She’s the author who penned the bestselling novel Never Say Never, and has recently released her second book called Written in the Stars. Her name is Anjali Kirpalani. We interviewed Anjali to find out more about her, and her latest works. Anjali also shared her approach to writing and gave some tips for all you contemporary fiction writers out there. Read on to learn what she had to say.
Welcome to e-Books India, Anjali! Many thanks for joining us for this interview. Can you start off by telling us a bit about you? Where are you from? What work do you do? How did you get into writing?
I’m a 28 year old from Mumbai but I lived in Durban, South Africa for eight years. After completing my Bachelor of Business Science degree with Marketing Honours from the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, I started working in the corporate world. But I quit that to pursue my passion of working in the media. I was an RJ at Lotus fm, part of the South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC). I started writing when I was 13; I won a poetry competition in school and that’s really where my writing journey began. Thereafter, I wrote freelance articles for the community magazine, Beyond Sindh. While I was at Lotus fm, I won a short story writing competition. This led to me writing three radio drama scripts for Lotus fm. I also wrote freelance articles for O, the Oprah magazine in South Africa, amongst other publications. I moved back home to Mumbai in 2008. I’ve worked as a TV reporter, marketing executive, and Editor of Stylekandy.com, a fashion website, amongst other jobs! My most recent stint was as an anchor/producer with ET NOW. I co-founded my PR company, Epic Communications last year and that is what I do in addition to writing.
You’ve recently published your second novel entitled Written in the Stars. Can you please tell us a bit about the core plot of this story and about the main characters?
Written in the Stars is about a 27-year old girl from Mumbai. The protagonist, Ananya, has had more jobs than she can care to remember. Her family is made up of overachievers amongst whom she is a black sheep. Ananya finds herself flitting from job to job unable to find a career that truly fulfills her. At work, a debacle ends up breaking down her career. Parallel to this, she finds out that her ex-boyfriend (her one true love), is going to get married very shortly. An unplanned trip sees her go to New York to visit her brother. In New York she encounters Sameer, a handsome man with a dark past, who seems to like her as much as she does him. Ananya then is set to find out if Sameer is her savior, or whether it is Sameer who is need of rescue, or whether she will identify her true calling on the trip.
What key messages did you want to convey through Written in the Stars?
Written in the Stars is essentially about finding your path in life. In my early 20s I felt very lost when it came to my career and relationships. I’ve realized that most young people feel the same way. We all want to make our mark in the world but finding your true calling isn’t always a straightforward, easy journey. Your 20s are a time of self-discovery. It’s a confusing time because you’re not in college anymore but you’re not married with kids either. And when you feel this lost, it’s natural to seek answers from the people around you. Like the protagonist, Ananya, I’ve visited numerous tarot card readers and astrologers too. I’ve always been intrigued by destiny v/s free will and these are the themes dealt with in the novel. But I’m an optimist and I truly believe that in the end, everything will come together and make sense. And this is the core message of the novel.
Can you please tell us about your approach to writing novels? For instance, do you use structured outlines and plan your plots, scenes and characters beforehand? Or do you write in an unstructured, free flowing manner?
I usually have my core idea in place before I start writing a novel. So for Never Say Never, I knew it would be about a girl who makes a list of things she’s never going to do and who would come close to breaking her resolutions since life has a plan of its own. And for Written in the Stars, I knew it would be about a girl searching for her true calling and her destiny. However, the rest of the novel takes shape as I write. Characters I had never planned on get introduced, and the plot takes on a life of its own as I write.
From your experiences of writing contemporary fiction books, can you please share 3 key pieces of advice for writers who wish to do the same?
1. Write a novel you would enjoy reading. Stay true to yourself. Don’t just write a romantic novel because that genre sells. If you write from your heart, it will always come across.
2. Be open to learning. Get feedback from people you trust on your work. Make sure these people are brutally honest with you! Your mom will always praise everything you do so her opinion doesn’t count! Show your work to an unbiased person. Read extensively and make sure your work lives up to a certain standard. I’m appalled at the number of badly written books that are getting published these days. As a writer you should strive for excellence and want to give your absolute best to the work you do, no matter how much time it takes.
3. Write every day. Writing is an art that takes practice. You have to hone your art for you to get better with each book.
Other than novels, what other types of writing do you do?
I write articles. I’ve written blog posts for Huffington Post and Missmalini.com. I’m not very regular with my personal blog but I intend on writing a post every day from now on!
Who are your own favourite authors and what do you like about their work?
Jane Austen is an all time favourite. I love how the characters she created are relatable even today, more than 200 years after her novels were published! I also love A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I loved how both of these novels captured the essence of being Indian so beautifully. I grew up reading contemporary fiction novels by Marian Keyes, Fiona Walker and Helen Fielding. I love how these authors can make you both laugh and cry through their humorous characters and realistic writing.
How can people find out more about you?
You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram.
People can also Like my Facebook page.
Or follow my blog on: https://anjalikirpalani.blogspot.in/
Getting a copy of Written in the Stars
Many thanks to Anjali for joining us for this interview. If you would like to get a copy of her latest book Written in the Stars, you can do so from stores such as Amazon and Flipkart.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]