In my first year as a freelance writer, I (very quickly)
realized that simply writing and editing articles is not
going to earn me enough money. I left full time work in
November 2013 and by early 2014 I was already
working on a book… someone else’s. The world is full
of people with exciting stories to tell and no time (or
skill) to write it themselves. My first experience of
helping someone write their story was a project of
80,000 words written over two months. The book is a
biography of a politician who has had their share of
excitements and upsets in life and wanted to tell the
world about it. These projects are bound by NDA (non-
disclosure agreements) so I cannot reveal more but it
was a great time for me – going over to talk to them
every other day, over coffee and macarons, and
helping them shape their chaotic story into a cohesive
narrative.
Over the years I have done a few such projects: One of
a renowned industrialist, another of a 100 year old ex-
politician and, most recently, of the head of fashion
empire. Most of these exciting lives are led by women,
which was rather satisfying to know. The process
changes each time – sometimes I conduct interviews,
sometimes I have the rough story already written,
sometimes it is through a mix of archival material and
interviews – the process depends on the individual and
the time at hand.
Kalyani Prasher 