The Power of Youth

Katryst Chari, guest · [01:58]There's actually an annual competition that occurs in our country that you may not be aware of, and it's actually hosted by SASDB in partnership with CSA&G, and it's hosted by the University of Pretoria, and it's basically this annual competition. Anyone in the country can participate as long as they're under the age of 18, and I may be wrong here, but it's over the age of 12, so 12 to 18, and you submit via the theme. They send you a PDF document, and you can write on anything, fiction, nonfiction, essay, poem, whatever the hell you want, whatever your shtick is, and you submit it, and they select between 30 to 60 entries depending on the budget they have for the year.

Jenny Ostrowick, host · [02:46]That's fantastic. And it's through them that you became published, and I believe you have a short story and a novel on the way that you're busy writing right now.

Katryst Chari, guest · [02:55]Yes. So with them, I did a short It was about COVID, villains, viruses, victors and victims, around that wording, and I actually decided to twist the story and make the virus mankind, and use symbolism to signify how man is their own virus, and COVID was actually this type of anti-hero, per se. in terms of novels, I have a few things in the works, but getting them to the standard I believe they should be is a process in itself.

Jenny Ostrowick, host · [03:30]Well, that's actually one of the things that I wanted to know. Quite often we believe that when we set a challenge for ourselves that we have to complete it, and if we don't meet our standard, that we are a failure. Do you find that doing something artistic like writing, that you'd actually have some incomplete tasks, things that are on the wayside?

Katryst Chari, guest · [03:54]I would never state it as incomplete, but rather in the works. I have this story that I've been working on since I was thirteen, that I was ready to send out to publishers, I had done the editing process, and I was happy with it, until I decided to read it as a reader, and the more I read it, the more it felt like I was writing for Wattpad and not for a bookstore, and the more I read it, the more upset with it I got, and I actually scrapped the whole thing, redid it, didn't like it, scrapped the whole thing, and redid it again, and to this day I'm still not happy with it, and what I decided was, it's a good story idea, but the way I'm executing it, not so much. So I put the book aside, and I will come back to it, but I need to come back to it with a different perspective, so I give myself time to get that different perspective, and then I will approach that story again, cause there's No such thing as a failed story.

Jenny Ostrowick, host · [06:04]would it be safe to say that you'd think that being a good writer means to be a good reader?

Katryst Chari, guest · [06:10]Yes and no, and I can tell you why. Because it's about perspectives. Reading helps you get those perspectives. When you read, it's different genres, different writing styles, different ways of writing, different ways of communicating even. Each author has their own way of conveying that imagery and that message, and that's why I love fiction so much, because it's actually a very difficult thing to do. However, you don't need reading to get that perspective. For example, you could see the world differently to other people. You may be looking at the same leaf, but see a different shade of green to other people. And if you have that creative mindset where you can open your eyes to the world around you, you don't need reading. Reading helps you in one aspect of perspective for writing, but it's not the only thing you need. You need that wider range of knowledge, that bigger picture view on the world. That's the real thing that helps you with your writing.

Jenny Ostrowick, host · [07:26]So I actually have a personal question. I've seen on social media lately that English teachers are often sort of like in a way made fun of because we look for the deeper meaning when we're reading novels. For example, a teacher might look at a sentence and we read about the blue curtains and we say that this represents our protagonist's feelings of deep sadness. And then the opinion about these posts is basically that we're just looking for things that aren't really there. And sometimes it really is just about blue curtains. So what is your opinion about this? So when you write, do you use figurative language to convey a deeper meaning or are teachers just looking for things that don't exist?

Katryst Chari, guest · [08:10]I'm not going to lie. I have my own personal example and is the, he sat on the chair. Sometimes just let the boy sit on the chair. In peace. No, honestly, it flips both ways. I find myself crapping on English teachers for that exact same reason. But when I started writing to be published, I realized that my shtick as an author is having that underlying meaning and that reading in between the lines. And I actually really love having those real world issues incorporated into my fictional writing. So you will often see my main target audience is your young adults, your new adults. Those are the people I branch for. But within that group, I also reach for those critical thinkers, those analysts, if you will. And if you did read in between the lines, you would see in my own fictional writing, there is that symbolism of maybe the blue curtain is a little more than a blue curtain. And I think it took switching perspectives and actually being the writer to realize that, oh, English teachers may actually have a Point because I am doing this myself. Oops, and I'm sorry.

Jenny Ostrowick, host · [10:49]So that being said, though, how would you overcome writer's block? If everything's been done before, what do you do when you get stuck?

Katryst Chari, guest · [10:57]You're calling me out. You're in that spot, aren't you? Yes. experimenting. The thing is, what happens when you write, at least personally, you get so stuck on a specific point that you're trying to get across that you can't figure out how to get across that specific point, and you need to figure out how to get around that, and the more you think how to get around it, the more stuck you're going to get. So removing yourself entirely is what I would do, because what happens is, and I'm actually experiencing writer's block right now, and I'm starting to get over it finally, even though it's been a couple months. And yes, it does take months to get over writer's block, that's fine. Days, months, weeks, it's okay. But I've been in a writing slump for a couple of months, and I actually decided that I'm going to take myself completely away from the story and just live life. And the more I've been living life, the more I've been seeing, I can use this, I can use this, I can use this. And it's giving me also a drive to go back to that book and to continue it, because the writer's block is not there, because I'm not thinking about the writing. I'm just thinking about living, experiencing, and I can use this in my story, I can use that. So it's going to be different for everybody. What works for me won't work for the next guy, because we're all different people. And that's what makes us beautiful. So that's my personal method. But it's going to be different for every single person, and you need to find what works best for you.

Katryst Chari, guest · [13:30]Well, I guess that depends on do you think the name makes the person or the person makes the name? That's the first question you need to ask, and once you have the answer to that, you can go down different bridges. For me, I use the alias Katryst because purely privacy. I may become famous for my writing, I don't know. I know one of my dreams and aspirations is to have one of my books become a movie. Maybe like shoot for New York Times bestselling author first, but we're reaching for movie next. But I use an alias purely for privacy. I don't mind people knowing my real name, but it's none of your business nor your concern. And at the end of the day, what people lose about famous people is the fact that they are still human. And I want that thing of, I separate the actor from the character, or the actress from the character. And I always get annoyed with my friends when they're busy talking about the character and the actor as the same person, because they're not. So I separate the name, the person, Ryan Reynolds, From the character that he is or the character that he plays. There are two different people in my mind, and I use an alias to do the exact same thing, to separate my work from me. Because my work is what I do, what I'm putting out there, what I'm presenting, but who I am isn't necessarily my work. And having that division is something that people fail to understand is, yes, you're a celebrity, yes, you're in the spotlight, but I also have my own life. And I'm not always for you to see and for you to take pictures of. But I have my private life, keep it private.