According to you which are the 5 books, everyone should read and also who are your top 3 Authors and what impact they had in your journey as a writer?

The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Silence by Shusaku Endo, Crime & Punishment by Dostoyevsky, Delhi by Khushwant Singh, andTo Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee are the 5 books that everyone should read. Each aforementioned book is from a different corner and of the world and belong to different eras. These can present to the reader an overview of the world and its different cultures (well, almost).
My top authors are Shusaku Endo (Japan), Stephen Hawking (England) and Alex Rutherford (England). Their works have shaped me up as a writer and have had an enormous impact on the subjects I choose or the way I present a certain topic. For instance, Hawking was not originally an author, as we know. He was an cosmologist who lucidly wrote, A Brief History Of Time in the 80’s, and it was the first time in the history of the world that a book of science and astronomy had sold millions of copies which were also being read by teenagers and toddlers. Such was his way of simplifying the complexities of the universe to the commoners. He also used tinges of humour (and sarcasm) in his writing, which helped readers coming from all backgrounds easily connect to his theoretical narratives.
Then, Alex Rutherford, which is actually a collective pen-name for a married British couple who have traveled to the middle eastern countries to collect authentic data before writing the famous, Empire Of The Moghul series. What I absolutely love about their books is the rich vocabulary, and a gifted sense of not letting their narrative get clogged because of the multitude of adjectives they have used in their publications. Not to forget, there is detailed historic accuracy coupled with intriguing fiction found in their books.
Shusaku Endo’s writings are mostly based on god, faith and religion, and offer a newer and more critical perspective (at times relentlessly satirical). His novel, Silence (1966) is a classic example of his views on the ideas he focuses on.

 Tell us a bit about your family, likes and dislikes as a person. 

We are a nuclear family of 3 – my parents and I. My mother is a Reiki master and is now gradually venturing into astrological studies, owing to her fine intuitive sense. I get my taste for exciting and thrilling stories and films from her. She is someone who isn’t easily impressed by stories unless they completely capture her mind and tick the right boxes on her list of criticism. My father is an all-rounder – he is an excellent chef, a born marketer, and someone with an active presence of mind and commendable communication skills. There is a scene in The Wolf Of Wall Street wherein Leonardo DiCaprio asks a room full of people to try to sell him a pen. I think my father can do it best. We three have a good camaraderie together, and enjoy each other’s company, good food, music,along with sharing all the joys and sorrows amongst us.

I am an artist, a science enthusiast, and a person who believes in changing for good. I like the ideas of evolution, time, and belief in the self. As a non-theist, I consider the human mind to be paramount, and reckon that nothing exists above it. I am also a lover of food, and it is always a task keeping my weight in check. What I do not like is stubborn, extremely traditional and rigid mindsets that keep one from accepting change and advancing. I believe it is toxic and hampers the growth of the society as a whole.

 Could you share a few tips for Young Authors? How is writing a story different from script writing and how budding scriptwriters should work on improving their skill?

Be it writing a story or a script, the eventual inevitable goal is to “tell a story”, where the former is literal and the latter is visual. A story is more difficult to write because the entire onus of elucidating the events piece by piece and describing the characters, the setting falls on the writer. Stories are wholesome and (should) exist without any external aide. Therefore, it is quite challenging being a storywriter. Young authors must always fish for new ways of telling stories. This novelty can either be in the subject itself, or in the uniqueness of genre or in the entire presentation itself.

Not that scriptwriting is a piece of cake; It has its own aspects and it requires a lot of skill and visual sense to write a script. Scripts are born out of stories and each script is a rendering of a certain story. A good scriptwriter understands that a script isn’t the end product or the end of the process (unlike stories), it is the beginning. Scripts travel from writers to producers, directors, stylists, art directors and reach the editor in the end. And like a game of Chinese whisper, it may (mostly) gets modified or distorted or misinterpreted due to the intervention by several people. This can have a huge impact on the final film and its success factor. Therefore, at the scripting stage, a writer must be prudent enough to explain the story in way that the message remains intact even after going through several hands, and the finished product holds on to the soul of the story originally written. This requires a lot of practice and experience to master.

Scripts are always at the mercy of the production unit to achieve fruition. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that scripts are written in proper format (the globally accepted and understood format). Writers must remember that scripts are NEVER to be written on Word, Docs, Notepad, WordPad and their other counterparts (basically note-taking software). This way, they become an endless mush of all the elements involved, and it becomes tedious trying to segregate everything and make sense out of the script. There is software specifically available for writing scripts that auto-format the data into globally accepted formats. This helps all people reading the script understand it better.

Another golden rule for both script and story writers, is to understand the niche target (readers or viewers) for their respective style of writing. This way, they can easily determine who to connect with and approach for selling their work. Writing is one process, but selling the written work is another. It is a different ballgame that involves good communication, social and professional skills. Maintaining clarity while pitching one’s work is of the essence.

At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘World Harmony through Writing’ where we encourage writers to pen down their deepest internal thoughts, daily for at least fifteen minutes. Their new ideas and profound thinking shall help to bring out some positive changes in the world we live. We would love to hear your thoughts about this initiative.Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

Undoubtedly, writing is therapeutic. Expressing one’s thoughts, feelings, reactions and concerns is natural to all living beings. And as sapiens, we are blessed with the ability to articulate our ideas in a more concrete manner. Not only writers, but any person living and breathing can write. All it needs is a pen and parchment to get going with all that one thinks. Thoughts are unique to humans, and bringing them out is the most beautiful gift we can ever have. I feel that this venture by Sharing Stories is quite thoughtful and it will only help more readers relate to writers, inspiring them to bring out their emotions on paper. Whenever I write, it is always a result of the piling thoughts overflowing. Therefore, I understand what it means to express through writing, and I stand with Sharing Stories in this endeavour.