Ask the Author: Sujit Sood

“Ask me a question.” Sujit Sood

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Sujit Sood A couple of incidents that I did use in my book Dathisbrth. These were spooky and for a self-proclaimed atheist like myself, they were too much to wrap my head around.
Sujit Sood Some questions you must ask yourself before you start writing are:

Why am I writing?

What am I good at?

Why will people attempt to read my work?

These basic questions will help you get a start on what you should be writing. Let me explain this with my own example:

I was a physics fanatic and had a lot of inclination to study the occult or pseudo sciences like ouija boards, meditation based transcendence, black magic and the works. I was not even close to being an expert but I had done my bit of research. My first novel, DATHISBRTH is a thriller which has all these elements in it. I decided to write because I wanted to leave a piece of me in the world after i die. So, i focused on making it an interesting read putting parts of me in every character. Just to make the point clear: all my reviews have been close to 5 out of 5 stars.

Enough about me. We all have a unique combination of likes, dislikes, areas of interest and a unique understanding of the world. BE UNIQUE. BE YOURSELF. That is what will make your work worthwhile.
Sujit Sood First things first.

STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!

Sorry about the caps but it has to be that loud and clear. I would also like to put in on record here that a writers block is not a psychological condition or a disease . Have you ever wondered why people in other professions don’t experience the ‘block’? Imagine a doctor having an operating block in the middle of a critical surgery! It would be fatal, wouldn’t it?

So, what is it then? The famed Writers Block?

When you write a story, you wring your experiences to extract details from your life and embody them into your writing. In the regular course of our lives we tend to refrain from sharing certain experiences with absolute strangers. We draw a line. Why? Because that is our natural mechanism to defend ourselves from possible hurt. When you write, you constantly push the limits of this line to make your story more 'relatable' and believable. So, you are in a constant mode of thinking about your life which people in other professions don’t do as much. Your sub-conscious mind at times can fight you to prevent you from sharing certain details which you otherwise wouldn’t because that’s how you have trained your mind. This can lead to a temporary loss of creativity.

This is the best explanation for the writers block according to me. It is a TEMPORARY setback. However, by giving it a fancy name and associating it with famed writers over the past century, writers usually use it as an excuse for reduced productivity or to justify a lack of creativity in their work.

If you simply consider it to be fatigue experienced by your mind due to constantly thinking about your life, then overcome this obstacle can be easier.

Distract yourself - Do anything that keeps your mind distracted and does not allow it to think. For me, I love cooking and strumming my guitar. So whenever I experience the ‘Writers Block’, I close the lid of my laptop, pick up my guitar and start strumming and singing a new song. If it is meal-time, then I get cooking. An hour or two later when I get back to writing, the block is gone.

Positive thinking - So much has been said about the power of your mind and the power of positive thinking. Apply it! If you keep telling yourself that you are experiencing a block, then a block it will be.

Tell nobody - Don’t blow this out of proportion in your head. I agree that you might face some trouble coming up with creative thoughts but you can’t let it rule your thoughts.

In a nutshell, ignoring the writers block and distracting yourself is the key to overcoming the writers block. This is completely my view of things. You are free to ignore it if you don’t agree but before you rubbish it, do give it a try.

Cheers!

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