What India’s bestselling author, Ashwin Sanghi tells every young writer: Keep your job, stop rewriting, and forget everything school taught you

India’s bestselling author dismantles three myths young writers live by—in one conversation

On Episode 3 of I.I.M.U.N.’s conversational podcast Before I Became Me, hosted by Rishabh Shah, bestselling author Ashwin Sanghi, whose thrillers include The Rozabal Line, The Krishna Key, and Chanakya’s Chant,  delivered the kind of advice that only someone who’s actually built a career can give.

He started with what nobody wants to hear. “All those who go into the world of writing, my advice is that you should not write when you are hungry. It’s damn difficult.” His hierarchy is clear: “Family comes first, income comes along with it, financial security comes along with that.” He lived it himself. The Rozabal Line was written entirely while working full-time. “I would have my dinner, and typically by around 10 o’clock I would retreat into my study and spend maybe a couple of hours working on my research and my writing. Gradually,  in 2-2.5 years, I wrote the book.”

But financial stability, he explained, only shifts the trap – from survival to perfectionism. “There are times when I’ll be working on a book, and I will say, if this could have two more rewrites, it’ll be perfection. And you realise at a certain point in time that no, this is the time to stop because the vast majority of your readers have already got what you are trying to say. That further 10% or 15% refinement is only going to consume productive time, but it’s not going to necessarily help.”

And then there’s the question of where the craft comes from in the first place. Candid about his own privilege, Sanghi said: “I guess it’s easier for me to say that, having gone through Cathedral and Xavier’s and Yale.” But his conclusion is clear: “I do believe that a certain modicum of education is necessary in order to teach you how to think. But beyond that, does formal education – I use the word advisedly under quotes – does it actually educate you? I’m not so sure. The vast majority of my education happened outside the classroom – from the books that nana ji gave me, from the experiences I had at work, from the failures I had in life.”

Three myths. One conversation. From someone who has the degrees, the bestsellers, and the royalty cheques to say all of it without any lofty quotes.