Till 2019, I was an editor producing narrative investigative stories.
But after I got back from a three-week vacation—to three different countries, no less!—I walked into my office, asked to speak to my boss, and handed in my resignation.
On my trip, I had experienced the excitement of discovering new territory (Scotland), reconnected with who I was (India), and deepened my relationship with a place I had been before (Thailand).
And by the time I was on the plane home, I knew that I had to leave.
Do you see what I’m doing here? With the hook and the personal narrative?
If you see and you like, you can get my storytelling cheatsheet for how to use this style into writing for your business.
Did I Have A PLAN? PFFFT.
And this is journalism, people. In this rickety building weakened by round after round of layoffs and outlets shutting shop for good, I had a semi-stable job with good health insurance.
Looking from the outside in, you would have thought I was crazy.
But here’s the thing: I had been desperately unhappy for months. I couldn’t stretch my wings the way I wanted, and I knew that if I didn’t make a drastic change, they would atrophy for good.
So I cut my tether to the paycheck, and even though I had no clue where I was going next, I knew it could only be up.
It was months before I realized that I still wanted to help people write better—just expand beyond journalism.
And I wanted to be my own boss. No more bowing down to a work culture that wasn’t healthy for me, no more answering to someone else.
That was when Cutting Chai Stories was born.
I was doing an online coaching program, trying to figure out what I was meant to do.
And a fellow writer talked to me about not knowing what to write, about being intimidated by the blank page.
“Why not try writing something that’s just 50 to a 100 words long?” I suggested.
That’s not intimidating; it takes the pressure off. No need to come up with the next bestselling book or soul-searching personal essay. Just a paragraph or so, just to get your feet wet.
I didn’t know it yet, but I was onto something.
“Jayati’s workshop was really cool and interesting... Her “time bomb” approach to force our own creativity explode in 10 minutes was an eye opener. Her gentle touch, positive manner and friendly interaction between the participants made for bonding and learning. She gives instant feedback, which is so important for a student and is offers constructive suggestions. But never forces you to change.
I truly owned my piece of work.”
—Meera Patwardhan, writing workshop participant
Soon I was writing short stories myself, all under 100 words long.
I stretched my wings a little more and started sharing those stories publicly. Old acquaintances I hadn’t seen in a decade started reaching out to cheer me on.
One of them dug out my email to write: “I wanted to write you to tell you just how much I enjoy reading your stories on Facebook. I’m not much of a Facebook user, but happened to see one or two and found them so delightful that I have kept checking back for more.”
I started a podcast, also called Cutting Chai Stories, to share these stories and break down writing techniques and help my listeners do what I do—in the same way that I’d been helping writers all through my journalism career refine and polish their stories. (Curious? You can see some of them here.)
Turns out, my editor’s eye for what made a good story, ideas for the best way to tell it, and passion for honoring the writer’s voice but making it better was an excellent foundation for what I was doing now.
I kept on using those wings. Just before New York City shut down because of COVID-19, I performed at my first-ever open mic night. I held writing workshops and taught writing via a 5-day live challenge on social media.
Then a former classmate-turned-teacher asked me if I’d consider guest teaching a creative writing class to her third-graders.
I just kept saying yes, and doors kept on opening.
A few short months later, my sessions were selling out.
I was teaching children 7 to 14 years old across three continents, and I was loving it. So were they: Parents wrote to tell me their kids were engaged and excited about my classes—even the ones who used to hate writing.
Then entrepreneurs started reaching out. Their creative energy had dried up, and they dreaded writing to their email list. They sounded stiff and formal when they wrote, and they wanted to learn to sound like themselves.
They wanted to learn how to write better, so I taught them one-on-one.
But I was hitting a wall, and that wall was my time—I was running out it.
I wanted to do more, work with more people who needed me.
I knew that my teaching style connected with kids and adults, writing for business and pleasure. I knew that my students found me engaging on Zoom, and couldn’t get enough of my writing prompts.
And I knew I was embodying the name I had chosen for my business, to honor the humble cutting chai, a half-serving of milky tea that can be found back home at roadside stalls and on railway platforms— something to curl your hands around when it’s raining just feet away and you want to feel warm and comforted.
That was the feeling I wanted to create for my people—a no self-deprecation space for folks to gather, free of judgment, and learn that they CAN write, write effectively, and leave their customers wanting more.
(Speaking of which, I made some FREE guides to help you get there. There’s the one about the myths of good writing that need to be busted. There’s the checklist of 12 components of effective emails and why you need them. And the one about how to use personal storytelling effectively as an entrepreneur.)’
So I took the next step, and created a digital course for entrepreneurs who want to learn how to write better for their business—and sound like themselves while doing it.
“Jayati’s creative writing sessions have been a beautiful experience for our eight-year-old who has an extremely creative mind but was hesitant to put my thoughts into words before she came across this class. A. has a vivid imagination but she mostly puts on to paper through art. The comprehension aspect of reading stories for her school syllabus was something she was lacking in and in our attempt to push her to excel in school, we could not focus on how she could broaden her scope of thinking and analyzing. This class has allowed her the opportunity to do just that and much more. She always comes out of the class very excitedly sharing with us what she spoke about and learned and how she used her imagination to spin a new tale. We are glad we signed up and look forward to Ms. Jayati’s class all week.”
—Shehnaaz Jagasia, parent
That’s the 5-module course I called
“The Words Will Come: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Writing Like You Talk.”
It is entrepreneur-approved, tried and tested. Its lessons are cutting chai-sized, so they never feel overwhelming or intimidating; it’s designed to get you to the finish line. Yet it has all the worksheets, extra examples, and homework assignments you’ll need to strengthen your writing muscles, and support you on the journey.
In this course, I will:
- Get your creative juices flowing, yes, even you, who thinks you don’t have an ounce of creativity in you
- Make you feel comfortable with writing
- Teach you the basics of good writing, with concrete tools to help you feel comfortable and lots of examples so you understand every step of the way
- Give you lots of practice so you develop your writing muscles
- Teach you what you need to know to write compelling copy
- Show you how to translate these newfound skills into copy that you can start using right away
Are you ready to get started?
Till 2019, I was an editor producing narrative investigative stories.
But after I got back from a three-week vacation—to three different countries, no less!—I walked into my office, asked to speak to my boss, and handed in my resignation.
On my trip, I had experienced the excitement of discovering new territory (Scotland), reconnected with who I was (India), and deepened my relationship with a place I had been before (Thailand).
And by the time I was on the plane home I knew that I had to leave.
Do you see what I’m doing here? With the hook and the personal narrative?
If you see and you like, you can get my storytelling cheatsheet for how to incorporate this style into writing for your business.
Did I Have A PLAN? PFFFT.
And this is journalism, people. In this rickety building weakened by round after round of layoffs and outlets shutting shop for good, I had a semi-stable job with good health insurance.
Looking from the outside in, you would have thought I was crazy.
But here’s the thing: I had been desperately unhappy for months. I couldn’t stretch my wings the way I wanted, and I knew that if I didn’t make a drastic change, they would atrophy for good.
So I cut my tether to the paycheck, and even though I had no clue where I was going next, I knew it could only be up.
It was months before I realized that I still wanted to help people write better—just expand beyond journalism.
And I wanted to be my own boss. No more bowing down to a work culture that wasn’t healthy for me, no more answering to someone else.
That was when Cutting Chai Stories was born.
I was doing an online coaching program, trying to figure out what I was meant to do.
And a fellow writer talked to me about not knowing what to write, about being intimidated by the blank page.
“Why not try writing something that’s just 50 to a 100 words long?” I suggested.
That’s not intimidating; it takes the pressure off. No need to come up with the next bestselling book or soul-searching personal essay. Just a paragraph or so, just to get your feet wet.
I didn’t know it yet, but I was onto something.
“Jayati’s workshop was really cool and interesting. I am an avid reader but Jayati opened the door to new genres and authors for me. She gave me a deeper appreciation of their styles and understanding of the subject. Her “time bomb” approach to force our own creativity explode in 10 minutes was an eye opener. Her gentle touch, positive manner and friendly interaction between the participants made for bonding and learning. She gives instant feedback, which is so important for a student and is offers constructive suggestions. But never forces you to change.
I truly owned my piece of work.”
—Meera Patwardhan, writing workshop
Soon I was writing short stories myself, all under 100 words long.
I stretched my wings a little more and started sharing those stories publicly. Old acquaintances I hadn’t seen in a decade or more started reaching out to cheer me on.
One of them dug out my email to write: “I wanted to write you to tell you just how much I enjoy reading your stories on Facebook. I’m not much of a Facebook user, but happened to see one or two and found them so delightful that I have kept checking back for more.”
I started a podcast, also called Cutting Chai Stories, to share these stories and break down writing techniques and help my listeners do what I do—in the same way that I’d been helping writers all through my journalism career refine and polish their writing. (Curious? You can see some of them here.)
Turns out, my editor’s eye for what made a good story, ideas for the best way to tell it, and passion for honoring the writer’s voice but making it better was an excellent foundation for what I was doing now.
I kept on using those wings. In the last few days before New York City shut down because of COVID, I went to my first-ever open mic night and performed some of my stories. I held creative writing workshops for anyone who wanted to attend. I taught writing via a 5-day challenge, live on Facebook and Instagram.
And a former classmate-turned-teacher asked me if I’d consider guest teaching a creative writing class to her third-graders.
I just kept saying yes, and doors kept on opening.
A few short months later, my sessions were selling out.
I was teaching children 7 to 14 years old across three continents, and I was loving it. So were they: Parents wrote to tell me their kids were engaged and excited about my classes—even the ones who used to hate writing.
Then entrepreneurs started reaching out. Their creative energy had dried up, and they dreaded writing to their email list. They sounded stiff and formal when they wrote, and they wanted to learn to sound like themselves.
They wanted to learn how to write better, so I taught them one-on-one.
But I was hitting a wall, and that wall was my time—I was running out it.
“[The children’s writing classes] are interesting and creative. When Ms. Jayati tells us to write something, I can make up new stories using my mind and imagination.”
—Aaliya, 8
I wanted to do more, work with more people who needed me.
I knew that my teaching style connected with kids and adults, writing for business and pleasure. I knew that my students found me engaging on Zoom, and couldn’t get enough of my writing prompts.
And I knew I was embodying the name I had chosen for my business, named after the humble cutting chai, a half-serving of milky Indian tea that can be found back home at roadside stalls and on railways platforms. Something to curl your hands around when it’s raining just feet away and you want something that’s warm and comforting.
That was the feeling I wanted to create for my people—a no self-deprecation space for folks to gather, free of judgment, and learn that they CAN write, write effectively, and leave their customers wanting more.
(Speaking of which, I made some FREE guides to help you get there. There’s the one about the myths of good writing that need to be busted. There’s the checklist of 12 components of effective emails and why you need them. And the one about how to use personal storytelling effectively as an entrepreneur.)
So I took the next step, and created a digital course for entrepreneurs who want to learn how to write better for their business—and sound like themselves while doing it.
—Parent
“Jayati’s creative writing sessions have been a beautiful experience for our eight-year-old who has an extremely creative mind but was hesitant to put my thoughts into words before she came across this class. A. has a vivid imagination but she mostly puts on to paper through art. The comprehension aspect of reading stories for her school syllabus was something she was lacking in and in our attempt to push her to excel in school, we could not focus on how she could broaden her scope of thinking and analyzing. This class has allowed her the opportunity to do just that and much more. She always comes out of the class very excitedly sharing with us what she spoke about and learned and how she used her imagination to spin a new tale. We are glad we signed up and look forward to Ms. Jayati’s class all week.”
—Shehnaaz Jagasia, parent
That’s the 5-module course I called “The Words Will Come: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Writing Like You Talk.”
It is entrepreneur-approved, tried and tested. It’s cutting chai-sized, so the lessons never feel overwhelming or intimidating, and is designed to get you to the finish line. Yet it has all the worksheets, extra examples, and homework assignments you’ll need to strengthen your writing muscles, and support you on the journey.
In this course, I will:
- Get your creative juices flowing, yes, even you, who thinks you don’t have an ounce of creativity in you
- Make you feel comfortable with writing
- Teach you the basics of good writing, with concrete tools to help you feel comfortable and lots of examples so you understand every step of the way
- Give you lots of practice so you develop your writing muscles
- Teach you what you need to know to write compelling copy
- Show you how to translate these newfound skills into copy that you can start using right away
Are you ready to get started?
