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Ink and Impact: Unleashing the Power of Words with Risha Chaurasia
267 Plays11 months ago
Embark on a literary journey with the GenZers to rise! Podcast as host Vasilis Skarleas sits down for a captivating conversation with Risha Chaurasia—a multi-talented author, blogger, and literature advocate. In this episode, we delve into Risha's fascinating story, from becoming an author at the age of 11 to crafting three compelling novels, exploring the nuances of the novel-writing style that makes her work truly unique.
Discover the behind-the-scenes of Risha's literary world, as she shares the challenges and triumphs of the publishing process. From the intricacies of obtaining an ISBN to the meticulous verification of sentences and pagination, Risha provides insights into the not-so-easy path to publishing success. Join us as we explore the narratives of her novels, including "Tales of Twinkling Tweens," "TRUCE," and the empowering "To My Homies," while gaining a sneak peek into her ongoing fourth novel.
As a literature advocate for youth, Risha sheds light on the impactful actions she takes to inspire and uplift the younger generation. Uncover her favorite quote that resonates with the force of words and expression, leaving an indelible mark on listeners. This episode serves as a reminder that writing has the power to redefine the world and create lasting impact.
Connect with Risha Chaurasia at https://lnkfi.re/risha-chaurasia
Follow GenZers to rise! https://go.changemakerz.org/follow
Visit the episode's page at https://podcast.changemakerz.org/risha-chaurasia
Access exclusive content on the ChangemakerZ app at https://app.changemakerz.org
This episode is sponsored by BlendJet2 portable blender, the most powerful blender on the market. Take yours today with 12% off your order and 2 days free shipping by using the promo code GENZERSTORISE12.
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Transcript
Introduction of Changemaker-Z
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello everyone, I'm Kennedy. And I'm Vassilis. We run Changemaker-Z, a student-run initiative that aims to empower, educate, and connect Gen Zers interested in entrepreneurship. We interview teenagers with impactful projects and create resources to help you change the world. If they can't do it, so can you.
00:00:23
Speaker
On this podcast, we discuss the logistics of creating different types of projects with Jin Ziers who have already done it. We will leave our social media and website information in the description.
Advocating Through Literature with Risa Taurasia
00:00:47
Speaker
Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of the Dancer's Rise podcast. In today's episode we have Risa Taurasia. Risa is an author, blogger and literature advocate, spreading positivity through writing. Our main subject for today's conversation is advocating through literature. Risa, welcome to the show, so nice to meet you today. Hi and thank you so much for having me and I'm so excited for this episode.
00:01:16
Speaker
I'm so glad that you are with me today.
Inspiration from Grandmother and Love for Storytelling
00:01:19
Speaker
So to begin with, would you like to tell us how you got started as an author and what inspired you? Right, so I had always pretty much been of an avid reader. So I think it was my early on interest in reading that got me into writing as well. And I remember as a child, I used to think to myself that one day I'm going to see my name on a published piece of earth. And it was just this dream that I had to
00:01:46
Speaker
right and i think yeah and i my grandmother also used to narrate stories to me every night so that's how my love for stories began so yeah just those meets with my own love for reading led me to be a writer
00:02:04
Speaker
That's really amazing and it's great that you have a passion. You know, people, other people have other passions. Personally, I could never, you know, put myself in a position to be a writer for now because I don't think that I have an inspiration to write things, but I have inspiration to explain things or to present things and it really depends and for you the passion is writing and that's great.
The Enduring Impact of Novels
00:02:29
Speaker
You have already published three novels. Before we get into the stories behind them, I would like to ask what makes a novel such a unique writing style? So I think what stands about novels is its permanency.
00:02:46
Speaker
So a novel is there for last. Once it's published, it has its own ISBN. It's there for the world to see forever. And I think another thing about writing that sticks out to me is that my work is going to stay beyond me.
00:03:00
Speaker
Even when I'm drawn, I will have left a piece of content that will stay for centuries and years to come. And that's why I believe that novels are the best way for that. And though they might be a lot more time consuming and harder to write, that just makes it that much more gratifying and fun, in my personal opinion. That's really interesting. And I was wondering why novels and the writing style for your published books?
00:03:31
Speaker
So, I initially didn't start off with the novel. So, my first novel, Tales of the Twenty Twains, is actually just a therapist or a compilation of essays, poems, and themes I wrote as a child. So, I didn't initially just start off writing the novel. It just kind of grew.
00:03:49
Speaker
And then once I got in the hands of it, I, Bithraamat went in with publishing. That is when I started working on my second novel, which is a proper fiction story. So obviously you can't just act up one day and write a novel. You have to start from somewhere. And I think as I mentioned before, the thing about novels is that they're there to last. And yeah, I think that's about it.
Publishing First Novel at 11
00:04:15
Speaker
Alright, now you have written your first novel at the age of 11 years old, with the title Tales of Twin King Pins. What is the story of that novel?
00:04:27
Speaker
So I actually used to run a blog on Facebook through my mom's account. It's called Rasha's Journal. And it just blew up and I had a lot of leadership on that. And it always dreamt of writing my own novel. So one day my mom suggested to me that, why don't you write one? You've always been talking about it. You go on and on about it. So just do it.
00:04:50
Speaker
And at that age, I didn't even know that you could publish at 11. But then my parents educated me on that, that it is in fact actually possible and that there's no age limit to write. So that's when I started compiling my articles, my essays, my poems and all these things I'd done as a child into one massive piece of work. And I also included a lot of exercises in it to kind of
00:05:17
Speaker
relate to the teen audience as well. So my first novel is basically just a bunch of poems and short pieces, real life incidences, experiences, travel laws that I'd written as a child, some pilot.
00:05:32
Speaker
So like your partner said, go follow your dreams, you followed your dreams and you came with an amazing result in the end. Which is like, I found that this is a unique type of novel because it's not, it's a fiction story, but like there are different texts that are combined and they create, you know, a final themselves that people can explore and maybe find themselves were identified with the characters inside this novel, right?
00:06:01
Speaker
So and the
Influence of Bullying on Writing
00:06:02
Speaker
novel All-Star infestos every aspect of teenage life. So be it stools, friendship, bullies, your family. So it is these little things that make tween age what it is. And personally tween age is the time between ages 9 to 12. And it's a very confusing age. So you're neither a kid anymore, nor you're an adult or a teenager.
00:06:24
Speaker
So it's a very confusing time and I was a pretty much lost child at that time. So I also know this novel as a handbook for tweens to guide them through those years since I didn't have that.
00:06:39
Speaker
you have thoughts on some very important social problems that exist today. I was wondering, when you were writing about bullies, for instance, were you ever in a position that you were accepting bullying from people around you and you had this experience that you express throughout this novel?
00:07:05
Speaker
Right so the experience that I've shared in my novel is actually of my best friend who was a new student in the school and she couldn't kind of intermingle with the crowd and she was kind of isolated and she was my best friend so it's her story and of her beliefs but then also after my book came out I personally was bullied as well by my own peers for my novel so
00:07:31
Speaker
what hurt me at that time was that this piece of what that had put my heart and soul into for the past eight months was now being made was now modded by my own friends and peers so yeah that was a pretty um daunting experience that was an intense story yeah like kids sometimes can be rude maybe they don't understand or they do understand and they can be bad for no reason
00:08:01
Speaker
And then we translate this as being a bully or being bullied by someone. It is, you know, it provokes many problems to kids, to people around the world. It's really, really sad. Now let's move on to something more interesting.
00:08:20
Speaker
Was it difficult to get started with writing and even, I don't know, have you signed a deal with a publishing company? I'm saying that because I'm imagining that publishing a book is not an easy process. You have to take an ISBN, you have to triple check every sentence and verify the imagination multiple times. Ugh, what an nightmare for me. What was it about you?
Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing Challenges
00:08:43
Speaker
It was pretty much, so with my first book, I didn't actually get into the technicalities of it that much since I was 11. I didn't know how it worked or all I did was I finished my manuscript and I handed it over to my parents and then they looked after the entire publishing process. But with my second novel, I was a lot more heavily involved. So I made a list of all the publishers in my country, India, and I emailed them and then I got zero responses.
00:09:10
Speaker
So, of course, but then I didn't live up. I re-enailed them and that is when I got a few responses and that is when I signed a deal with my current publisher for my second novel choice. But then that just sort of was a blunder and then it just completely exploded into a mess.
00:09:34
Speaker
and the power machine process has not been a very tough table of friendly experience for me so far but I'm learning and throwing and that's what makes it interesting as well
00:09:47
Speaker
Of course, you're learning through the process and I believe that every limit that you find in your way makes you stronger and find solutions to these problems. In the end, you will be a better writer, a better human. However, maybe you could, I don't know, could you publish the books on your own somehow?
00:10:14
Speaker
Yes, so there is this concept of self-publishing, wherein, as the name explains, you self-publish it. So I actually did that for my first novel, Tales of Contrain Dreams, and we signed a deal with India's biggest self-publisher, Notion Press. So you basically pay the publisher to publish your novel.
00:10:35
Speaker
And so the marketing, the distribution is all on you. So it is honestly the most challenging route that you can take as an author. But then, as I mentioned before, the publishers aren't that open to new writers as such. They prefer people with an already established readership, since they don't want to put them money on a person that they're not sure of. And the child is just that. So self-publishing is, I think, the ideal way to go for new authors.
00:11:05
Speaker
Hm, and what about marketing yourself? Like, I don't think that you wake up one day and... Yeah, you have 1000 cents, if you look, how does this work? Like, if you were on a publishing company, I suggest that they may have their own network, you know, sharing or adding, you know, book titles to different, you know, materials and media. But if you are, you know, a self-publisher, how do you do that?
00:11:34
Speaker
So I think what the most important tool for any self-publisher is
Social Media as a Tool for Authors
00:11:40
Speaker
social media. And that's what I do as well. It's just having a very, very strong presence on Instagram and LinkedIn primarily. So I've just, the entire marketing that I've done for myself and for my novels has been through social media.
00:11:58
Speaker
And social media just allows you to meet people across the world, like I am talking to you and connecting with opportunities globally. And it is such a great tool if you use it, right? It's all just about using your resources, right? And also, I also tab into the offline market. So I toured libraries and schools and literally events in my city as well. So I connected with these people in my city and then also made sure that I was very active on social media.
00:12:29
Speaker
This is wonderful, and for more time, through social media, you can connect with the world. It has the advantages and some disadvantages, but this is a subject for another episode, I guess. But for now, let's move on to your second book with the title, Truths. What is all about? So, truth basically means peace.
00:12:52
Speaker
And it's the story of five friends, Tia, Ron, Udit, Tyra and Eddie. And that's where you get the title truce as well. And each one of them has a specific issue in life such as self esteem issue, imposter syndrome,
00:13:07
Speaker
body image issues, trust issues, health issues. And it's their story of overcoming their problems and redistributing yourselves to becoming more confident young adults. And it's their journey through friendship and relationships and love and how love evolves them into the best versions of themselves and pulls them out of rock bottom to the top of the world.
00:13:33
Speaker
Your third novel is called To My Homies, which is a story of a group of troubled teenagers who explore adulthood and through the power of friendship they overcome the obstacles in their lives and blossom into confident young adults. And right now you are in the process of writing your fourth novel. How is it growing so far?
Balancing Academics and Writing
00:13:54
Speaker
It's been a completely different experience since I'm now in the 11th grade. And with the academic responsibilities piling in, I started to find time for writing. And I've also been traveling a lot for the past few months. So the schedule has just been very hectic. So while it's been a struggle, it's been a lot more challenging. I'm just trying to go piece by piece and do as much as I can. And yeah, it's been a very challenging experience so far to be honest.
00:14:23
Speaker
Thanks for touching on the time management subject because I always wanted to ask, how much time does it take to write a novel? It really depends on the story, and it's also a personal experience, but what about you? So my first novel was quite a breeze, so I finished that in about 6-8 months.
00:14:47
Speaker
and with my second novel since it was a fitch novel and you had to draft the entire story, the character development, the plots and everything it took a lot longer so it took about an year and then my third novel was kind of along the seam and so it took about 11 months on an average but now my fourth one since I've just been all over the place
00:15:14
Speaker
I've just been all over the place. It's been a year and a half since I've been working on it, but it's still in the works. So I'm assuming that at least by the time I graduate, I will have it done. I will send you all the best. Thank you. Right now, which are some actions that you take as a literature advocate for youth?
00:15:36
Speaker
So I run a blog on Instagram that's all straight from my pen and that's what I use to advocate for reading among the youth and I also work on financial literacy and I do events and panel discussions and interviews such as these to just spread my voice and my story to encourage the youth to read since reading has been something that has changed my life.
00:15:59
Speaker
And it has made me who I am today. And to see today's youth drifting away from that just really, really disappoints me. So that's what just through social media primarily, I'm just trying to influence the youth to read.
00:16:13
Speaker
Here at the Zanzatres podcast, we are great supporters of such actions and accounts, of course, because this helps to spread different messages across the world that they deserve to be heard from other people and they maybe bring a positive impact or help someone to explore something new and start a new project, start a new life. And this is the goal for us, I guess. What is your favorite quote?
00:16:43
Speaker
I have a lot, but my favorite one is Fall Down 7, Stand Up 8. I don't remember who's written it, but I remember reading it in a novel about a week ago, and that just really stuck out to me. And then another one of my favorite is throat over company that says, yeah, it's just throat over company.
00:17:08
Speaker
Thanks for sharing these quotes. I do love quotes, actually. I don't have many, but they're my favorite ones. I have one that makes me keep going in my life. It's one from Steve Jobs saying you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards, and you have to trust that somehow they will connect in the future. But regarding this,
00:17:35
Speaker
With the change make it up we have a dedicated quote section where you can find different quotes from users that they're using the app and of course from the editing team of the dentist by spook doesn't seem to make your day. And this is a great place to find some inspiration thanks for sharing your quotes as well. Anything else you would like to share with us today.
Advice to Young Changemakers
00:18:00
Speaker
What I'd like to share through I believe this platform is just something that I've noticed in a lot of young change methods as well is that they often underestimate themselves. And that is something that I've done myself and I didn't believe in my abilities when I started off. And I was actually shy to promote my work.
00:18:22
Speaker
And that is a blunder I've made in the past and I don't want future change methods and the youth to repeat that. And just one piece of advice that I give is to just believe in yourself because the way you perceive yourself is the way the world perceives you. If you have a very, very strong sense of self, the world will value you too.
00:18:48
Speaker
I guess that they not only underestimate themselves, but also sometimes they don't feel so confident about what they have created and what they wish to show the world. I'm saying that because personally, when I started this podcast,
00:19:04
Speaker
well i didn't have the best pronunciation i was scared about you know comments with what you're going to say and then i found out that i was so happy when creating this podcast when i had this conversation with all these amazing people from around the world creating connections and i said
00:19:24
Speaker
oh yeah i don't care about anything i don't care about what everyone else is saying i do care about what i'm doing and what i'm offering for this world this is part of my legacy and this should be the way of thinking of every change maker because whatever you're doing even the little the little thing that exists you are making a change maybe
00:19:46
Speaker
Even if you are sharing an article with your friend and he opens that article, maybe he is going to be touched about the subject of the article. And this is a change. This is a change. Alright, so thank you for joining us on this insightful journey of being a teen author and of financial literacy. Thank you, Risa, for being with us today.
00:20:11
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me and giving me this wonderful opportunity and just, yeah, thank you. It was our pleasure. Thank you for listening and we look forward to bringing you more engaging content in the future. Remember, writing and expression is a force to build common ways and together we can redefine what it means to be an important impactful writer. Let's begin with yours.
00:20:36
Speaker
Thank you for listening and we look forward to bring you more engaging content in the future. Remember, writing and expression is a force and together we can redefine what it means to be an impactful writer. But until next time, do not forget to change the world. Bye!
00:21:06
Speaker
Thank you guys for listening. We hope you enjoyed the conversation. We had such a great time. Make sure to leave us a review. If you want more Changemakers content, you can follow us on Instagram at ginsears2rise and on Facebook at changemakerseat.