TOP 6: Writing tips from a bestselling author!

Ravinder Singh, author of I Too Had a Love Story and Can Love Happen Twice? shares the secret of his success with you, our readers! Read on!

It is said that every picture is worth a thousand words, yet I feel writing remains the most preferred means to communicate rather than drawing.

Each year thousands of novels are printed, read and devoured by their readers. People laugh, cry, hate, and learn with what they read.

One strong reason could be that many of us don't have the skills to draw and that it's probably that too many of us writing comes more naturally than drawing.

Another strong reason could be that the meaning of a drawing, a picture or an illustration are open to the interpretation of the onlooker, which means that the exact thought may or may not be conveyed from one person to the other in the way it's meant to be.

This certainly doesn't mean that what you want to write is easy to put down. Writing is a creative activity after all! It pushes you to imagine, it urges you to think beautiful ways to describe the same monotonous situation.

It gives you the power to play with words that may bring out a variety of emotions for your reader. When you write you are virtually a word magician, cooking up the magic of stories!

By no means all this is easy -- else everyone would turn into an author! Creativity and for that matter creative writing doesn't have well-defined boundaries and it all depends on how much you can explore and push the horizons of this world to discover fascinating elements; how much you are prepared to put in when you write. Here are a few things I personally pay attention to:

Be True to Yourself: Always attempt to write that which is essentially you. Never try to copy the writing style or story telling from others. You may learn from the great masters who've written classics or books that you have admired, but when you write, it should be you and you alone. Both in language and in style.

If you are writing a story your goal should be to create an experience for your reader. This means that, rather than him or her just reading it, he should be involved. If you are writing the story in first person, try to make the reader live that character's life. Talk about his behaviour, his habits, his interests, and his appearance in the greatest details. This will help the reader visualise the character, create the experience and hence feel involved. And while you do this, keep in mind my first point.

Watch out from doing a one-sided or one-dimensional description of the character. It should not be all good or all dark only. No one is all black or all white, we are all shades of grey, so the characters in the story should also have personas that the reader will be able to relate to or identify with.

Not only should you describe the character, but also make sure you pay attention to creating an atmosphere of the story. Many a times we read a story and become sad and sometimes when we read a story, we are all charged up. It is the atmosphere that the writer creates that makes us feel so. Therefore, descriptions of key places, events, relationships, other characters enhance the quality of a story and make it interesting for the reader.

A word of caution here: When detailing a story, make sure you don't overdo it. New authors tend to run into the trap of describing anything and everything. This takes away from the description rather than adding to it. Too much detailing of everything, takes away the focus from important things. Describe a few things but in detail.


Lastly, build up the element of curiosity in your writing. You need to give your readers a reason as to why he or she should read the next chapter and not leave the book mid way, or worse still, pick up some other book or story.
Shouldn't the last sentence of your chapter be powerful enough for your reader to keep flipping the pages? Think!

I hope my tips have been helpful to you. All the best!

CHAT at 4: Ravinder Singh will take your questions on ZaraBol!

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