Sanika Phadnis is a 20 year old student at the University of South Florida currently studying to get a Bachelor’s in biology. In her spare time, she likes to play the piano and write, having recently started writing for one of her college’s newsletter, The Odyssey.
How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I’ve enjoyed writing since I was a child, but if I had to put a timeline on it, I’d say I’ve been doing it seriously for around 7 years. What got me started is reading as a kid and realizing that I could and wanted to make up worlds, people, and stories by myself. The idea of creating something that was entirely on my own and being able to do what I wanted with it appealed to me.
What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
The best advice I have for anyone trying to write is to read as much as you can. Read stories of all genres, even ones you’re not sure you’ll like at first. Aside from that, try to write a little bit each day, even if it’s only a paragraph describing what you did that day.
If you could go back and find yourself five years ago, what advice would you give yourself?
If I could go back five years, I’d tell myself to stop focusing on whether what I write is perfect or not and just write. Nobody starts off perfect.
What is your favorite type of fiction and who are your favorite authors?
My favorite type of fiction is speculative, especially science fiction or fantasy, or any merging of the two. One of my favorites is the Y/A Gone series by Michael Grant.
How do you measure success when it comes to your writing?
Typically, I try not to measure success by whether or not I’ve been published. There are stories which I haven’t published yet that I do still consider decent. My success is usually based on the opinions of friends and family, who I encourage to be honest and blunt.
How do you deal with rejections?
I remind myself that even the best authors have faced rejections at times, and that the best thing to do is just keep on writing and submitting. Just because the story wasn’t a good fit with one magazine or publisher doesn’t mean it won’t be with another.
Were you taught anything about creative writing in high school or college that just didn’t work for you?
One thing I learned in school that doesn’t really work for me is to use as many different adjectives and vocabulary words as possible. Sometimes, keeping it simple is better.
What are your writing goals for the next twelve months?
I’d like to finish up story I’ve been working on for a while. I started it about a year ago and right now I’m a little stuck on where to go next, but I hope to get past that block.
What are your writing goals for the next five years?
In the next five years, I hope to have a lot more short stories and possibly a couple more novels, or longer stories under my belt. Additionally I’d like to be published in more magazines like this one.
Is there anything you’d like to plug? Feel free to share a link.
I also have written a number of articles online that can be found here https://www.theodysseyonline.com/user/@sphadnis
