Goodreads asked Suyog Ketkar:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Suyog Ketkar I’m half introvert. When I am at it, I can communicate really well. But, at times, you can catch me off guard. And, that’s who I really am. This is the only quality that readers desire to read. They wish to know who you are as a person, as a writer, and as someone who can think and see beyond the usual. How I defined my skill to one of my friends is, in ways more than one, a great motivator for me over the years, “When souls dance, bodies move, brains hum, and hearts sing, writers continue to do what they do the best – Write.” People don’t wish to read something because you are an expert at writing, but because you can share it in a way no one else can. That’s what writers do.
But, to stick to the question, here are some quick tips for you:
- Find your voice: Everyone has their signature writing style. Try to find yours. If possible, experiment with your writing style. For example, write a travel journal, a poem, a short story, an academic essay, a movie review, a sports coverage. Notice how different requirements change your writing style.
- Learn to rewrite your sentences. In most cases, you will have a better version.
- Plan to write at least 500 words a day. Stick to the plan.
- Practice empathy. Write in a way you like to read. For this, read the works of those writers who write the way you wish to write.
- Read children’s books. That’s where lies the art of writing simply.
- Try to experience your writing by reading it aloud. If that’s immersive, you’ve done a good job.
And, last – but, perhaps, the most important – apply a structure to your writing at two levels: how you write and what you write. Happy writing.

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