The Alternate World Where I Decide the Rules

Writing is magical. I’ve been a writer for 10 years now. I started out late, which some say is a good thing.

I was in my early thirties stranded on the Howrah railway station, my train ten hours late, and something magical happened at that moment. I don’t know how, but I ended up writing the initial chapters of my first novel. And ever since that day, I’ve been addicted to the power of my own imagination. You should try it too. Just surrender to your thoughts, allow your soul to create good and bad mirror images, make them want or loathe something, and you are all set for a lifetime of adventure and fun.

To my mind, there are only two kinds of writers: those who write very well, and those who write well. It is another matter that many writers don’t sell. That might be a sore point. But you have to ask yourself: what is your motivation to write. If it is money—which is not a bad thing—then writing becomes a job. A job is a job and it comes with its own targets, timelines and earnings etc. But if the motivation to write is to unravel this puzzle called life and get on a trip negotiating thoughts that help demystify people and their actions, then writing takes only one direction: that of pleasure.

At a personal level writing allows me to explore a new world where people don’t just exist, they live, their goals are not imagination, they are possible realities, where emotions are not a burden, but a relief to channelize life itself, where unreal is more real, and where god is a distant aberration who watches over curiously. In short, I’m the legal owner of the alternate world that I choose to create. I call the shots, I decide the rules, I change them halfway, and I cherry-pick the winner, who, by the way, is not always the best guy in your world. It’s this power to create and destroy which makes up my day. I live two realities: the one created by nature, and the other created by me. It’s magical as I said. Do you get the drift?

I like the idea of resetting rights and wrongs, playing with the established norms of the society, twist the ambition of the communities that are obsessed with themselves, challenge basic notion about love, longing, need, choice, identity, and survival. I write urban stories set in contemporary times, dealing with real themes and issues, but also explore the core questions of need and negligence through the matrix of greed, hunger and success as it exists in our civilization today.

Writing has also made me a better reader of life. I can see more, feel more, live more, and share more.  I think ever since I started writing I have become more tolerant and compassionate, and I like the idea of challenging myself. When my own questions target myself, it acts as a booster dose to the magic that I experience everyday as a writer.

Trust me, writing is a magical experience. I have found mine, now it’s your turn.

Do you write short stories? Poetry? Submit to one of Asia's leading literary magazines. Deadline 15 Dec.

Open Road Review has published 200+ writers from 22+ countries in its 15 quarterly issues so far. Run by a dedicated team of 4, it has been accessed 3 million+ times, has 5000+ subscribers, & conducted 2 annual writing contests. If you write short stories, poems or creative nonfiction, Open Road Review (www.openroadreview.com) will be happy to consider your work. Just hit the submit button on the website to know more & don't forget to read from our archives to understand our preferences before you send us your work. 

We are also actively seeking interesting content related to literature for our blog section too (which you can directly send to me at kulpreetyadav@gmail.com). Best wishes. 

In New Indian Express, Bangalore.

In today's New Indian Express, Bangalore.
Have you read 'The Girl Who Loved a Pirate'?

‪#‎romantic‬ ‪#‎thriller‬ -> http://amzn.to/1NSf9gr

Book Launch # 4 by Aroon Raman & Major Vandana Sharma in Bangalore

Notwithstanding the rains and huge traffic jams caused by it on all the arterial roads in Bangalore, I was happy to see a nearly full house. Bangalore locals, Aroon Raman, a bestselling thriller writer, and Major Vandana Sharma, the HR head of HolidayIQ, launched the novel.

After the book launch, I conducted a Creative Writing Workshop for aspiring writers.

Frederick Forsyth and Kulpreet Yadav on the same page.

When I saw my interview appear on the same page as Frederick Forsyth's, it was like a childhood dream come true. This has been one of the best moments in my writing career so far. Thank you, DNA.  

Here's the online LINK. 

Book Launch # 3 by Ravi Subramanian & Kiran Manral in Mumbai

The 'Girl Who Loved a Pirate' was launched by the much loved Mumbai based bestselling authors, Ravi Subramanian & Kiran Manral. 

After the event, I conducted a Creative Writing Workshop, sponsored by Story Mirror, India's largest story portal. More than 70 people participated in the event & the workshop

Haven't read yet? Buy here -- http://amzn.to/1NSf9gr

Ravi Subramanian & Kiran Manral launched the spy thriller at Press Club

Our gorgeous emcee Jyoti Bakshi

The beautiful pirate 

Ravi has an amazing sense of humour

Most of us in one frame

Ok, whatever

Why You Should Write Short Stories before Writing a Novel

I did it the other way around.

The year was 2006 and I was at the Howrah railway station in Kolkata. My train was 8 hours late and I had no idea how to kill time. So I looked around, ate macher jhol as a mid-morning snack, sat in a chair, and began to stare at the giant clock in the atrium, hoping for its arms to move faster. But the time slowed down and I found myself reflecting on the novels I had read during my childhood.

As I immersed in the past, the stories that I recalled settled around me. The images were vivid and the plots complete. Novels by my favourite writers: Fredrick Forsyth, Ian Fleming, Sidney Sheldon, James Hadley Chase, Agatha Christie, Alistair MacLean, Wilbur Smith, Leon Uris etc.

There is something magical in the air at Howrah.

I have no idea what it was--still don't--but at that moment I found the Haryanvi in me wanting to write a novel. In those 8 hours that I sat there, I wrote the few chapters of what was later published as my first novel, The Bet.

The novel, sadly, turned out to be a mistake. As a writer I wasn't ready to write a full-length novel and in hurry to publish it, I ended up with a novel that was poorly written.

Did I learn my lesson from it?

No.

Few years later I followed The Bet with another mediocre novel. But by 2011, I realised my mistake, albeit the hard way.

For a writer to be able to write well, one should begin with shorter pieces of fiction. Short stories, just like a novel, have the same elements: characters, conflict, setting, Point of View and plot.

In an interview to Bibliostar TV in 2013 Stephen King says, "Novels are a quagmire that a lot of younger writers tumble into before they are ready to go there. I started with short stories because the novels that I wrote when I was twenty were so bad that they were not accepted by the publishers and I didn't even bother to revise them."

In my journey as a bestselling novelist, writing short stories has helped me immensely. It has taught me the importance of each and every word. It has taught me the economy of emotion. And it has allowed me to be in greater control of my plot.

In India, sadly, we don't have creative writing courses, unlike the west, and for those of us who want to write, there's no easy way to learn. With an intention of helping other writers and involving myself even more in the fascinating world of short stories, in 2011, I founded a literary magazine called Open Road Review. This not-for-profit model that's free to access, advertisement free, and funded entirely from my savings to promote short story writing and reading at a global level, has attracted millions from all over the globe.

In short, if you want to become a better writer, my advice would be that you begin with writing short stories.

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This blog first appeared at The Huffington Post here.