While suffering a terrible bout of writer’s block, I thought more on the concept of the “Great Asian American Novel.” Artists don’t strive for “good enough” in their work. They strive for greatness. That doesn’t mean they need to win awards and medals or see their work achieve critical success. We strive to create an [...]
Archive for the ‘novel writing’ Category
The Great Asian American Novel
Posted in Asian Diaspora, literary fiction, literary review, novel writing on August 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Great Novels and Word Count
Posted in Asian Diaspora, literary fiction, literary review, novel writing on May 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Word count is one of those things new writers worry about but deny worrying about because we’re not supposed to be worrying about it. According to Wikipedia’s entry on word count, the typical word count of a novel is at least 80,000 words. I’ve heard through the publishing world grapevine than most agents and editors [...]
Activism and Art
Posted in Asian Diaspora, literary fiction, novel writing on April 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A well-known playwright in the Asian American community wrote me recently and said, “Everything I’ve done–in theater, in publishing . . . is more activism than art.”
I write with an activist spirit, but I prefer not to compromise art simply to promulgate my personal ideologies. The line between activism and art is hard to locate, [...]
Writing About Characters of a Different Race
Posted in novel writing on March 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Can a writer write without controversy about characters of a different race from her?
In an interview with Khaled Hosseini I heard on NPR, the interviewer asked Hosseini if it was more difficult for him to write from the perspective of women in A Thousand Splendid Suns than it was to write from the perspective of [...]
10 Signs A Book Might Be Written By Me
Posted in novel writing, phantasmata on March 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
:: I interrupt regular blogging to indulge in a meme ::
My Responses to 10 Signs A Book Might Be Written By Me:
Flawed Antiheroes. Main characters in my novels and short stories are not lovable; they’re understandable. The situations they find themselves in never “just happen” to victimize them, but rather the characters brought it upon themselves [...]
Average Age of Debut Book Publication of Famous Authors = 32
Posted in literary review, novel writing on January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I compiled a list of my favorite writers and their age when they first published their debut book, i.e., novel, memoir, or first collection of short stories. Some made me say, “I figured!” (like Haruki Murakami, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Italo Calvino). Others made me feel like even though the clock is ticking, I’m still [...]
