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Q&A with Vandana Saxena, Author of Hues from Cues: A Complete Poetry Writing Workbook for Budding Poets
Vandana is an HR professional, a content writer by discipline, and a creative writer by passion. Vandana started her blog “vandanaspen” in 2019 and has completed more than 300 writing projects in poetry and story writing.
In this Q&A session with Vandana, we ask her about her inspiration and journey as an author.
Could you please tell us about your journey as a writer/poet?
It started with a random blog on a guest blogging site that I wrote because I wanted to vent. The blog went viral, and I wrote a few more after that. The blog grabbed more than 10 million views within a year to my surprise. Since then, there has been no looking back. I have been writing something every day ever since. I joined a few writing communities and participated in a lot of writing challenges. I evolved from blogs to stories to poems, and here I am today.
How did you evolve from a writer to a poet?
I have always been a fan of rhymes and rhythm. Verses came to me through Ghalib, Mir, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, and many other Urdu and Hindi poets before I picked up my pen. Though the writing started with blogs, I evolved through writing stories to writing poems finally, as I loved to add verses to my stories.
Is poetry the only form of your writing?
No, but that’s the form that I enjoy writing the most. I write poems, stories, and blogs to unleash my creativity; I write articles as a professional content writer.
What are the ethics of writing poetry?
The first rule is not to say it all and leave a lot to the readers’ imagination. The second rule is to never say it all in more words; use fewer words and add more emotions, that is, use the right word in the right place. Avoid using transition words, auxiliary verbs, and abstract words, and replace them with concrete nouns and verbs to make your poem impactful.
Who could a poem not exist without?
If I were to answer this, I would say, Shakespeare. Shakespeare was a playwright but he evolved as a poet during the plague pandemic when theatres were shut for three years. After that, he came up with Romeo and Juliet where he wrote verses. Romeo and Juliet is one of the finest works to date in English literature.
As you have mentioned in your book, ‘Poetry transports a reader to a different world.’ Which world would that be?
A world that’s imaginary, surreal, and away from reality. The writers’ world. Poems have the power to take you out of reality and transport one to the world where the verses take you. Poetry is intriguing, enticing, and, most importantly, absorbing. So, it may be anywhere that the writer wants to take you.
Is grammar important while writing poetry?
One doesn’t have to be a grammar specialist, but it is imperative to have a hold on the language you choose to write in. We may do away with a few grammar rules as long as it doesn’t affect the idea or the narration. However, it shouldn’t be more than a pinch of salt in the sea. For example, we may use a semi-colon to avoid conjunction in poetry and to give a longer pause and time to the reader to absorb the idea. So, yes, one may not want to go by the rules all the time, but do not play with the language rules.
On what basis do you choose the title for your poetry?
It’s the title that attracts the reader to the poem. Hence, it’s one of the most important parts of writing. I prefer to come up with a title last. The titles need to be not only intriguing but catchy as well. The titles should make readers want to complete reading the poem.
Can one be a writer/ poet if they don’t feel emotions strongly?
I feel it’s difficult to be a writer, and more so a poet if you don’t feel the emotions. If a writer is not in tears while writing a sad poem or story, the reader will never be able to resonate with it. It’s imperative to feel every emotion, weak or strong, before trying your hands on writing.
I usually live in a surreal world while I am reading – the fictional world where my characters come to life, speak to me, and are visible to me. When I am writing, I can visualize every scene that comes out of my pen.
What does the title ‘Hues from Cues’ mean?
‘Hues’ means colours and ‘Cues’ means prompts. Since the book is a collection of my winning poems on various writing prompts and various writing challenges across digital platforms, I have chosen the best hues that I wrote on the cues given. That means the choicest of winning poems on various writing prompts in different writing communities.
