Questionnaire with Vivek Kumar
So this month's featured author ' Vivek Kumar'
Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your profession and your hobbies!!
I live in Mumbai and work
as a Brand Consultant. Writing and film-making
are my two pursuits. Most of my time is consumed by it or rather thinking about it.
Questionnaire with Vivek Kumar
1.
How did you first get involved in with writing, are you
an imaginative person?
The writing was always a
spontaneous activity though it was limited to poetry and occasional story
creation for college magazine or play. During my post-graduation, the idea of
writing a book started taking seed in me though it was more of a fanciful thing
I suppose to differentiate oneself. I just wanted to write one book. I did not
think at that time that it will go beyond that. The idea I was more persistent
about was to quit over two years of job and join a theatre group.
2.
What do you find most
challenging about your writing?
To remain patient with
it. I have no control over my writing process. It happens in bits and pieces,
in no specific order and the end product is different from the ideas I had at the
beginning. This causes lot of churning and can be very exhausting.
3.
What do you do when you are not writing?
Writing doesn’t take more
than 5-10% of my time and that too happens in spurts. When I am not occupied
with writing or other creative projects, I simply squander my time surfing net,
chatting with friends etc. or being lazy.
4.
Where do you see
yourself in the next 6 months, and 5 years down the road?
Don’t have that much
visibility of the future but I hope for a better place than today.
5.
How do you keep
coming up with material/content for
your story?
It is a continuous process
part of which is conscious and rest is subconscious. You engage with stories, emotions, concepts, ideas. You also see what is happening around you,
what other people are creating. Sometimes there are experiences that make you dream. Sometimes ideas occur to
you or someone else’ creation resonates with you and you feel you have something similar
to tell. But most importantly whenever you have any such impulse, you work on it, chase it
till it turns cold. Most of them do but some of them somehow work out and those
are the ones that you finish and take to
the market.
6.
Any specific tips you
have for new writers who want to make it big in the world of published books?
None.
7.
What’s the best
thing a writer can give to his readers?
It is the readers that
give to the writers, not the other way around. Readers complete the missing links in the
writer’s world.
8. A lot of people are interested in writing for money earning potential. What are some tips for people interesting in making money from writing? What are some realistic expectations in regards to what can be made?
To make money one needs to focus on storytelling, which is not same as writing.
9.
What motivates you most
in life?
A shot at completing an idea that has taken hold of me.
10.
What is the story behind
the name of your book?
It is connected to the content of the book.
11.
What are your views on
increasing plagiarism?
It can be very hurtful to the creator and induces toxicity in what should be an otherwise pristine working world.