How did you become a writer?
I’d always loved writing as a kid, but I never really thought that I could become a writer myself. Probably because I didn’t know any Asian American writers. None!
What’s an author?
So, it never really occurred to me that I could write anything anyone would want to read until I started blogging. Silly blogs about mundane things. But my friends and even strangers who read my posts encouraged me to write a book and it planted the seed.
In the fall of 2015, I decided to give it a try and signed up for some classes and joined a writers’ group. It was super scary and many times I wasn’t sure that I’d ever belong, but I kept showing up and bringing in new chapters each month. A good while later (a year an a half- if you must know), I had a completed story.
So then I worked up the courage and sent my work out there to the big world of publishing professionals … and…
(wait for it)
Friends, there were no takers.
Sad, right? I sat on my mountain of rejection letters, completely defeated. So much time and energy spent, for what? Negative thoughts swirled. Maybe I didn’t have what it took. Maybe I was better off going with a more achievable endeavor. Like knitting or working out. I took my manuscript, all two hundred and fifty pages of it, and pitched it in the trash. I was done.
But then, a few weeks later I came back to my writing.
Why? Well, turns out that I couldn’t not write. I missed it too much. So, I dusted myself off, cracked open my laptop, and started again. I threw myself into my new story and worked on it until it shone. To my delight, I sent it out and this time, I got a YES! I’m still so tickled that my stories are now on the bookstore and library shelves for you to read. (fist pumps)
Do you have any advice for someone interested in being a writer?
- Write! Write a lot! Get a journal or type it out on your computer and keep working at it. Then print it out or make copies and mail or email it to your friends and family. Maybe post it on a blog! Pay attention to any feedback you get. Which parts did people like the best? Why? Study the things that worked and figure out how to improve the parts that didn’t.
- Read! Read a lot! The best way to learn is by watching. And for us, dear writer, that means we have to read a ton of books. I read boatloads. Many times. That’s right, don’t just read books once, reread it a few times. The first time you read, just read for the pleasure of the story. The next time, come armed with some highlighters (as long as they’re not library books). Then write down phrases or paragraphs that gripped you. Try to figure out how the author made you feel a certain way or made you laugh out loud or surprised you so unexpectedly the book slipped right out of your hands. Study the craft. Then try to achieve that same effect yourself with your own story.
- Don’t quit! This is – by far- the hardest piece of advice. Getting your work published is T-O-U-G-H. It isn’t this thing that happens if you follow all the steps and do all the right things. It takes a good amount of skill, timing, and luck. So, prepare to buckle in for the long haul. Focus on your stories and enjoy the ride.
How do you get your story ideas?
It usually starts out a little nugget of an idea. Sometimes just a feeling. I’ll journal about it and ask myself questions to coax out a character. Once I have a character in mind, I’ll write paragraphs about what she likes, what she dreams about, what things annoy her, and what she’s afraid of. Then I’ll zero in on what she’s afraid of and construct a story from there.
It sounds kind of mean, but I basically figure out ways to trap my main character to make her feel really stretched and uncomfortable through a series of increasingly difficult scenarios so that she’ll come to a realization that she must change to become a more complete version of herself. Once I have a basic idea of the journey my character will go on, I’ll start drafting and the story takes its own shape from there.
This is just my own process, other writers do it their own way.
How do you get your story ideas?
