Swati Teerdhala On Finding Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Swati Teerdhala. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BS in finance and BA in history, she tumbled into the marketing side of the technology industry. She’s passionate about many things, including how to make a proper cup of tea, the right ratio of curd to crust in a lemon tart, and diverse representation in the stories we tell. The Tiger at Midnight, her debut novel is now out in paperback. The sequel in The Tiger At Midnight series, The Archer At Dawn will be published in May 2020. She currently lives in New York City. You can visit her online at www.swatiteerdhala.com.

 Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

The first spark of inspiration for THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT trilogy came from a visit to an ancient fort on a vacation I took a number of years ago. I was wandering the Fort, imagining the lives of the people who lived there, when I came to an open window. I looked down and I thought to myself, “what sight would make a hardened soldier absolutely stop in their tracks?”  Immediately the answer came to me. A girl. And that was the inspiration for my trilogy–and the first scene in the first book. 

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it? 

I built the plot slowly after figuring out the kind of story I wanted to tell and the characters. Character was more important than anything and it informed the entire plot. Once I had Kunal and Esha, two people on opposite sides of a war-torn land and conflict, the rest of the plot fell into place fairly organically. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to pap 

Yes! All the time. I think there is this nebulous, unformed space between the plot in your mind and the plot on the page where things can shift drastically. Sometimes you might have an idea that seems utterly brilliant in your mind but the minute you write it down all you can see are its glaring problems. There is something about seeing ideas on paper that changes how you receive them. So, I’ve definitely thought through an incredible twist or scene only to have it completely transform as I get it on paper and see that it needs something else or something more to truly be brought to life.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by? 

It’s a mix for me. In the beginning of my writing, ideas flew at me like a hail storm. As I’ve gotten deeper into my writing career and have more deadlines, it can be harder. But it’s funny how inspiration can come from the smallest thing. I heard just a snippet of music the other day that invoked an entire scene in my head. It wasn’t a story idea, but it was enough of a wisp of one that I could grasp it and hold onto it. One day, that wisp will become something bigger. And that’s become more of my process nowadays. Layering and layering until I have the right story.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

This is something I’m still trying to figure out! Usually, it’s whichever story is grabbing me at the moment. There’s always one idea or concept that refuses to let go and demands to be heard. And it works. I try to typically have a few stories simmering on different temperatures at all times. Some take shorter, some take longer, but all of them will eventually come out fully cooked.

 I have 5 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. I recently added two Dalmatian puppies to the mix. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

I don’t have a writing buddy other than my tea mug, which I use faithfully every day. I do love to write in tandem with a friend as an accountability buddy. On days when writing is hard, it can be really encouraging to have a buddy to “sprint” with and to talk to about your work.

Top 5 Apps for Writers That Help You Increase Your Productivity

by Tiffany Porter

The life of a writer is complex and exciting at the same time. On the one hand, you get paid for what you love to do more than anything, but on the other hand, being a creative creature, you never know when inspiration will evaporate. When writing is work, downtime is unacceptable. And downtime occurs when we feel insufficiently productive, inspired, and motivated because we did not properly plan the process of the project as a whole, this day or this week.

In this article, we propose fixing this situation with apps for productivity. We have compiled a list of the top five solutions that will help you always stay in the working rhythm with a huge supply of inspiration inside.

Trello

Trello is one of the leading applications in the project and workflow management market. Your success also largely depends on the organization of the workflow, so try this app. You can list all your current projects, set tasks, and write notes in one panel.  What is significant is that you can take notes for co-authors if you work in a team. Most likely your clients are also working with this application, so think about learning this tool.

Prompt! This app is also great for managing your personal tasks, and increase productivity in personal matters too. No one obliges you to use Trello only as a working tool. Plan all aspects of your life with this application and you will feel the clarity in your head. And clarity in the head means more inspiration and creative ideas for work!

FreshBooks

If you are a beginner freelancer, you have only one customer and you work through UpWork, for example, you don’t need any accounting software for now. Firstly, it’s quite realistic to keep in mind your mutual settlements with one customer, and secondly, UpWork already has a built-in billing function.

However, if you are a bird of free flight, you have ten customers, for each of whom you discussed individual conditions for cooperation, then congratulations, now you are not only a writer but also an accountant. Fortunately, Fresh Books will help our creative and humanitarian brains cope with numbers and not make mistakes.

This accounting program will help you bill your customers simply and correctly. Most freelancers use this accounting software, as it is easy to use and effective in terms of accounting. Sooner or later you will have to deal with accounting, but it is better to start preparing for this in time. By the way, all packages have an affordable price, which makes the application so attractive.

WordCounter

This is a must-have app for all newbies! Everyone who works with text often encounters the involuntary repetition of words. This online writing tools for authors will help you quickly identify words that are repeated and make your text diverse. You just need to insert your text in a special block and the app will show all the words that are most often used in the text. Accordingly, you need to replace them.

By the way, this application can also successfully work as a determinant of keyword density. If you work with texts in order to increase the position of pages in search results, it is necessary to understand which word or phrases are most often used in your text.

In addition, excessive use of a particular phrase can be rated as spam by search engines. Therefore, the golden mean between the readability and beauty of your text, SEO fullness, usefulness, and sense is important here. This application helps to balance and improve your intuitive skills in using the right linguistic constructs in the right places.

Calming Soft Music

Do you know this feeling when you know what you are going to write about, but you just can’t catch the necessary wave and get to work? This is especially true for those who voluntarily (or involuntarily, as the last few months) work from home, surrounded by family, children, pets, and pots rattling in the kitchen. At such moments, the ability to concentrate and gather all your thoughts (and strength) into a fist is critical.

We recommend using the Calming Soft Music application to disconnect from external noise, calm down, feel for a foothold, focus on the task, and feel how thoughts begin to fill your head.

You can ask a reasonable question - why not use iTunes or YouTube in the background? Well, of course, the choice is yours. Calming Soft Music has already collected melodies that will help you concentrate and start writing.

Prompt! Use these melodies for yoga, Pilates, and spiritual practices. This is the perfect two-in-one app for anyone looking for writer's inspiration within themselves

The Brainstormer

All that we see around us is an endless space for generating new ideas for your books and articles. All you need to do is just grab one of them by the tail. The Brainstormer article writer tool invites you to generate an idea for your new story with a single click.

This app will let you come up with anything. For example, you can work out ideas for a character, choose the most suitable genre, and even generate unrealistic ideas for a science fiction story. The application is available for iOS and Android, and the prices are just ridiculous - about one or two dollars.

Important note! This is certainly a useful application, but do not let it make too many decisions in your place. Remember that this is just an algorithm that combines data in a random order, and you are a creative person who is able to come up with a lot of original things with your own mind. Use this application if you feel the creative block and you need the first push, and start creating yourself further.

Conclusion

Of course, it is possible to continue the list of useful online writing tools for a very long time. We tried to collect the most useful solutions in the modern technology market. Each of the applications that we have listed is designed to solve your specific problem, but in combination, they can make you a much more successful, organized, and inspired writer. Try it all at once and see for yourself!

Tiffany Porter has been working as a Chief Writer at Online Writers Rating reviewing variety of writing services websites. She is a professional writing expert on such topics as digital marketing, blogging, design.  She also likes traveling and speaks German and French.

A Debut Author Gets Her Cover... And Is Thrilled

Today’s guest for the CRAP is Amanda Sellet, author of By The Book. She has a B.A. in Literature from New College of Florida and an M.A. in Cinema Studies from NYU. After a series of odd jobs (au pair, horse-sitter, barista), I worked as a reporter for 10 years, writing about theater, music, and movies.

Did you have any pre-conceived notions about what you wanted your cover to look like?

I was hoping for an illustrated cover as opposed to a photographic one, partly as a personal preference but also because I felt that would better capture the spirit of the book, which is more about oddball characters and whimsical situations than strict realism. In my secret heart I also hoped it would be “cool” and “artsy” (pretentious, party of one!). Since I knew it would fall within the conventions of YA rom-com covers, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t wind up with the ubiquitous black snake or something in the style of “woman in skin-tight pants looking over her shoulder.”

Mostly I didn’t want the cover to give people false expectations, so no one would shake their fist at the sky and feel duped when they started reading.

How far in advance from your pub date did you start talking covers with your house?

About 18 months pre-publication, which was only a few weeks post-deal. The design team was already working on covers for Spring 2020 at that point (fall of 2018), so my editor wanted to get them a jacket direction form as soon as possible.  

Did you have any input on your cover?

My wonderful editor asked about my general preferences, and whether there were any current covers that were “singing to my soul.” I immediately sent her approximately twenty zillion different examples that had nothing in common except that I liked them all, because I’m helpful like that. 

How was your cover revealed to you?

It was the last day of the school year, and I had been running kids around town and having adventures in drive-through meals for what felt like hours. When I finally got home, I saw the email from my editor with the cover attached, which drove all thoughts of onion rings from my mind! It was extra fun having an audience of tween girls to share it with.

Was there an official "cover reveal" date for your art?

My editor let me know when they would be releasing the cover in-house and asked if I wanted to do a “reveal” that day. I wasn’t sure whether it made sense given my less-than-robust online presence, but my agent and some wise author friends told me to go for it. And I’m very glad they did!

How far in advance of the reveal date were you aware of what your cover would look like?

I saw the cover on May 23 (school gets out early in the Midwest) and did the reveal June 12, so not too long at all.

Was it hard to keep it to yourself before the official release?

Like most introverts, I’m all about my small circle of family and friends … and I may have covertly shared it with certain interested parties before the official reveal. Although my grown-up brothers are probably not the target audience for pastel rom-com covers, they’re still excited for me about every step of the publishing journey.

What surprised you most about the process?

The first thing that surprised me was how much I loved it. I’m a critical person by nature, and prone to second-guessing everything, but somehow seeing my cover short-circuited all those impulses. I was immediately smitten with the art, the lettering, the palette, and the design. Beyond that, it just felt right. And although I can’t draw to save my life, I did spend quite a few years haunting museums and galleries as an art critic, so on a purely aesthetic level I was incredibly pleased by the quality of Monique Aimee’s charming illustration.

The second surprise was how much other people liked it. As someone with a tiny social media following, I didn’t expect anything like the reaction it got on Twitter and Instagram and then Goodreads. It was incredibly fun to get all of those notifications, and feel like people besides my mother, my agent, and my editor were excited about my book!

Any advice to other debut authors about how to handle cover art anxiety?

If you pay attention to cover reveals the way I have over the past year, you’ll notice that pretty much everyone is over-the-moon about their cover. Maybe we’re in the middle of a golden era, or maybe that’s just how it goes: You fall in love with your cover the way a parent does with their child. As an added bonus, you can brag about it without feeling vain, and stare at it without obsessing over the zillion little tweaks you’d like to make, because you didn’t create it … unlike, say, your manuscript.

It doesn’t matter if your publisher is hosting a big fancy reveal or you’re doing it on your own. Embrace the joy of seeing the book that has lived inside you so long translated into visual form for all the world to see.