The amazing story of an young and dreamy writer from the city of Hyderabad, a place famous for its creativity and cultural passion has added one more gem to the literary world in the form of an upcoming fascinating writer Ms.Jyoti patel.
She is writing since the age of fourteen. This teenage girl has made her presence felt on various social platforms.
Jyoti Patel is an ardent lover of western and classical music. She enjoys reading, writing, singing and painting.
She is a blogger, a poetess and has been a contributing poet and author to many anthologies thus, her passion & expertise in poetry and storytelling is very much evident in her first book ‘Sensation of a Soul.’
The book was published when she was only a girl of seventeen. Her second book, ‘The Mystic Soul’ published in 2017.
Jyoti is part of the organization ‘Yes I Am Happy’ which facilitates creative education for children from the unprivileged background.
She has an eye of curiosity and an inquisitive sense to explore. There was a time when she wanted to take up wildlife photography as a career.
She is now currently busy working on two of her books.
Along with alluring stories, she writes heartwarming poems on topics ranging from romance to social causes. She says, “When you put a smile out there, you get a smile back.”
Jyoti smiles and says, ‘I am a girl who is positive about many things of life. There are many things I like to do, I like to see and to experience. I like to read, I like to write; I like to think, I like to dream; I like to talk, I like to listen. I like to see the sunrise in the morning, I like to see the moonlight at night. I like to feel the music flowing on my face, I like to smell the wind coming from the ocean. I like to look at the clouds in the sky with a blank mind, I like to do the thought experiment when I cannot sleep in middle of the night. I like flowers in spring, rain in summer, leaves in autumn, and snow in winter.
I like to be alone rather than being in a group filled with negativity.
I like to be surrounded by positive and energetic people. I like country’s peace and metropolis noise; I like the view of beautiful lakes, I like a flat having a beautiful view. I like delicious food and comfortable shoes; I like good books and romantic movies. I like the land and the nature, I like to laugh, giggle and smile. I always wanted to be great and inspire tons of souls.’
The beautiful journey of her life in her own words…
1. Tell me more about yourself? What kind of person are you?
Well, This question is the hardest part of the interview for me. To begin with, I’m a very simple girl from Hyderabad having not so simple dreams. I’m a jovial person. I don’t identify as an introvert or an extrovert, So I guess, I might be an ambivert. I’m one of those people who fall in the middle of being introverted or extroverted, I could identify with both personality types but I can adapt relatively quickly to every situation. I fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
2. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Definitely, there are certain things that bother me frequently, The first and foremost challenging thing is overcoming the Writer’s Block. I try to push myself harder to write when I reach to the condition, where I’m unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.
3. What motivated you to become an author?
Surely, there are hundreds of things that motivated me to become an author. I believe every person we meet, every story we hear, everything that happens to me and around me has a deep purpose. Everything I go through in my life, each experience I’ve had until now helped me to write more. I always have something to take from everything. I learn, from the falling of a leaf to death of a person. All the little things happening in this world gives me a new story to write.
4. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I have been contributed to various anthologies before publishing my first book ‘Sensation of a Soul’ when I was a girl of seventeen. I feel glad that my first book is still doing the wonders. I can surely say that I changed the style of my writing a little. If I go back to my previous works, my stories or the poems, I do feel that somethings have changed. I was a narrative poet, my poems were always such that tells a story. I’m now more into free verse, where I don’t use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other pattern in many of my poems. The only thing that will always remain the same is my love for writing, my love for words. I always did have a good imaginative power and I never use the big words for the sake of using big words. I feel using the big and fancy words is not the main thing. I try to keep my writings simple.
5. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
Words are the most powerful because, words carry so much of weight. Thinking of something we’ve read can help us in moving in the right direction. And the speeches we’ve heard that was inspirational. Or just thinking of an insult or the negative remarks can collapse us terribly. Our emotions are activated with the words, we always remember how the words made us feel. Some of the words others spoke might have moved us to take the big steps in our life. And we hold on to the memories that make us sad, angry or happy. So learning how to use the words effectively in life is one of the most important thing. They could make or break a person forever. Words can give us any kind of feelings. Words have the power to touch our senses. Words have the power to raise someone, to destroy a person, to inspire anyone.
6. What does literary success look like to you?
I think, I view success in two different ways. The actual success for me is the joy of my heart. I feel that I couldn’t live without writing and so, because of that one belief, I actually write more, instead of thinking to do it someday. Success for me is listening to my readers. I do interact with my readers frequently, all of their lovely reviews, words and everything they tell me helps me a lot in the process of writing.
I don’t think, just because someone is publicly successful doesn’t make them personally successful. I can’t continue writing if I hate doing it, just because of the talent and have a career of it. I feel more than happy that I love writing and being well-loved for it.
7. Our readers would love to know about your latest book? Can you shed some light on it?
What is it that sets this book apart from other books?
My second book, ‘The Mystic Soul’ is an anthology. The Mystic Soul will have you laughing, crying, occasionally scare you at times, there are many poems and thousand micro tales in this book. I’ve tried my best to amazingly pen down the poetry, The Mystic Soul has a bunch of little stories to entertain the readers until the last word. The stories I’ve written in this book essentially covered all that we would have witnessed or experienced in our life. I can say that, This book can hit the reader emotionally, there are various characters, twists, and the suspense elements in the book. I promise, This book takes you to a completely different world. With this unique book, I feel glad to share that my readers can go through an emancipating experience as they read. The Mystic Soul is an experience of love, heartbreaks, struggles, dreams and life altogether.
8. Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
I get so caught up in nonfiction and the reality — The self-help books are what I prefer to read these days. When I read fiction, I see the world through a character’s eyes which is a different feeling. Fiction allows me to look at the world in an entirely different light, and when I find something I like, I adopt it and make it my own. Though a fictional novel, story, drama, or poem is the expression of an author’s imagination. I mostly prefer writing and reading about the characters and situations that are “not made up.” After reading so many fictional stories in my life, I understood that I expect fiction to reflect the real world; Of-course I do not expect it to portray the real world. And yet writer’s can make them seem very real without being factual.
9. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
I never really did face any huge difficulties but the difficult part in the artistic process generally and sometimes which occur to me as well is the fear of selling and the low confidence. It feels vulnerable to discover that we are unable to do anything no matter how much we try This could continue for a few days or months and when the productivity level goes so low, it impacts on various other things.
I believe, taking some rest, reading and going out can help. Perhaps, for many writer’s, writing for so long might be killing them. So It’s the time to relax and give up writing for a whole day. Staying alone, or going out there and enjoying the world, being with others can give the new ideas. These things surely do help many writers and they will be amazed at how refreshed and productive they can be at the end of the day.
10. When you develop characters do you already know who they are before you begin writing or do you let them develop as you go?
I don’t make the whole plan before I begin writing. I mostly let the stories or poetry develop as I go on writing. However, I do think about the beginning, middle and end of the stories. I try to know my best to know the characters well instead of thinking about them after the story begins. I always do have a rough plan. In order to know where the story is going, I at-least need to roughly know to continue writing the best of the story/poetry for my readers.
11. What marketing strategies do you find most helpful? Any resources you would recommend to other authors or aspiring authors?
Definitely, Once we finish writing the book and it’s published for the whole world to see, It’s not all about sitting back and relaxing. However, I never really had a marketing strategy in those days. I only did try my best to spread the word about my books through the social media platforms at first. They truly can be helpful if used in the right way. The self promotions, online marketing, interacting with the readers or fellow writer’s can be helpful. One must try to engage as much as possible with others. Word of mouth is powerful and so, writer’s must always try to spread the word about their work often. Engaging in the activities related to writing, joining and being active in the groups for the writer’s or readers is a good step for the success and reach out to more people.
12. How long on average does it take you to write a book?
I published my first book ‘Sensation of a Soul’ in the year 2016. And the second book ‘The Mystic Soul’ in 2017. I’m planning to release my third by the end of this year. Thus, on average it takes me around ten months. However If I really do focus and write every single day, It takes me only around 5 months or so. This means, I’ve been spending a lot of time doing the other works instead of only focusing on my books. Now on, I would like to dedicate my full time to writing and wishing to write everyday. I want to release more than one book a year.
13. Who or what is your inspiration when it comes to writing?
There is not just one person who is my inspiration. I get inspired from everything and everyone in some ways. Every person do have something to teach us. There is not even a single failed experience in anyone’s life. It’s all only about learning from everyone and everything that comes in our way all through the life. Someone may have the best to teach me with their words and actions and the other, a person who is always negative may help me in learning how not to be like him.
Thus, every experience, everyone I meet, all the moments I’ve had until now are the biggest reasons behind writing any of my story. I can write about death of a person, or the story of a young broken man because, I personally have met such people in my life who taught me more than what any schools or colleges in the entire world can. To say it in the simple words, ‘All the books I read, feelings I have, people I meet are my inspiration’ in one way or the other.
14. What has been your biggest achievement as an author?
No matter where I would be in next ten years, I always do remember and cherish the small yet big things that have happened in my writing career from the beginning. Some of my biggest achievements are such that, I once received a message from a young girl from the same city I live in, saying that my words have helped her a lot to cope up with the depression and saved her life for the best. I once received a mail from an eighteen year old guy where he mentioned that gifting my book to the love of his life when they were on the edge of breaking up made him get her back.
So, what more can I ask for and could be the better achievements than these! When I frequently receive amazing responses from my readers, It feels amazing to know that I helped someone out there in the world in someway with my words.
Spreading the happiness, love and smiles are my biggest focus in life.
15. What are your other interests apart from writing?
My other interests apart from writing are Travelling, Photography, Cooking and Singing. I love to travel the world. I cook everyday. I sing, I paint at times, I read. I’m a blogger. I do volunteering, I’m a freelance worker, part of various organizations where we are trying to make this world a better place.
