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Someone rightly said, Art is the truest expression of ourselves.

As a kid, Shivalika never really was fond of reading and writing. But right now, not only is she pursuing a degree in English Hons but is also a published author. Interacting and learning from Captain Shashwat during the MyCaptain Novel Writing Workshop, has been a life changing experience for Shivalika.

Read her story to know how she did it all.

<h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(14, 17, 51);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:40px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:0.5px;line-height:44px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">My introduction to writing</h3><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">I have always been an introvert and never really liked to talk about my emotions with anyone. But I had reached a point in my life, where I was feeling drained with everything that I was feeling and going through.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">One random day I just decided to try and use writing as an outlet for it. I started scribbling down random quotes and whatever I was feeling at the moment. The whole point of that activity for me was to let go of those heavy emotions. After a point of time I realized that every time I wrote down what I was feeling, I felt better.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Gradually I realised that words are very powerful and once that realization hit me, I decided to get serious about it.&nbsp;<h3>Writing for Myself and Others</h3><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">A couple of my quotes and poetry had already been published in anthologies and that is when people started reaching out to me, to tell me that they relate to my writings a lot. I knew that I was doing the right thing, because I had reached a stage, wherein I wasn’t just using writing as an outlet for my feelings but it was helping the people who were reading it as well.&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The core essence of my writings has always been the same : to express my truest emotions.&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">That is the same ideology I even follow on my Instagram<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(66, 91, 118);cursor:pointer;font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/expressiontostir/"> page</a>. It is my personal belief that pain is the cost of living and it is what I have accepted and realised. It is what ensures that I write to express myself and not to impress others.&nbsp;<h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">My introduction to MyCaptain</h3><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">I have known about <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(66, 91, 118);cursor:pointer;font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mycaptain.in/?utm_source=Blog&amp;utm_medium=Content_Marketing&amp;utm_campaign=Content_Marketing">MyCaptain</a> for a couple of years now and a lot of my friends have also interned with them. It wasn’t until April 2019, that a very persuasive friend of mine convinced me to join the <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(66, 91, 118);cursor:pointer;font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mycaptain.in/workshops/Novel-Writing?utm_source=Blog&amp;utm_medium=Content_Marketing&amp;utm_campaign=Content_Marketing">Novel Writing Workshop.</a> And I have to say it has been the most wonderful experience.&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin:0px 0px 25px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Captain Shashwat has to be one of the most humble and helpful people I have come across. Even to this date if I reach out to him with any query, he is always there to help out.<h3 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The MyCaptain experience</h3><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">We had live video discussions during our <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(66, 91, 118);cursor:pointer;font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mycaptain.in/workshops/Novel-Writing?utm_source=Blog&amp;utm_medium=Content_Marketing&amp;utm_campaign=Content_Marketing">workshop</a> and Captain Shashwat always ensured that he responded to every query for every mentee, no matter what their question was. He provided personal attention to everyone and ensured that everyone was on the same page.&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">One of the best aspects of the<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(66, 91, 118);cursor:pointer;font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mycaptain.in/workshops/Novel-Writing?utm_source=Blog&amp;utm_medium=Content_Marketing&amp;utm_campaign=Content_Marketing"> MyCaptain Workshop</a> was that Captain Shashwat was approachable for all sorts of questions and that is something that usually doesn’t happen if you take up workshops elsewhere. Captain Shashwat even constantly encouraged us to share our work with him so he could review it for us.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The workshop content was quite engaging and we did very interesting assignments during our workshop, which helped us grow as writers. I have been a part of multiple writing internship programs, but I learned more in this 30-day workshop than all of those internships combined.&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Getting my book published<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">After the workshop had ended, I was full of energy and inspiration. I wanted to convert my Instagram page into something more and make it accessible to more and more people.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Once I had everything ready, I reached out to Captain Shashwat again to ask him, if he would be interested in writing the foreword for my book and he immediately got on board with the idea. Within an hour he had written the foreword and sent it to me.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">I got in touch with Novel Nuggets, a publishing house and luckily for me they were offering free publishing for new authors at that time and I got a chance to publish my book for free.&nbsp;<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">There are no words to describe how amazing I felt when I held the first copy of my novel, <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(66, 91, 118);cursor:pointer;font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.amazon.in/Expressiontostir-Shivalika-Singh/dp/9388758021">Expressiontostir</a> in my hands. It surpasses everything else there is and made me realize that you can always achieve your dreams.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(83, 83, 91);font-family:Lato, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;margin-bottom:25px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">To anyone who is reading this, I would like to say that, if you want to create any form of art, be it in written format or digital format or anything that you can think of, then use it as a source to express yourself rather than as a source to impress others. If you stay true to your work, it will do wonders for you in the long run.&nbsp;

Words are the most Powerful Tool - Shivalika's Story of becoming a Published Author

Introduction

Index