Writer's Statement

My name is Kartikay Shastri. Writing is my creative vent and stories come to me as naturally as I live my life. Stories have always excited me ever since I was a child. I simply believe in writing because I have transformed by reading other writers. Whether be it stories, essays, poems, or movies, they all possess power to traverse through your being and renew your deeper self. The ability to change, love, be human, suffer and overcome are few of many drivers that make me want to write more.

I strongly write using imagery with landscapes. I have keenness towards water bodies and love for raw nature too. My stories often reflect my inclination towards places filled with solitude. My characters are often guided by a greater source than them; they could be mentors, guardians, or spiritual beings too.

I try to bring up social issues as subtly as possible. My stories are always a blend of narrative and folklore.

My stories reflect the elements of relationships and internal strife. I personally am a big time day dreamer and many of my characters tend to wander too. Moreover, my characters are drawn by the rawness of life.

In my writing process, I often draw inspiration from the people I meet randomly, the places I visit, and my memories, may it be childhood or college account. Each new projects comes with an opportunity and equally as an extent of challenge to express my inner world in the form of those stories I write. I’d rather want to say that the more I live abundantly and freely, the more easier it becomes for me to write. I do not spend hours or days thinking about my characters or subjects I write about, they form completely based on my experience and imagination.

As a writer, I owe much to the greats of India such as Munshi Premchand who has influenced me enormously with his writings on societal issues, caste hierarchy, and plights of women. I owe more than anyone to OSHO, although he never wrote any books but I’ve always drawn towards his philosophy and practices naturally. Other writers like Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Rumi, and Paolo Coelho have inspired me with their writing style and deep meaning within their stories.

One of my main motivations behind writing is to evoke a sense of compassion amongst my readers. I also try to take my readers to a journey on different exhibits of life with every story I write. By writing on different topics related with friendship, relationships, and love; I also try to delve deeper into less touched topics of our lives such as unconditional love and being able to give love even after emotional setbacks.

In the future, I aspire to write stories that are mirror to the likes of my own, to the generation we live in, to evoke a sense of deep empathy in the world. I consider it an absolute mandate as a writer to make my readers contemplate themselves and find a cavity, a door to their own true nature. Additionally, I aim to create strong characters whose attitude is driven by the hardships and not being willing to give up and use pain to their advantage.

Writing has not been easy for me. With little to no knowledge of actual writing process I embarked on my writing journey solely based on my passion to create stories and express myself. I face challenges everyday be it grammar, syntax, or writing styles. However, I have committed myself to improve and over the time I have been able to unblock few of the areas with the help of self tutoring and online courses.

Ultimately, writing to me is a platform to express my inner world. I find joy and effortless ease in writing. It is a privilege and honour both to be able to write stories. I hope my stories are able to spark conversations and if it eventually lead to inner transformation of one individual then I’d call it my success.