🔹️🔹️Thanks alot Cuteminger
For giving us your interview 🔹️🔹️

Username: Cuteminger

1) What inspired you to start writing?

In the beginning, it had been a lot of reading and me wanting to let out my thoughts through some or the other way, but as time went by it was the surroundings a few things that would overwhelm me, affect me the most... I had to pen them down or type them to just get away with it for some time. Eventually a few turned out to be good ideas for my plots.

2)When you started writing and how old were you?

I was 17 when I wrote my first story, that was actually right after my 12 board exams.

3) Would you like to share your experience when you first started writing?

Ohh, that is something really funny, even today when I look back it at times I cringe, there are times I laugh at it, while there are other times when I just feel glad that I actually opened that word doc and began writing. So to actually tell you about my experience... I began my first book "And we fell in Love" right after a fight with my parents, it wasn't something really serious, but just soo disturbing that I had to write about it, I went and jotted down what I felt at that moment, a month later when I went back to it, I was shocked at it, it was as well a time when I had came across many bomb blast stories, that was yet secondary thing that inspired the plot of the story.

When I finally went down to plotting and writing, and I came out and told people that I am writing, I received different reactions from all, My family, especially my mom was quite supportive, she had said that "do what ever you want, just make sure you finish what you have started." There were times when my DMs would be filled with messages both of people who loved and adored the story to even how stupid the plot and the characters sounded. And somewhere I found that I received quite a few of negative messages than the positive one and somewhere I was glad about it. It had taken me about a year to finish my book, through that year I had as well started another book, but now when I go back to that book, I could see how each chapter of that book shows the way I improved, be it from the introductory chapters or the happy ending that the couples had. To sum it all, my first novel actually made me prepared for all the things, it even taught me how was it that I was to talk to a complete unknown person. Somewhere these books of mine are the ones who helped me be the person I am today.

4) From where do you get your ideas from?

My ideas are mostly borrowed from instances from m real life. At the beginning I used to be quite unsure whether to use them or not, but later on I found a way. The main concept behind the plot would be something that might have affected me in my life a lot, and then eventually after a bit of research and bringing out various scenarios I build the story in such a way that though people could relate to it, but the people who are directly connected with the scenes or the topic do not get effected in any negative manner.

5)What do you like to do when you aren't writing?

Two months before I was quite a busy person with college, events that take place in my college and what not. Hence earlier if ever I would not be found writing I would be hanging out with my friends, my family. One of the biggest activities that had me occupied earlier would be the college communities and events. But now after college, if not writing, I would be busy reading books, watching K-dramas, old movies and songs, songs especially the old 90s one I love them a lot. Other than that I am interning with Wattpad itself, hence my time is quite occupied with that work as well. But after all the fiasco of corona virus would be over, I could say one of the major things that would be taken over other than writing would be a Job and my weekends that Plan to spend with my best friends with may be a walk at the Marines or our cup of tea.

6) What does your family think about your writing.?

I would rather like to divide this question in Two. My immediate family, isn't much into the world of reading and writing. I am like that of a sore thumb in our family who is crazy about books and writing. But even after that they all had been the one who would always be there by my side, supporting me to do things which were not really in my hands saying there isn't anything impossible in this life. My dad would support me in each of my decisions that I would take with regards to my writings, with my mom, its more about talking out things in which I would be stuck, unknowingly she would help in ways I had never thought she could. My sister and brother, though sarcastic and irritating as much as they are, had always been proud of things that I had been doing. They were in fact the first readers of each of my drafts and the best critiques I could get. Times when I would be out there floating in the air, these two would always take it up to themselves to bring me back to reality, and as well lift my spirits up when I would never be in the mood.

Then there are people who had been my selective family, my friends, my professors etc, writing on wattpad for many it wouldn't have been a huge thing, but these lot from my college and my three school friends had made and celebrated each and every small victory of mine with same fervor. Be it me getting 50k views on my book, or selecting the names for my characters or me giving my stories out for an anthology and crying over the writer's block or readers block. Again not many of them are great readers, but all of them had been the ones to read my first drafts, correct my mistakes, chide me when things weren't right...somewhere they were the ones because of whom I evolved as a writer. I know I am not that a great storyteller, yet its these friends and professors that I have right now ,who believe that one day I would come out in paper backs and as well be making it into the list of best sellers and best story teller, and throw them a huge party.

So yes, in a way I am glad I have such wonderful people in my life whom I call my family and whose opinions matter the most to me, and them being with me by my side all through the three stories that I have written assures me that somewhere I am on the right track.

7)Which character of your book resemble you?

To be honest, when I read this question, I actually went back and thought, I have various characters in my books, all are different from each other and then which one do I resemble the most? I was surprised when I somehow came to a realization... yes there is Akshita, the girl who wants to turn into an independent girl, there is Arohi, who is already quite independent yet lost without her friends, then there is Mitali, the only character who was completely depended on my imagination no resemblance of hers to anyone in my real life, yet I could relate to her at so many levels. And these are just the main characters there are so many supporting characters and even the male characters to which I could relate with.

So in a way if I were to point out one character that is a complete me, would be difficult. Each of character is me at certain point of my life, but the one with whom I relate the most is Akshita, it was as if the character evolved and came into being because of the things that happened in my life, she evolved in the story just the way I evolved in my real life, and somehow that as well became a past in my life. Hence even if Akshita has a lot of difference than what I am today, at some point of my life I was her... may be there would be one day some character who would be real me, but then again for that I will have to understand who the real me is, and I believe I am yet to understand that, and somewhere each of the situation that we face in life, we keep on changing. So have one character like me would be difficult, but yes many could have something that I have in me.

8)Which one is your favourite Male and female character of your book? Why ?

Okay that's a really difficult question, its like asking a mom who is your most favourite kid. I mean each of them were created by me, I have nurtured them, from giving them a name to bringing their story to an end. Its surely difficult. Hence I wont say who is my favouroite character as all of them are, but I would rather say whom am I most close to until now.

For the male its Dakshi from my Story, "Enchanted Pursual", many readers of mine actually feel the same, but I have my own reasons for being as close to him as I am. Each time I write about him, I have cried, it makes me hate myself for every time that poor soul goes through something or the other. His story is not yet complete, but I am proud of him, of who he is as a person as an individual and how he makes mistakes and stumbles in his life and may be gets up again. Somewhere when it comes to him I am quite biased with my other character Abhishekh, the perfect partner that everyone wish to have...and the way Abhishekh is perfect and Daksh completely opposite makes me love him more.

For the female characters it has always been Akshi. She was the most close to me for obvious reasons. At certain point in the story, she is just me. Somewhere she was the one who made me realize a certain things. She makes me proud of her like a mother, she makes me cry for her as a friend, she makes me regret a few things that I did in my life, and at the same time she makes me realize that Abhishekh is a fantasy... surely there could be one, but there is no perfection in life, and if there was to be one... it wouldn't had been life in the first place. Even here I am quite conflicted with another character of mine i.e Anika, she was someone who came with time in "And we fell in love", and was someone who taught me a lot of things. Its surprising at times how for may authors, it's their characters who are build and created by them itself teach them things which many people around them failed to.

9) Who is your favourite celebrity?

I am not a person with a constant favourite celebrity, it actually depends on what drama, movie I am watching and my mood. There were times when Vivek oberoi was my favourite celebrity, shah rukh khan as well, when I grew up Shahid kapoor and Ranbeer came in the list as well, eventually when I went to the Hollywood, Taylor launtern, chris Evans, Noah centineo, were as well there. Now that I watch K dramas lee min ho, Jee chang wook, lee dong wook and Lee Jong suk are as well there. But one thing is sure, Shah rukh Khan, Shahid and Rabeer had been the ones who had been my favourite for the longest, to an extent that I could call them my celebrity crushes infact, many times when things wouldn't work out for me, its to their movies I go back to for comfort.

10)Challenges you face while writing?

Ohh a lot, there are a lot of them, I remember whining over the fact that I have to write as well. I am a very lazy ass, and moody to be exact, so there are times when I am in a mood to write, but as well not in one. There would be times when I would stuck with things, This had been so difficult for me, I had given up on my books for about 2 years, I couldn't make myself to sit and write it...and bring it to an end. I was lost. There were other times when there were a lot of things I wanted to write but I would be so overwhelmed that I knew if I were to sit down and continue the story I would ruin it, and its worst because you know its not right and you cant really stop yourself from writing. One of the biggest challenge is not liking what you have written. There was this one time I had sat the whole day, written about 3 chapters of the story... the next day I went back to read it, I felt what a crap it was. I had deleted the whole 3 chapters, my friends were quite pissed with me because I had canceled my plans with them to work on this and had as well not successful with this. These are just a few the list is actually big, and one the most biggest challenge that the whole world will have some or the other work with you right at the moment when you have to write, which means, you cant really write when you want to, and when you don't want to write people want you to write. Its quite difficult to be proportionate with your mood, your writing schedule and the world around you. eventually I found out a way, now I only write during the nights when the whole world is sleeping so that I could actually work on it, and trust me nights are best time to write.

11) Writing is your hobby or you want to persuade as career?

I never thought of writing as my carrier in the beginning, I started it as a hobby, When eventually I began talking about writing, many asked me about this, and a very few know my views on this...and they all are the closed ones. Surely I would be happy to have my books published, but turning it into a carrier I am not very sure about it.

12) Who is your favourite author and your favourite book?

My favourite author are Jill Mansel Khaled Hossieni, cilia Ahren, Amish tripathi. Their books have been the ones that had me hooked so bad that I had actually finished reading them in a day or two to the max. to talk about books, though these are my favorite authors, my favorite books are the editions of Ramayan and Mahabharata, many times I have found myself going back to them, and each time I read, fall in love with the characters, be it Ram, Seeta or even Urmila... or Draupadi, karna, Arjun, Krishna especially Abhimanyu. He has always had a special place in my heart right from the very first time when I had heard about his story from my grandparents. And when I actually come over these two books it's the Nadia knows best, that was the first chicklit I had read I love it for no good reason. Somewhere that book taught me that one doesn't require a specific reason to like something.

13) Do you use any other website to update your story?

My first book, "And we fell in love" is the only book that is published on Dreame, that was because I was offered a contract by them. I am still not sure if that was a right decision or not... but yes the book is published there and is as well available here on wattpad.

14) How much your readers meant to you?

Well I am not sure what to say to this. But I am really thankful to each one of them, even if they didn't made it to the end and just came and read the first para. I had always been unsure how would people will find my stories will they even read it, and with each passing day when the reads increase it makes me so happy. I am glad I could narrate a story to someone. so am just so much more than thankful to them for having patience, to read what I write, to endure all those late updates, to bear the little editing that I manage to do, to understanding what it is that I want to convey. Thank you so much everyone. To be honest, every person is a writer in his own way... but the moment, someone reads the piece he has written, when that reader loves it, he relates to it, and comes back to that persons write up, and waits for yet another one... I believe that is the moment a writer becomes an author a narrator. And everytime my readers goes through this, I became an author...I was able to make it here, hence after my family, my friends, my characters , anything or anyone who is responsible for me being here and who I am today, its my readers. They are the ones who made me into an author from a merry writer. So yes, for me they are just much more than readers, somewhere I really hope to hear from each one of them, to meet them and let them know that each and every time that you select my story to read and make it to the end... you make my day, hence thanks a lot for being there, for choosing me, for selecting my story and for reading it with all the flaws in it.

15) How much readers pressurise you to give update?

I never came across readers who actually pressurized me, and somewhere I glad about it. They understood my situations; I have always received polite soft spoken reminders rather than pressurizing messages, and may be somewhere I could never understand that feeling which many fellow author friends of mine go through. But I am actually glad and thankful to my readers for understanding me, and all the delays that are made in the updates. I really hope every author would get readers as dear and great as I have.

16) How you feel when some reader comments offensive and report your work? Want to say something to them?

Its been 4 to 5 years now that I began writing, it was just once or twice that I received offensive comments rather they were in my inbox, it was quite disheartening, I had always been a polite person to everyone, be it in my personal life or here while dealing with my readers and to receive something so offensive and rude was disheartening, and it was something I couldn't really share with others as well. For days I was upset over it,I had almost stopped writing as well, but then it as well made me realize that I was glad people were criticizing me, I had read that message like 15 to20 times trying to understand what was it that I had done wrong... and then implemented myself to improve that defect. There were times I didn't really agree with certain things, and had very well got it across.

Thankfully till date none had reported my story... but I could really understand how difficult and heart breaking it would be for the ones whose are.

All I could say to certain people like this is that, for once try and keep yourself in the writer's perspective. Wattpad is a platform where majority of the books are given for free, none of us writers are paid, yes that's a benefit for us as well... but certain of us we have choices to leave and go on platforms which are paying us... but we stay back here because of you readers, if there is anything that you feel isn't right, keeping aside all the above mentioned things one could approach another person with utmost politeness...each and every human being deserves to be respected for his choices, their decisions. And come to think of it, majority of the writers here are teenager and young adults, trying to develop themselves into a better person. If one is to bash them around how would they even come out of their cocoon...being a huge community, with proper approach, politeness, and understanding we can surely solve all the problems.

17) want to say something to aspiring writers?

I myself am an aspiring writer, hence nowhere am I in a position to give a word of advice to the others for somewhere even I am yet to learn a lot. But one thing that had helped me up until now was those few words that my mom had told me, and I would actually leave them here for others as well...

"when you start something, try and always finish it, they could end up good or bad, but there will always be a satisfaction that you finally ended something which you started." And trust me when we reach to that end... its always an overwhelming feeling. Keeping and leaving things in middle only leaves you in regrets and an empty feeling.

So may be, if there is a draft out there which you started and now is left untended, may be its time you go back to it read it...and find out your inspiration to get to that The End which you and the draft surely deserves.

18) if you want you can ask 2 question from your readers?

Well all I have to ask is,

I hope you all are liking the stories that I am writing, as well did you read all the three of them??

Secondly... who all are interested to know what will be the end of the Enchanted Pursual and the sequel and how do you all think about reading a yet another College romance book?

(I can be actually a bit silly when it comes to expressing and talking about what I feel...asking question to my reader thirds to that list.)

by AditiSwaroop