Twinkle Khanna reveals Bollywood parties provide content for her writing: ‘I take notes in bathrooms’

Twinkle Khanna says she takes notes in the bathroom at the parties she attends to write books and newspapers columns.

Mumbai | January 10, 2024 01:35 PM IST

3 min read

Twinkle Khanna is married to Akshay Kumar. (Photo: Twinkle Khanna/ Instagram)

Mrs. Funnybones, aka Twinkle Khanna, always has the funniest and the wittiest remarks up her sleeves. The actor-turned-author recently opened up about how she prepares for her bi-monthly newspaper columns, taking notes in bathrooms at parties and dealing with writer’s block.

After returning to India from her Maldivian holiday with husband Akshay Kumar, Twinkle sat down with Tisca Chopra for Tweak India to discuss her writing process. On being asked how she manages to dish out such contemporary pieces every weekend, she responded by sharing, “I have slowed down a little bit for quite a while. I start thinking about it on the weekend, I have some ideas, I have notes, I make a skeleton and then I start filling it in. But, I’ve also been doing this for ten years. So, it has become a process.”

When asked if she has even witnessed a writer’s block since she’s been writing for so many years now, Twinkle said that sticking to a deadline helps her. She also revealed that to gather ideas and thoughts she observes everything in her surrounding, listens to what people say and also takes notes in bathrooms at parties.

She said, “I think having a deadline is the greatest wrecking ball because if Friday afternoon is my deadline, I have no excuses. I have to deliver and that pressure helps. The only time I have really really faced a writer’s block was during the pandemic. Because of my nature, I am like a squirrel, I go into the world and I gather all these anecdotes and, they’re like my nuts and I take them back into my little hole and look at them, examine them and dissect them. I am always listening to what other people are saying, I take notes in the bathroom at a party. So when there were no parties and there was nowhere to go, when there weren’t all these voices around me, I had nothing to take back. That is the first time I really had a writer’s block.”

Twinkle has authored several books. She debuted as a writer in 2016 with her first non-fiction book, ‘Mrs Funnybones’ which was declared a bestseller, making her India’s highest-selling woman writer that year. Her second book ‘The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad’, a collection of short stories, one of which was based on social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, was later made into National Award winning feature film, Pad Man starring her husband and actor Akshay Kumar. She released her third book — ‘Pyjamas Are Forgiving’ in 2018. Her fourth and latest book ‘Welcome to Paradise’ was released in 2023.

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