Namaste India!

Welcome to Writers Adda, a space where we sit down for a chat with some of the gems of the Indian Writing Community and get candid with them about their journey on Wattpad.

Joining us this time is dustychalks.

But before we get started, check out a 250-word excerpt from their Desi Indian story, "27 Bowls of Ice Cream," on our AmbassadorsIN Stories Anthology.

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dustychalks: My top 3 favourite genres are Romance, Mystery (particularly murder mysteries) and Science Fiction.

My most adored writers on Wattpad are Noelle (hepburnettes), Lydia (lydiahephzibah) (even their grocery lists would be my fav reads) and basically everyone I follow ♡ Some of my top fav published authors at the moment are Holly Jackson, Lauren Asher and Dan Brown.

dustychalks: Fun story. Might regret sharing this later but let's just say I'm gonna do it for the plot xD

I had a crush on my best friend (let's call him D) who had a crush on his best friend (let's call her J). So one day D finds out J is reading a book on a site called 'Wattpad'.

The book's title? 'Never love your best friend'

Of course he freaks out and begs me to read this story on Wattpad (because he can't read a thing unless it involves math or complex equations) to find out the ending - whether the main character eventually does fall in love with her best friend.

I mean... Who could say no when your crush asks you for a favour like this? (Not me when I was 16). So I said yes.

That's how I joined Wattpad almost 10 years ago. Proud to say - Never read that story because I was too scared to find out how it ends. But I ended up writing one instead about D (because I'm a delulu girlie and my emotions would have eaten me up alive otherwise). Ever since that day, somehow, I found the writer in me and there's been no looking back ♡

dustychalks: I have written almost all my stories in English so far. There's a possibility (a small one though) that I might branch out to writing in Hindi too someday. Never say never?

dustychalks: Does procrastinating count as step 1 of any routine because if yes...

On a serious note, there was a very long point of time in my life where I needed to do a solo karaoke session (30 mins which would be drawn out to 2-3 hours) to get in a good mood for writing. Mostly Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan and Taylor Swift have been my writing gods who blessed me with the power to traumatise my characters and throw tons of drama and plot twists their way.

Off lately, I like to write while drinking something to keep me engaged (and also so that I can actually sit and write something instead of lying down and doomscrolling Instagram reels) - so all credit to coffee, teas, sparkling water etc. if you're seeing regular story updates on my account.

dustychalks: I'd pretty much say that in terms of inspiration, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I like to blend reality in my writing - in the sense that I like to explore very real emotions, real life problems and real life drama whilst giving an alternate reality twist to it.

Most of my stories stand on the very foundation of being real and relatable. 27 Bowls of Ice cream - a story about a girl with a broken heart. 24 Chances to Unlove You - a story about unrequited love. In a Latte Trouble - a story about a corporate workaholic finding love in the middle of a coffee shop and burnout. Headspace - a story about grieving and processing the loss of a loved one.

I feel like writing this way helps me weave worlds that don't exist, live a life I'll probably never have the chance to live and explore emotions I may never feel in this lifetime.

I'd say why limit creativity to just writing when your entire life can be a masterpiece in itself? Throw a spin of creativity on the very real problems you'd like to run away from and voila - story plot!

Might not be a very exciting answer but well, this is my top coping mechanism at the moment xD

dustychalks: Let me just get ahead of myself and say that I already have one such story in the works with Vivi (Mystery_Angel6) and without spoiling much, let me just say, we would definitely without a doubt be writing a murder mystery! Absolutely unhinged and chaotic which fits us perfectly.

If given a chance, I'd also like to collaborate and write a story with Cara (caramelstreet) - probably a cute, cosy romantic story with light fantasy perhaps? All the vibes, all the feels. I have high hopes for this (if we ever do it).

Thank you so much for joining us for this interview, dustychalks! 

We really appreciate you taking the time to share your insights with the community.

[Interview by RookWri78]