At BookArt101, we are delighted to have Apoorv Anand Srivastava, Author of ‘The better you’
We had the good fortune of interviewing him, and we are certain his answers are going to inspire the inner writer in you!
Q) A big congratulations on your new book. It has garnered really great reviews throughout. So, what inspired you to write a motivational book that holds so much relevance in current times?
Ans: While I’ve been writing poems ever since childhood, professional writing happened only after college when I started to pen down my everyday thoughts into words – something that I was doing in the pursuit of giving meaning to them.
Over time I realised that these thoughts can also help other people in their struggles and that’s how a full-blown book came into being. Another critical motivation has been the teachings of my parents, who have always taught me that as long as we are on this planet, we must always strive to provide meaningful contributions to the world.
I always try to live by this value and for me, this book is a medium to bring about change (hopefully) in the lives of people who read it.
Q) How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
Ans: I think publishing you book matures you as a person in a way. Being my first book, The Better You is like my baby that had to be nurtured and taken care of.
Choosing to self-publish ensured that I could weigh-in properly on all the aspects of book publishing. This also helped me learn a lot of new skills along the way, e.g. web-development, copy-editing, how-to-apply for copyrights, etc.
Q) What kind of research do you do and how long do you spend researching before the beginning of a book?
Ans: My style of writing is slightly different. First, I write down broad ideas that come up in my mind to create a skeleton of sorts. Then I use the skeleton to elaborate further using introspection (so you may call it ‘internal research’).
Thereafter, when a write up is ready, I use data and research to substantiate the points I’m trying to convey to the readers. This in my opinion, ensures that people feel emotionally connected to the content and at the same time, also get data-driven solutions to real-life problems.
Q) What is the most difficult part of your writing process? How do you deal with it?
Ans: For me, it has to be number of iterations it takes to perfect your content. Getting ideas is quick. Elaborating on those is still manageable, but when it comes to perfecting it, you never know how many times you have to repeat the ‘read > make others read > get inputs > correct > read’ loop. At the same time, this process also teaches you how to be perseverant and patient in life. 🙂
Q) So, what’s next in the cards for you? What have you planned?
Ans: While writing the book I realised that I also enjoy writing Op-eds, so that’s something I’ve been focusing on lately on my blog, along with my podcast, Positive Hindsight
Q) Any message you would like to give to all the aspiring writers?
Ans: I’d summarise the message, in a poem from my book:
In the long, dark tunnel,would I have to travel……and when I set sail,it’ll all be behind.And I wouldn’t even know,where is the other end;or even worse, if there is any?So is it even worth,to embark on this journey? But if I never try, would I ever know!
If you enjoyed this interview and are looking for more motivational books, you can check out our list of The best self-help books of all times, here!