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Author Highlight: Gaurav Gupta Discusses his New Book ‘College Diaries’ and Stories from his Life

We are back with another author interview. Today, with us, we have Gaurav – the author of ‘College Diaries’. In this interview, Gaurav talks about his writing aspirations, and the route to getting his book published. Stay on...while we chat with him.

What motivates you to write?

Creating a difference in someone’s life or making someone smile. Or if someone can find their stories in mine or relate to it, that also gives fair bit of motivation. More my work is read, more I feel connected with this world. You remember the movie – ‘The Ring’ – In that, there is a girl Samara that just wants to be heard. My writing soul feels the same – it just wants to be read.

How did you handle the response of this book, were there are any hiccups from college faculties?

There haven’t been any hiccups so far. My campus faculties are fairly pleased with the book which is based on IIT Roorkee. People have liked the book so far. But what lies ahead of me is the tricky task of marketing the book so that people get to know that a book named “College Diaries- Story Behind the Walls” has taken a birth on this earth and they do read it and enjoy the experience.

What are some of your favourite novels and authors?

My personal favorite novels from three different genres are “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, “The Alchemist” and “The Time Traveler’s Wife”.

My favorite author would be Khaled Hosseini for giving me heart wrenching experiences via his stories and J.K Rowling for teaching how to have such a wide and still precise imagination.

Do you think writing a book from the comfort of bedroom is possible?

Well, it is totally possible. Writing can happen in one’s physical comfort zone as long as one can mentally step in the character of his/her book. Having said that, sometimes I do fall asleep while writing from bedroom.

Where do you write from? Do you go to some specific place, like beachside or into the hills?

Mostly, I write from my home. But I have practiced writing at many places – on airplane, while waiting for a train, during my trip to Ladakh, sitting in cafes, on the beaches of Goa, etc. But if someone asks me my favorite, I would love to write on a sofa by the window on the hills when it is raining, or on the beaches of Goa.

What inspired you to write this book? Any tales to tell…

Once while chatting with my friends, we were cribbing about how other people were living a spectacular life – some had girlfriends, others were rocking at studies and remaining were building their portfolio while working in some activity groups, and we were just doing nothing. But then, when I looked closely, I realized even we were living a pretty interesting story in our lives. There came the idea – I wanted to write about an average guy who might not be hero for everyone but he was definitely a hero of his own story. I wanted to send out this message via this novel that we all need to look out for what life we are leading and how to be a hero of our lives.

What was your biggest learning experience throughout the publishing process?

Patience! It took me more than 1.5 years to find a right publisher. You need to try and approach the publishers with the right content, mindset, and confidence. Also, it is very important to edit the content so that readers get a crisp story. When I completed my novel, it was over 1.25 lacs of words. I had to edit lot of portions, cut it down by 30% to bring it into this form. It took me 7-8 editing rounds and a year to bring it in the desired form after I had completed the novel.

Looking back, what did you do right that helped you break in as a writer?

To begin with, I kept writing. I didn’t mind how much time it took but I focused on what story I wanted to tell and kept working on it until I was sure that it is ripe enough to be consumed by the readers. Secondly, reading a lot of books definitely helped me in shaping my writing.

Any best piece of writing advice from your side that we haven’t discussed?

Writing is a combination of efforts from both mind and heart. Heart will help you let out the story that you want to tell, put life into it and mind will help you put that writing into perfection with proper editing, making it precise and appropriately descriptive, etc.

Something personal about you people may be surprised to know?

I wrote my first poem in 7th standard and I have a deep interest in Human Psychology.

Any future books that you would like to discuss now?

Nothing much in mind. But I would like to write either an emotional roller coaster or a mystery novel. I am still looking out for a story and would like to invite all my readers to pour in any ideas they have.

Connect with Gaurav:

Twitter: @ GauravGupta_iit

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