Jessamine Chan’s recently released novel (yesterday!) The School for Good Mothers is already a hit; with tremendous reviews, a Book Club selection of the Today Show for Read with Jenna, and optioned for television by Jessica Chastain. Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Brown University. Her work has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Jentel, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the Anderson Center, VCCA, and Ragdale. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.
Links:
Website: https://www.jessaminechan.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessamine.chan/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessaminechan
Reviews and links to ordering here: https://www.jessaminechan.com/the-school-for-good-mothers-jessamine-chan
After reading Jessamine’s interview, make sure to listen to the first two episodes of our pocket-sized podcast for writers, WHAT? WHY? HOW? (guaranteed to be 5 minutes or less). In the first two episodes we tackle writing query letters and how to keep your New Year’s writing resolutions. Now, enjoy the brilliant advice of Jessamine Chan…
How did you begin writing?
First, thanks for the opportunity to contribute to your blog! I can tell you that I began writing in January 1997 at age 18, during my freshman year of college, because that’s when my beginning fiction workshop at Brown University started meeting. I was already leaning toward being an English major, but the plan was to go into publishing and work as an editor. I only applied for the creative writing course lottery because I thought trying to write fiction would make me a better editor one day. In my campus mailbox, I received a neon-green index card informing me of my spot in the workshop and soon after, met the teacher, Jane Unrue, who changed my life. I suspect that if I was a kid growing up now, rather than in the 80s and early 90s, maybe I would have found writing a little earlier, but at the time, becoming a writer didn’t feel possible. In terms of writers who looked like me, there was Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston and that was it. Representation really does impact the career paths that one sees as possible.
What do you feel is the most difficult part of the writing process, and how do you tackle it?
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