12 Quotidian Affairs by Author Manank Panchmatia — The next big thing in the market!

Recently, we did an interview with the author of 12 Quotidian Affairs, Manank Panchmatia. Here are two of the major questions that the world needs to know.

1. How did you decide to be an author?

I couldn’t help myself but write.

I have always thought of writing a book. But, for a long long time I resisted the idea thinking it was too much work and that I didn’t have the time. I just had the zeal. I never really thought I could do it. I kept making excuses like these but eventually I thought of it every day and I suffered as a result of it. Somewhere I came across a quote that said, “If you can’t spend even one day without thinking about it, you should do it”. At that moment I knew, I just knew I had to write it.

My parents have always been avid readers, so I have been around fiction books since a very young age. I grew up reading Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, Winnie the Poo; Rudyard Kipling’s Junglebook, Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty, etc and I eventually grew into John Grisham, Agatha Christie, Charles Bukowski, Haruki Murakami, Sidney Sheldon, etc. As a teenager, I had only ever read fiction until reality struck. I read fiction until I thought life around me was perfect. Slowly, I stumbled onto how the world really is and I realized that there isn’t a solution in fiction books or school text books to address such issues. That’s when I picked up specific autobiographies, biographies and non-fiction self help books to help me deal with obstacles.

I never really finished non-fiction books since most of them felt very bland. It was very apparent that self help books were written in a serious tone to help you get your life together. I remember Mark Manson was one of the first non-fiction authors whose writings actually opened my eyes back in ’18. I quickly realised that there are very few books out there that convey self help, sarcastically and hilariously. Today’s generation doesn’t want plain non-fiction given to them — they want stories in the form of lessons, preferably funny ones. So, I just knew I had to give this type of writing a shot.

One of my life goals has been to write a book. Although, I must admit I never thought that it would be a non-fiction self help book. What 12 Quotidian Affairs provides is a wholesomely real youngster’s view of 12 different avenues of everyday life in the 21st century. I have tried to cover as many topics as I felt are relevant in today’s day and age while retaining the purpose of writing this book — provoking thoughts. Although the book hasn’t turned out as funny as I’d have liked it to be, yet I have added humour on a few occasions to make the book bearable.

2. What message would you like to give to budding authors?

I couldn’t stop writing even if I wanted do. I actually started writing without thinking of the end result. I have a podcast (available on all platforms — Mans Multifaceted Monologue), a Youtube channel (Manank Panchmatia), a blog (cappedextrovert.wordpress.com) and an Instagram (capped extrovert). So, I thought I would use the material from those sources. Since I had discovered self help books, I have kept notes and interpretations of what I read. I already had a few pages to begin with. So writing wasn’t foreign to me. I guess, you just have to start without planning much. If you concentrate on how far away the end goal is, you’re never going to be able to do anything. It’s a step by step process and given enough time, you can achieve anything. Actually, I gave into the temptation of writing during the pandemic since I had put off structuring the book due to lack of time.

I had absolutely no formal training or education or background in this area. No one in my family or friends has written a book, so this entire venture has been a deep nose dive into uncharted territory. Writing isn’t even my main or even second profession! I did not even know how publishing worked. I didn’t know where to begin but I just started.

So, I guess the best advice I can give to budding authors like myself is that just go for it. Don’t try too hard. Let it come to you but don’t stop making the effort. It’ll take time, be patient. Let thoughts linger around before you form permanent opinions about stuff. You are going to be wrong despite being sure, so keep an open mind and forgive yourself easily. Don’t forget to learn from your mistakes.

We thank Manank for taking out time for us.