Sharing Advice and a Voice as a Teen Author with Santushti Tyagi
What inspired you to begin crafting “Candid: A teen’s life: unfiltered” at such a young age?
The inspiration behind this project basically comes from my teen friends, school mates, and the young adults around me. I got most of my inspiration by just observing people and their diverse attitudes and behavior. Being in my mid-teen years I know what it feels to be experiencing this strange phase of life and I felt a need to jot down all that I’ve been through and still going through so that it may help some other adolescents understand the quirks and perks of being a teen.
There have been books from all the genres for teens that I’ve read and for which I’m grateful for. But I wished I had a teen self-help book in my pre-teens which would’ve helped me to tackle situations in a better way maybe. So my idea was to be the one writing a teen self help book from a teenager’s
perspective.
Is there a single message you wanted to share in your debut work or was it a collection of thoughts and ideas you were eager to express?
My debut work covers almost all the ups and downs, highs and lows, and everything in between that a teen goes through. A message that I would want to share to all the readers would be that reading Candid- A teen’s life: unfiltered would undoubtedly be reading your own story by someone else’s writing. Being a teen in this era is all fun and thrill with lots of hurdles to overcome. So be you, trust yourself. Spread love, do what your heart says, and never alter your standards for someone else.
Did you find the writing process and construction of your book to be more of a personal experience or something you wanted to accomplish for others?
To be honest, when I initially started writing the rough draft, it was more of a personal project. I started writing to control emotions overpowering me, fight tough times, motivate myself and to tell the real story to myself. Being a sporadic writer this is all that I expected from myself- just writing a good dose of positivity, love and motivation for myself. But eventually it turned into writing the experiences and sharing some newly discovered ways to challenge your limits for my sibling, cousins and young friends. And with time I focused on being able to share my thoughts and help others, find positivity and in any way possible. Therefore this very personal draft turned out to be a project that I wanted to accomplish for teens my age who can still be a better version of themselves by trusting themselves and being proud of themselves.
Was it a love or writing or a desire to share a certain message that inspired you to create your book “Candid: A teen’s life: unfiltered”?
Writing my debut book was a desire to share my thoughts with the teens who were in need of a friend to help them in their ups and downs and guide them through. But writing process was something I fell in love with.
What has been your biggest challenge as a young author?
As a 17 year old, first time, self-published author, it has been both, a tough and fun experience all along. Writing and editing part was so exciting and fun, although editing became exhausting sometimes. But the publishing journey has been really tough and time taking.
If you could share one piece of advice with readers (especially teens) what would you want most to say?
Age is just a number. Make action plans. Be proud of yourself and start chasing your dreams now.
Santushti Tyagi
Santushti Tyagi is a 17 year old teenager who’s chasing her dreams. Apart from being passionate about sports, she enjoys music and sporadic writing. She is an athlete, a teen author, the founder of gen-z powered non-profit organization- ZARIYA, and an animal person. She wants to live her life to the fullest exploring all its dimensions. She hopes to enthrall and enlighten
her readers about the highs and lows of this journey through her debut book “Candid – a teen’s life: unfiltered.”
