Interview on Collaboration with Sumitra Singam and Cole Beauchamp

Sometimes the hardest part of collaborating is getting started. Here are some tips from creators that have collaborated — sometimes with an absolute stranger — and made something wonderful!

Did you know your partner in collaboration beforehand? Explain how you got together. 

We met online in 2022, on a writing course led by Matt Kendrick. After, the group connected on WhatsApp & we dubbed ourselves The Frantics. Despite the 11-hour time difference, the two of us would often go off on a tangent and message each other about things like infertility, mental health, identity, trauma, sexuality, parental legacies and Young Royals. It's a friendship grounded in those late night/early morning convos and writing. 

How did you collaborate? What was your process?

We started by sharing some unfinished drafts - those mangy ideas that aren't quite there yet but still grip you by the teeth. Two of those connected and we landed on the startling image of a woman who kept disassembling and reassembling. We then wrote one section each independently. Somehow, these independent scribblings also seemed to tessellate. Things really took off when we held regular zoom calls, talking through the development of the story and where it might go next, then writing together. We wanted a single point of view for the story, and writing together really helped. It was almost spooky, how similar themes we hadn't even discussed would emerge during those sessions.

What were some challenges you faced during the collaborative process, and what did you learn?

I think we both agree drafting it was a dream! We flew creatively and had fun with the language, both of us being proud pantsers. We got a bit stuck after the first draft, when we loved it but knew it wasn't quite a story yet. We shared it with The Frantics, who confirmed our suspicions. We struggled with how to approach editing, until Sumitra gave it a severe buzz cut (i.e. her usual approach to editing) and Cole said, “But my darlings!” Then Cole reordered the sections (i.e. her particular structural genius at work) and Sumitra was like, “But what even have we written now?” Serendipity came into play as the two of us were signed up for another course with Matt and the first topic was anchoring your reader, something essential in a story like ours where you're pulling readers into metaphor. Luckily our crises of faith came at different times and we held each others' hands to get through the editing process.

Any final words of advice for future collaborators?

For us, collaboration came from a solid foundation of friendship and utter respect for each other’s writing. Having a similar level of experience helps level the playing field, so you feel safe and free to be creative. Knowing your own writing styles, strengths and weaknesses, and each others’, makes it easier to decide who gets what task. If you don't know someone well, set some ground rules like openness, respect and prioritising the project. You have to have the freedom to speak up when you have reservations, otherwise what's the point? We definitely showed up for the work, and for each other, and are happy with the story we wrote. We’re so proud of each other for sticking it out!.

Read Sumitra Singam & Cole Beauchamp’s piece, “The Disassembling Woman”

Cole Beauchamp and Sumitra Singam met on an online writing course and became friends over WhatsApp despite their incompatible time zones (Uk/Australia). Neither of them live in their country of birth. Their late night/early morning convos on WhatsApp run the gamut, from infertility and menopause to growing pineapples in England to rejection bingo. They wish they could invent a time machine and go back to 2002 when they both lived in London, so they could have real-life chats over chai. They have written two collaborative pieces, one of which they feel okay to share with the world (sorry, Leila and Raj but the world will never meet you).