About Swapna:
Swapna Sanchita is an educator, businesswoman, storyteller, and poet. She has been published in journals and anthologies. She lives in Ranchi, with her two sons and one husband. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a PGDM from IIM.
LiFT: Tell us about your book, the journey of writing it and its content.
Swapna: Poetry comes easily to me. It is the way I express the chaos that is my head, making sense of everything. This book is a collection of some of my scribbles in the last couple of years. Forty-two poems, because I turned forty-two this year.
LiFT: When did you realize that you want to be a writer and what’s your inspiration behind it?
Swapna: I have been writing since forever. I think I must have written my first poem before I wrote my first essay in school. I love to read, words are beautiful to me. Anything and everything is an inspiration. However, my family, and my friends gave me the confidence to do this-show my words to the world.
LiFT: Where do you see yourself ten years down the line in the world of literature?
Swapna: I do not know the literary world. This is my first foray into unknown territory but I know books and I love them. I would want the books I publish to be read, and to be appreciated and if I am very lucky, someone like me will love my words the way I love other author’s works. At the end of the day, I believe that is all one can hope for.
LiFT: How much do you think marketing or quality of a book is necessary to promote a particular book and increase its readers?
Swapna: In this day and age, it is extremely important. But once the initial buzz has been created, it will be about the quality of your work. If enough people read your work and start talking about it, others will find their way to your work. The problem is we do not know the exact number of enough.
LiFT: What is the message you want to spread among folks with your writings?
Swapna: I do not have a message. There is no moral of the story. I wrote the poems I needed to. I want people to read them, feel them and if my words strike a chord- well that is enough for me. This endeavor is one born of love for the written word. I hope it brings others pleasure too.
LiFT: What do you do apart from writing?
Swapna: I am the Center Director of T.I.M.E. Ranchi . I work in the education space preparing students for MBA entrance exams, Law entrance and Banking Services entrance examinations. When I am not at work, I read, I dance, and I binge on Netflix and other shows. I enjoy spending time with friends and family.
LiFT: What are the activities you resort to when you face a writer’s block?
Swapna: I take a break from writing, eat some chocolate, have coffee with friends. Writing is a hobby for me, or it has been until recently so writer’s block is not something that really concerns me. I write when I feel like it, and if I can not think of anything to write, I read.
LiFT: What if your story will be adopted as a movie? Whom would you want to work as a director or actors in it?
Swapna: As of now I write poetry and stories for children. So I do not really think my work can be made into a movie. If I did write a book which could be adopted as a movie, hypothetically, I would want Amitabh Bachhan in it. And while we are speaking hypothetically a couple of Hollywood heart throbs would be great.
LiFT: Are you working on your next book? If yes, please tell us something about it.
Swapna: I have never made plans for the future. I like living in the moment. Letting life take me, where it may. I would like to publish more poetry, more stories. Maybe write that one book, that people will remember. The possibilities are endless, but I am not planning for anything.
LiFT: What are your suggestions to the budding writers/poets so that they could improve their writing skills?
Swapna: Read a lot. Read different authors, different genres. Know your strengths. Work on your weaknesses. Do not be in a hurry to see your name in print. Build on your vocabulary, your grammar. And above all, if you want to be a writer, start writing. You need to write and then tear up thousands of pages so that you can put your best version out there.
Click here to buy Swapna’s Book from Amazon
