions of a middle class girl from Bhopal, and how she turns into a prostitute post coming to Delhi.
This story comments on the entire prostitution industry and the way WOMEN is being objectified in our society.
How did you came up with the idea of writing collection of stories genre book?
I think I have already answered this question
Who are your favourite authors?
J.K. Rowling and Harivanshrai Bacchan
How much time do you dedicate for writing on a daily basis?
I don’t write on a daily basis. It depends on the kind of stories and ideas am working on. Sometimes its important to pen down my thoughts on a particular topic or idea which I might use later. If an idea excites me to a great extent, then I just complete that story keeping all the jobs of life on hold, even my lunch or dinner.
What words of wisdom would you like to give to aspiring writers?
Only one suggestion –
Believe in your idea so much that the world around is compelled to believe in it. (but then with your sane mind and intelligence, make sure the idea is making sense)
You can buy his book now:
