Interviewtimes 
Deepak Jaisinghani is a Chartered Accountant by profession. His debut book ‘The Girl Who Did Not Break’ is a fictional thriller filled to the brim with sudden twists and turns published by ‘The Write Order Publications.’ Below are the answers he responded to Interview Times Questionnaire:-
Q1-What motivated you to write?
Answer- It started with Hindi comics. My childhood was filled with those. Super Commando Dhruva, Aatankharta Naagraj, Parmanu, Chacha Chaudhary, etc. I used to write my own stories at the back of school notebooks and show them to my friends. I shifted to reading English comics with time and then to English novels. The writing insect bit me quite early on. I started out with writing poems and short stories before I decided it was time to attempt a full-fledged novel. ‘The Girl Who Did Not Break’ took me four years to write, but it has finally seen the light of day.
Q2- Which style of writing soothes your mind and why?
Answer- Unfolding the plot bit-by-bit through dialogue suits me best. It not only blindsides drab exposition, but also grips the readers’ attention throughout. Dazzling dialogue comes from characters who have an agenda, directed towards another character(s) who has a different agenda. No matter how small or large the objectives, if the two are in conflict, the dialogue would work. My book is almost 95% dialogue. The prime example of this constant conflict-generation is Yugant and Adwait’s curious relationship in the book. The two are never on the same page due to their ideological differences. Conflict always makes for great dialogue.
Q3-What are your hobbies?
Answer- I love to read books of all genres. Mystery, legal thrillers, self-help, romance, comics, science fiction, YA, you name it, I’ve read it. Reading is my chosen reliant means of escape from reality.
Q4- Any tips you want to share with people who aspire to write a book?
Answer- No matter what happens, never, ever…. stop clicking Ctrl + S. I have lost entire chapters to this one mistake more than once. And trust me, recalling and re-writing the stuff you already wrote and lost is way more difficult than writing it the first time. Keep writing. Keep clicking Ctrl + S.
Q5- What are your future plans?
Answer- I am currently working on the second book of Arc of a Soldier trilogy. It’s called ‘The Girl Who Fought Back’. I also have some concrete ideas about the third book and where I want to take the story. Apart from the trilogy, a stand-alone gangster-drama called ‘The Colour of Blood’ is on my mind for a while now. In fact, it was intended to be my debut novel. After penning down two chapters, this other idea suddenly consumed me. An idea about an action-packed suspense thriller. I did not give it much thought then but the plot steadily kept developing in my mind as days passed. Gradually, the idea got so overwhelming that I abandoned the gangster-drama and started working on the thriller. This is how ‘The Girl Who Did Not Break’ was born. Those two chapters of ‘The Colour of Blood’ still sit all alone somewhere in my laptop, waiting for me to finish what I started. I plan to take it up again someday, but right now, my focus is on the Arc of a Soldier trilogy.
Q6- How do you manage your daily schedule?
Answer- I am a Chartered Accountant and a Businessman, apart from an author. I also taught the students of CA-Intermediate and Final for a brief period of time, but then gave up the job. Now I run my business in daytime and read and write at nights.
Q7-According to you, what are the basic things a writer should focus on while writing?
Answer- Action and persistence are the foremost qualities that pop up in my mind. When I first tried to write a book some years ago, the first draft turned out so utterly abhorrent that I questioned my skillset. That little misadventure was a wake-up call. If I was serious about writing, then I had to learn it. Learn not only the nuts and bolts of writing, but the language in general – punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, everything. I began underlining every new word I saw on the page. Checked out videos on YouTube. Read books on the art of writing. And I am still learning. The interesting thing about learning is that it’s not a deadline-friendly, limited period offer; it’s a lifetime activity. There’s no expiry date. Secondly, persistence. The problem with things with no deadlines is that you might never be able to finish it. How many times have you promised yourself that you’ll wake up early tomorrow and go for a jog and eventually ended up snoozing the alarm, just like yesterday? Finish it. Finish what you started.
Image Courtesy- Deepak Jaisinghani
You can find his book ‘The Girl Who Did Not Break’ on the link below-
