Dr Diwakar is a writer by passion. He has completed his PhD, PG and B.Tech. in Power/Energy and is working as Technical Head in Asmi Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai. He has written one Novel, 14 poetry books and 1 Short story collection. He is also a part of more than 100 poetry anthologies with poets around the world. He has been entered into 'Limca Book of Records 2017' for writing 50 different forms of poetry. He has also won 'Aagman Young Talen Award 2014'. His various author interviews are available on social media.
Welcome to 'On Writing' Dr Diwakar.
Was becoming an author always your dream or was it a particular event or incident that gave birth to the author in you?
I don’t know the exact answer to this, but I was writing since my school days. I read a lot of comic books during my childhood and maybe that made me write. I started writing during one of my English Literature period out of fun. There was no pressure or a particular event that changed me as a writer or inspired me to be a writer.
How important are the names of the characters in your books to you? Do you spend agonizing hours deciding on their names?
Not exactly, I tried to make names more common that can be relatable easily. The story revolves around 5 individuals and while reading the stories the reader can relate with them as they will sound familiar to them with either of their friends of themselves or someone they must have come across.
What is your writing process like? Do you write every day? Is there a favourite place to write?
I write whenever I get time to write. I try to write every day, but at times not able to follow the daily commitments to self regarding the same. But one thing is sure, and that is, I do write in a day or two ranging from two lines poetry to 2000 words short story. As I write both in English as well as Hindi, it gives me an additional way to express my feelings and ideas in two different languages.
I scribble in papers, mobile, laptop or whatever I have at that point in time. With the use of Laptop, I mostly write in Laptop because due to my official work, I have become more friendly towards writing in Laptop and another advantage is that I can edit easily and of course save paper!
The only thing different about ‘Sapne, Sach aur Udan’ is that it is no different than what we face in our lives, it is connected to our lives or our friends or someone living nearby us. This story reflects what we are becoming or what challenges we face while chasing our dreams. The story actually reflects the life of most of us, who face challenges from outside or inside in our journey. I have tried to make this story as real as possible. The key message that I wanted to pass on to the readers is that teamwork and respecting dreams are very vital to living a happy life.
Who is your favourite character in the book and why?
This is actually the hardest question. As a writer, I can’t differentiate between the characters because everyone depicts a lifestyle or thought process that gives you a new horizon to explore. I love all of my characters.
As a reader again my interest or experience will make me fall in love with different characters, for example, those who are religiously following their dreams and not able to follow it might like the character of DV, if someone has a broken heart, then they might like the character of Rohan or Ritika. Those girls who are facing the patriarchal mentality and want to break free might like Neeti and Girls that are modern and on their own might like Aks. So the characters are all different.
Which do you prefer as a reader? EBook or Paperback?
I have no problems with reading EBook or Paperback, but I must admit that both have their own emotional impact. I mean touching a hardcopy or Paperback gives you a feeling of connectedness with the book or the story. On the other hand, the EBook gives you the freedom to carry it anywhere and everywhere wherever you can take your mobile or laptop.
How long did it take to finish writing ‘Sapne, Sach aur Udan’?
It took me exactly 3 months to complete the 1st draft of the Novel and then 1 year and more to sign the publishing contract.
How important do you think is marketing in today’s world for any book?
Marketing is very vital for the author. The review of the book will only come to the author when someone will read it. In the present era we have different types of readers (writers too), I mean to say there are readers who will read book after going through reviews, then there are readers who only like to read classics, then there are readers who will read the book if they heard about it from their friends and also there are reader who will pick up the book of the new writer.
So to reach different kinds of readers, varying marketing strategies the author has to deploy. Hence, this marketing aspect is very vital. It is not the only thing but certainly a very important thing for a book to reach the sea of readers and for an author to grow.
Please share a passage or quote from ‘Sapne, Sach aur Udan’ for our readers.
“मम्मी, मुझे क्रिकेट खेलना है, डीवी ने कहा|
“तो जा, खेल ले,” मम्मी बोली|
“पर मैं तो कॉलेज जाता हूँ,”डीवी तीखे स्वर में बोला|
“तो कौन सा एहसान करता है, वो तो सब जाते हैं,”मम्मी के स्वर भी तीखे हो चले थे|
“आपने तो कहा था कि नौकरी लग जाएगी तो खेल लेना,”डीवी बोला|
“तो ढूँढ लेना ऐसी नौकरी जिसमें तुझे खेलने का समय मिल जाए,” मम्मी हँसते हुए बोली|
“लेकिन अच्छा खिलाड़ी बनने के लिए बचपन से सीखना पड़ता है," डीवी ज़ोर देते हुए बोला|
“बेटा वो किस्मत वाले और पैसे वाले होते हैं. तुमसे 50 पर्सेंट से ज़्यादा नंबर लाए नहीं जाते. कॉलेज में दाखिला भी मुश्किल से मिला है और क्रिकेट खेलने की बात करते हो,” मम्मी व्यंगात्मक लहजे में बोली|
"इसका मतलब आपने मुझसे झूठ बोला था,” डीवी को अब गुस्सा आ रहा था|
“जब बच्चों को सच दिखाई नहीं देता, तो ऐसा ही करना पड़ता है,”वे बोलीं और अंदर चली गई|
“मैं नीचे जा रहा हूँ,” डीवी ने चिल्ला कर कहा और बाहर निकलने लगा|
“इतनी रात को कहाँ जा रहा है?" मम्मी चिल्लाई |
“खेलने,” डीवी बोला और निकल गया|
“तू वापिस आ, फिर देखती हूँ तुझे,” मम्मी गुस्से से बोलीं लेकिन डीवी उन्हें अनसुना करते हुए निकल चुका था|
डीवी का दिमाग़ बहुत गरम हो चुका था. उसे क्रिकेट खेलना बहुत पसंद था और अब तक उसे लग रहा था कि नौकरी लगने के बाद शायद वो आराम से खेल पाएगा, लेकिन आज जब उसकी रवि से बात हुई तो उसे ये एहसास हुआ कि खिलाड़ी तो वास्तव में बचपन से मेहनत करके ही शीर्ष तक पहुँच पाते हैं| जो भी नया खिलाड़ी खेलने आता है उसकी उम्र 18-20 साल होती है. वो तो 19 साल का हो गया था. डीवी चलता जा रहा था, बिना ये जाने कि उसके कदम उसे कहाँ ले जा रहे हैं|
1) Read
2) Write
3) Market
You should read a lot and write a lot. If you are an aspiring writer, then writing is the basic necessity despite you have a publisher or not, you write good or bad, you have that spark or not etc. All these questions will be answered only when you will have enough writing material with you. When you will write, you will understand your own thought process and what you need to improve on them. So keep writing, reading and an eye on marketing too.
Thank you, Dr Diwakar for taking the time to interact with our readers. Wishing you the very best in all your future endeavours.
Get Dr Diwakhar's book from Amazon:
No comments:
Post a Comment