This is the interview of young published author Saurav Vaish, as he speaks his mind to array of queries from the BTL team.

Biography: Saurav Vaish, a final year engineering student in Amity University, Noida discovered the writer within after a few life changing incidents. His tryst with writing started through essay writing competitions for which he has many accolades. He is also an avid blogger. You can follow his blog at sauravkvaish.blogspot.com. “Love happens, so does a breakup” is his first book.

Q1. Congratulations Saurav on your first book “Love happens so does breakup” that has been published! What prompted you to start writing this book?

Thank you so much. Well, to be absolutely honest, it was a breakup. Though, writing always interested me, as did narrating stories. But winning essay writing competitions at school or writing awesome love letters to your girlfriend doesn’t assure yourself as a good writer. Narrating horror stories on night-outs at cemeteries didn’t count as a talent either. So a breakup gave my lazy soul exactly the push and the story that I needed. With my days in engineering growing even miserable, writing came as an escape. This is how “Love Happens, so does a Breakup” happened.

Q2. How did you juggle between college work and writing?

It was tough. Being an average student in engineering, an increasing backlog required me to put in a lot of time into studies. On the other hand, my newly found writing ambitions wanted to break free. Every time I got into some kind of a rhythm, there were all kinds of exams to disrupt. Being new to writing, I had no idea of how to go about things. The initial script was on ruled sheets. I used to carry them with a cardboard and write like a maniac wherever I got space to even sit. Then I typed everything onto the computer. I remember having an old desktop computer at that time so I had to break my back on a crooked chair all night after a 12 hour stint at college. College work did make writing the book a very tedious and time taking process.

Q3. What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I wouldn’t say any part of to be hard. Writing may sound boring but when you actually start writing, you just get lost in that world that you are trying to create. You can see your characters living a life inside your head. So basically, imagination is the most important aspect but not the hardest. Moreover, writing is a learning process and I enjoy every part of it. You keep getting better with experience. Something that you may find hard today might become a cake walk after a few hands at it. For me the hardest thing was managing college and writing at the same time like I told you earlier.

Q4. What books have most influenced your life most? You’re also an avid blogger.  Which do you prefer: Blogging or writing books?

I am not much of a reader. I haven’t read a lot of books. My girlfriend forced me to read “I too had a love story” by Ravinder Singh and it was then that I started reading a few. I read all of Chetan Bhagat’s and they were quite an inspiration for me to write.

I prefer writing books because they make a larger impact. Blogging was something that I took up to fill the time between finishing the book and getting it published which did get quite prolonged. It did help me build a small reader base because of which I could get instant response to the book. Moreover, I always have these small stories in my head which deserve better treatment than just being entertainment material to my friends. Blogging became a space where I was able to do justice to them.

Q5. You’re in your last year at college. Have you considered writing as a full time career?

Though Indian writing has progressed a lot. There are so many new publishing houses, young authors and an increased amount of readers but still it is an industry where it is tough to survive unless you are a Chetan Bhagat who is able to sell over 10 million copies of each of his book.

Moreover, I write to satisfy my creative bone. I feel if I take up writing as a full time career, I wouldn’t be able to do as well is I can do otherwise. I want to have a career in the defence forces and continue writing as a beloved hobby.

Q6. What do you feel about the impact of English fiction on the youth of today?

The impact is huge. It was this impact that made me take up writing. I feel books are more inspiring than movies. With the number of English readers increasing in our country, I believe this trend will only grow. Reading and writing are the best habits that young minds can posses and it is a great to see this kind of impact on the youth of our country.

Q7. Did you do character studies before writing your book? Or did you pattern any of your characters after people you know?

Most of the characters were inspired from people I have known and observed closely. I like writing characters this way. It makes them more real and relate-able.

Q8. Are you presently working on anything? What can you tell us about it?

Yes. I have started writing my second novel. It is a campus tale about how college life completely changes a person’s perception of life, love, friendship, family and of himself. I had this story in my head for ages. I feel like I have lived this story inside me. Initially, I didn’t have the courage to experiment with something so sumptuous. But the warm response that my first book got, gave me the confidence to start with it. Also, this book will be co-authored by a close friend of mine. Moreover, giving in to the request of my readers I am also planning a sequel to ‘Love happens, so does a Breakup’.

Q9. According to you, what is the biggest problem that writers face in the industry?

Like in any other industry, a new bee is ought to be bossed around. From a small book stall owner to the biggest of publisher, everyone treats you like you know nothing. It is good to take everyone’s advice but at times they try to overpower your ideas and your originality. Another problem I think is that there is a technological gap between the authors and the publishers that needs to be filled. Many established publishing houses are reluctant to use the new methods for selection and promotion of books. Because of this, some really good works go unnoticed.

Q10. What is your advice to aspiring writers?

My advice to all the aspiring authors is that always believe in what you are writing. If you’ll ever think that what if people don’t like it, what if I don’t get a publisher for it then you might not reach the end. Just believe that whatever you are writing is the best there can be. There will be a lot of people who’ll tell you otherwise but just follow your heart and you will do great.

More Details:
The author on Facebook: Saurav Vaish
The novel on Facebook: ‘Love happens, so does a break up’
Blogs at: sauravkvaish.blogspot.com

If you find the book interesting, buy from Amazon or Flipkart here:

This interview has been conducted by Hamsini Hariharan. She’s working at BTL because she says that she likes Indian fiction but her true intentions are world domination through flower power.

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