Three Countries, One Life

Hello, the Year of the Dragon

2012-01-31T11:47:00.000-08:00

With the arrival of 2012, my Japanese short form poetry writing is getting a good start. And, to my further excitement and encouragement, I received news on the second day of the Lunar New Year that two of my tanka have been accepted for publication in the spring edition, the inaugural issue of Multiverses Journal. This is even more encouraging news because I started exploring the art form last October, and one of my accepted tanka was written on my own; in other words, it had not been workshopped at a public forum. The acceptance pumps into me more confidence--I can write tanka.

Since trying my hand at it, I've fallen in love with this form. It has two more lines than haiku and thus offers the writer more room for expression. I love the Japanese style short poetry because I can express myself quickly; that doesn't mean it's easier to write than free verse.

Like 2012, good news also kicked off my Year of the Dragon. With eleven months ahead of me, if I continue to put into this writing project the same amount of time and efforts as I did in last year, (meanwhile, I haven't lost sight of my other project--my novel) I can expect more good news down the road.

Hello. 2012

2011-12-31T20:25:00.000-08:00

The year 2011 has been pretty good for me as far as writing is concerned. And better yet,before the year ends, I receive an email from the editor Jim Kacian of The Red Moon Anthology congratulating me on having my previously published haiku included in the anthology. It is encouraging news and ends my year of 2011 on a high note and at the same time makes me optimistic for 2012.

My writing project for the new year is of two prongs : finishing up my own anthology of haiku, haibun, and tanka about my journey from Vietnam to America and continuing to work on my novel which I think will be completed in 2013.

Here, I wish everyone a happy, peaceful, and productive New Year!

The link to my haibun about my mother : A Hundred Gourds

A Published Haibun for My Mother

2011-11-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

In tomorrow's inaugural issue of an online journal, A Hundred Gourds, I have one haiku and one haibun published. I will show them here after they are released. It will be my first haibun that gets published and I am very excited about it. Here I would like to thank the haibun editor Ray Rasmussen for his time and help; without his willingness to work with me together to make it publishable, I would not be able to share my haibun with the readers.

The haibun is about my mother, the most important person in my life. Without her, my life would have been totally different; I would not be writing this blog to share with you my joy, my excitement, my gratitude to having a mother who, uneducated but keenly aware of the importance of education, generously gave me an education not only in one language but in three languages.

I am looking forward to tomorrow to see my haibun written for my mother in publication.

Haiku Writing and Fiction Writing

2011-10-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

Having had three haiku published in a journal, with one accepted for publication by another journal in December, I can add one more entry to my writer's resume : a published haiku writer in addition to an award-winning, produced playwright.

Here are the two haiku published in the October issue of Notes from the Gean:

Tientsin pears --
the sweet taste
of my mother's homeland

a reflection
across multiple rivers
my heritage

I started writing haiku in 2007. At that time, my understanding of this Japanese style short poetry was minimal--a haiku being non-conceptual and objective and short. At that time, holding a demanding day job of an interpreter plus working on a different writing project I considered primary, I spent little time reading and studying the others' haiku. However, things changed since last March. After joining the haiku forum, I've learned about its structure--a phrase and a fragment--and have had more time to read and study and write haiku, my poems have greatly improved.

What I've learned from this writing process is the importance of learning the know-how. Once I learned the techniques of effective haiku, I knew how to do it and how to do it right. Like working on any other kinds of writing, it takes time, devotion, passion, perseverance, and hard work. In the past, I had passion for haiku but not devotion.

Subgenres

2011-09-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

Like fiction, haiku have subgenres. Urban, shasei, gendai, haiku noir, and politiku, to name a few. I like them all but haven't tried my hand at many of them. Someday I may try, just for the heck of it, to write a couple of haiku noir that require cinematic techniques, a very intriguing subgenre. I have, though, written some politiku and posted them on Facebook. Politiku, as you can see, are haiku about political, social, and economic issues. The current situation provides a fertile ground for politiku.

Here's one of my politiku recently posted on Facebook:

days-old egg rolls
from a restaurant . . .
spending cuts

If you are not a haiku writer, you'll probably don't see the connection between the first two lines and the last line. The dot, dot, dot at the end of line two offers the reader a pause. In this politiku, line three has double meaning. Its one meaning : the government cuts spending and therefore many of the federal and local departments are understaffed. With insufficient manpower, inspectors don't inspect restaurants on a regular basis. Its other meaning: the restaurant owner who minds his/her bottom line also cuts spending and serves customers old food.

Such is the charm and power of haiku--with just three short lines and they can say aplenty.

Haiku Writing and Fiction Writing

2011-08-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

The more I learn about haiku and the more I write haiku, the more common ground I find in haiku writing and fiction writing.

Kokoro is important in haiku. What is kokoro? It's Japanese, meaning feeling, heart, spirit. If a haiku lacks kokoro, it's not a good haiku, and I consider it an empty haiku, which may have touched on two or three of the five senses that meet the requirements of a haiku; however, after reading the poem, what is left to me is : So what? The same goes to fiction writing. After I read a novel or a short story that doesn't have kokoro, what is left to me is : So what?

I find it intriguing that all kinds of writing share some common ground in one way or another. Because of the discovery, I believe the more fields a write explores, the more benefits she will receive. People like to say "Think outside the box." Before doing that, we should look outside the box; what is out there are not only baseball fields, but cornfields, and other fields waiting for us to get in and take a look.

Haiku Writing II

2011-06-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I am really into haiku and haibun. I've spent quite a bit of my time every day reading, pondering, and writing the Japanese style poetry. My reward is one of my haiku I submitted to Notes From the Gean www.geantree.com was published in this month's issue. The following is my published haiku:

my childhood dreams . . .
steam from the wok
evaporating

The publication of my haiku--my first one--is a tremendous encouragement, and I am thankful to the editor, Lorin Ford, for including it in Notes From the Gean, Vol. 3, issue #1.

Other than the confidence I've gained in my haiku writing, I've also found that the various techniques for effective haiku can be transferred to fiction writing, which I am also engaged in.

My advice to writers is: explore another field. As I said earlier, a writer is an explorer who dares to venture into the unknown. And the result is rewarding.

Haiku Writing

2011-05-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

Suddenly I find myself working on a haiku project which has not been listed for this year's writing plan of mine. Since I joined the Haiku Foundation http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/forum_sm/ to workshop my haiku in mid March, I've been reading, studying, and wrting haiku, and haiku writing has become my primary project. Every day I live with a haiku mind that helps sharpen my awareness about my surroundings to which I've already paid attention as a fiction writer and playwright.

I know why I love haiku because it shares some techniques with fiction writing. A good haiku shows but doesn't tell; it requires concrete images that involves our five senses.

Unlike poetry in general, the poet can project his/her thoughts and feelings into the poem, a haiku poet just shows the reader what he/she sees, hears, smells, touches, and tastes and puts it down in words and lets the reader interpreter the layers of meaning known as the leap. That is the indispensable ingredient in haiku, and that is why an effective haiku is not easy to write.

Multiple Projects

2011-03-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

I am back, I'm not back, as I'm not one hundred percent recovered. I am writing, I'm not writing as I'm revising some pieces of my old work.

Suddenly, I'm happy that I have multiple projects to work on.

When I was writing solely plays, I concentrated on only one script; I'd never started a second project before finishing my first one. At that time, I was happy to be focused. Now, I enjoy working on different projects, which enable me to get some writing done at this stage--still recovering from my serious illness that almost killed me about seven months ago.

My projects are divided into two categories: major and minor. The major one is undoubtedly my novel; the minor one, which can be subdivided into three categories--my play, short stories, and haiku. Focusing on my minor projects, one day I work on my play, another day, on a short story, still another day, on haiku, all depends on how I feel: energetic or tired and sluggish. On a bad day, I'll work on something easier; on a good day, i'll work on something more demanding. Doing so, I don't feel getting stuck. I'm moving forward.

With multiple projects, not only can I enjoy writing but feel satisfied that I can meet some deadlines. For a writer, every submission brings a hope.

A Writer's Enemy

2011-02-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

A writer's enemy? Who can he be? For me, a writer's enemy is ill health--a hard-to-beat enemy who has deprived me of my energy and endurance. Am I saying I am in poor health? No. But I feel as if I were having poor health while on my way to recovery from my serious illness, which is progressing slowly, so slowly that I want to scream because some days I feel weak, unable to write for just an hour, and, even the other days I feel strong enough to work on my project, I lack stamina to carry on without taking a break.

And, participating in the February's National Haiku Writing Month, composing one haiku each day and reading other participating poets', I have barely sufficient energy left for my other project, feeling as if I were struggling with poor health, which has absolute control over me, like a puppeteer pulling strings alternately behind me, one to make me weak, another to make me strong. Totally at his disposal, I have to reluctantly succumb to his command.

Because of lack of energy, I had to cease updating my blog so I could work on my other project--writing a literary sentence daily--and meet the March 1st deadline for my full-length play, which I joyously did.

Today, with the literary sentence written over the weekend, I can update my blog. Doing so, I succeed in dealing my writer's enemy a blow, not powerful enough to knock him out, but strong enough to send him a message: with good planning and strategy, I can strike back.

It Begins with a Dream

2011-01-31T11:30:00.000-08:00

I love figure skating not only as a sport that allows me to enjoy the music at the same time while watching the game but also as a window on artists. Because figure skaters' total scores consist of artistry and techniques, I consider them artists like writers. And I like one of the TV commercials during the break: "It begins with a dream and a pair of skates," says the voice-over as a pair of legs on skates appear. Then off the dreamer goes.

Yes, it begins with a dream.

My passion to express myself in words became a dream when I was a teenager in Vietnam, where there was no chance at all for me to fulfil that dream, being a Chinese Vietnamese who read books published in either Hong Kong or Taiwan; publishers in South Vietnam printed books written in only Vietnamese, a language I learned at school but was not proficient. My dream of being a writer was not only deferred but impossible. To avoid being ridiculed, I never told anyone about my dream, not even my mother, nor my good friends back there and then.

I held on to my dream.

Eventually, I saw my dream possible once I resettled in America, a great country that gives people a chance as well as a second chance at chasing their dreams if they have one. Having watched figure skating for years, I've seen athletes/artists, who, after trying for a while without going anywhere, some give up; others keep trying and keep improving their artistry and techniques and finally, they see their dreams come true.

The US man and woman champions of 2011 did, at one point, thinking of quitting, but decided to stay in the games. The woman, a one-time champion, failed to defend her title last year and didn't do well in the other competitions, was on the verge of being written off as a viable competitor; the man, having skated for ten years, was on the podium only once. Not giving up, they both won. And, before another woman skater started her long program, her coach told her, "Believe in yourself." What encouraging words! She became the bronze medalist.

I believe in myself and I am determined.

A Shared Experience

2011-01-17T12:07:00.000-08:00

I came across a quote about writing by Winston Churchill. He said, "Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant." Immediately I agreed, "Yes! That is how I felt, too! Having an adventure as my relationship with the book I work on changes from time to time, from being simply delightful like a child playing with a new toy to getting more intimate and more serious." I know Churchill was talking about writing nonfiction, and I was thinking of fiction. Despite two different genres, he and I shared the writing process.

When I got an inspiration for my novel, I toyed with the idea and was delighted and started writing a book of fiction--my adventure--and of course doing it with amusement. When I finished several rewrites, and the novel began to take shape, I fell in love with it--the stage of its becoming a mistress, the way Churchill put it. Now that I'm recovering from my serious illness but still lack stamina to handle a long work that demands lots of my attention and energy, I reluctantly stall my beloved project and work on a couple of small pieces of writing that I can manage at the moment. My novel, although out of my sight, is absolutely not out of my mind. Just the opposite. I think of it every so often and jot down all the ideas that flash across my head. And, like a man who momentarily being out of touch with his mistress, I miss the writing of my novel, which I plan on revising later this year when I am 100% back.

When I rework on my beloved project, I think my writing adventure will reach the final two stages: my novel will become a master, and then a tyrant. After living in Communist rule in South Vietnam for ten years, I know tyranny, and I know I can handle the figurative tyrant.

A Writer's Resolution

2010-12-31T12:54:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve, many people make resolutions. As a writer, for the past years since I started writing after graduation school, I made plans. Still waiting for my stamina to fully return, which may happen later next year, I think it more reasonable to make resolution that is part of my writing plan.

I'm resolved to write one sentence each day, at least five days a week, in addition to my writing projects. That one sentence I'll be writing for the coming year is a literary sentence modeled on writers, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, Joseph Conrad, Joan Didion. By the time I resume work on my novel, probably in August at the earliest, I'll have practiced quite some time for the literary writing. My novel, speculative fiction and also called genre fiction, defines me as a genre fiction writer. If I can write with style, which, I believe, can be trained, I will become a literary genre fiction writer--my resolution, my goal, my ambition.

To Follow or Not to Follow, That's the Question

2010-12-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

The trend of vampire novels has saturated the market, and readers turn to some place else for something different, or refreshing. From what I read, what will be the next trend is the near future and the post-apocalyptic fiction, such as The Road. It does reflect today's mood--uncertainty everywhere we turn. Not a fan of this grim outlook on our world and our civilization, I myself won't follow the trend for two more reasons:

1) I have found my unique niche as a writer.

2) I am not a fast writer. I tend to take time to work on my writing and along the way enjoy the process to my heart's content.

I think writers who like to jump on the band wagon, nothing is wrong about that, are fast writers who churn out 50,000 words in one month because the trend comes and goes like waves of the sea, only fast writers can ride with them.

Here comes the question, a famous Hamlet's line in different wording: To follow or not to follow, that's the question. If you like the concept of near future and post apocalyptic stories and are a fast writer, hey, what the heck, give it a try. You might end up getting a nice deal with a large publishing house. Well, you may argue: I hate to follow the trend, I prefer to write what I want to write. Certainly, I agree with you 100%. And you may even argue that you want to create a trend. I, too, agree with you on that. I believe there's nothing unachievable under the sun. If we, human beings, can send men to the moon; we writer, too, can reach the moon. It's a matter of luck, timing, and hard work. Whatever the choice you make, it's your own decision, and no one else's business.

Sudoku and Writing

2010-11-30T11:47:00.000-08:00

i picked up Sudoku months ago and was hooked. Ever since, I've spent fifteen to thirty minutes each day on the game. I like solving puzzles not because they help sharpen my brain, but because I love "mystery."

As a writer, I like to draw parallels to writing from things I do or watch. Here are the things I've learned from playing Sudoku that can be applied to writing and rewriting:

First, see what is there, and what is not, and what is missing.

Secondly, spot the problem early. Don't wait until you get stuck.

Thirdly, if you get stuck, look at the big picture.

Fourthly, don't hesitate to move things around.

Fifthly, put one right number in the right place, one at a time, and everything will fall into its place.

Sounds simple? Not really. Like writing, it takes practice, and it takes time to be good at. And like writing, if you do it every day, you'll savor the fruit of your persistence.

Back to Life

2010-11-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

I know my blog has been screaming for an update.

Three months ago today at around midnight I was admitted to Northwest Hospital's emergency room for pneumonia and a heart failure. That night I was treated at the ICU with a ventilator because my oxygen level was only 85, and my heart function was only 20 %. I could have died.

Fortunately, after standing on the verge of death, I returned to life.

Altogether I stayed at the hospital for eight days: three days at the ICU with no food and a little of water for the medications; five days at the CCU--Critical Care Unit. For seven days, I was on oxygen twenty-four hours a day, and sometimes I had to wear the mask when the oxygen I got from the tube was insufficient to keep me breathing normally. For the whole time, Wes was with me except at bedtime. I was happy and blessed to have him there for me.

Since I resettled in America in 1985, I've never been hospitalized. The pneumonia that knocked me down just hit me like lightning. It might have sent me some warning signs, but I didn't see them coming. Like a blitzkrieg, the sudden illness almost subdued me. I fought back with the help of equally rapid treatment. I survived.

What an experience to see Death so close to me! When I was discharged from the hospital, I was extremely weak with a heart function of 40% and had to continue taking the antibiotics for eight more days for the vicious pneumonia and medications for the broken heart syndrome. Despite the frailty, I was overjoyed to be alive, feeling as if I were reborn.

Now I'm homebound recuperating. It'll be months before I can resume my normal life. As I'm feeling better, I've returned to my writing since the 1st of this month, writing for half an hour at each session, two sessions a day. I look forward to being able to write three/four hours in one sitting; it won't happen any time soon.

But, when Yin is on its way out, can Yang be far away?

Firework

2010-08-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

July is over. Why am I talking about firework? Am I really talking about the firework displayed to celebrate 4th of July? Of course not. I'm talking about the firework in writing. I learned it at graduate school. When my playwriting professor first said it, I scratched my head. I knew what firework was in real life, but not when it was used metaphorically. Later, when a classmate commented on my play, she said, "Where's the firework?" Omnigosh, I had a vague idea of what she was asking for. Happily, I finally got it. It took me sometime to understand firework in writing.

Without firework, our writing will be dull, and will have no life. I'm glad I finally grasped the concept and put it into use.

Tomorrow, August 12, Thursday, at 6 pm, I will read from my novel at Ballard Branch Seattle Public Library for It's about Time Writers' Reading Series http://itsaboutimewriters.homestead.com/ I will read a chapter of my novel, which, I believe, has firework.

Combo

2010-07-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

When you see the word "combo," you would probably think of the plate at Panda Express, a Chinese fast food restaurant, which allows you to have a combination of chao mein, walnut shrimps, and sweet and sour pork; the list goes on. Well, I'm not talking about Chinese fast food here, I'm talking about combination of genres in writing. I wrote about this topic before; now I revisit the subject because a movie came out recently and caught my attention. It's a box-office hit and still playing. I haven't seen it, though. Due to my knee injury, sitting without raising my legs in a theatre causes me pain, which will aggravate my condition--a knee with a never-healing damaged cartilage. Since November, Wes and I haven't been to a movie theatre. We see "new" flicks on DVD.

What movie is it that I just mentioned? Inception. In its ad in The Seattle Times, it says "'Inception' dreams big. . . . It's James Bond meets 'The Matrix!'" That's what I mean "Combo." To write a novel that combines genres, we can have Jane Austin meet the vampire. Unfortunately, some authors have already done that. I use it to illustrate my point. Got the idea?

The Voice

2010-07-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

A blue jay usually, but not always, heralds its arrival every time it comes to our deck for food in the summer. Its distinctive voice is being recognized right away. I don't have to be close to the deck to hear its coming. Another bird that has a distinctive sound is a crow. When it caws, we can tell immediately that it's a crow. While talking about a distinctive voice, I naturally think of some actors, whose voice can be identified in an instant, and every time I hear them speak in a movie Wes watches at home without watching it myself, I know who is speaking. Such actors are Al Paccino, and Tom Hanks, and of course, the deceased John Wayne.

So far I seem to be talking about the vocal sound. But am I? Absolutely not. I am using the birds and the actors to illustrate my point--the importance of the voice. For an actor to be born with a distinctive voice is a gift. For a writer to write with a distinctive voice is a talent. If you think you don't have a distinctive voice in your writing, don't be disheartened. You can get it by practice.

A Simple Story

2010-06-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

It seems that a simple story suits a short story because a short story is short. Not so. We can find a simple story in a novel and a movie as well. In truth, a simple story can be not only interesting, but gripping, and powerful. And it is usually quiet. Being quiet doesn't mean it has no power; on the contrary, it has its own unique quiet power. What I mean is that a simple story draws the attention of the reader/audience from beginning to end without relying on those sensational thrills, which, I believe, you know what I'm talking about. And surprisingly it works equally well in a movie.

Off the top of my head, the movie with a simple story I can think of is a Chinese movie The King of Masks. Even Wes enjoyed it, and we watched it twice. Months apart. The second time I watched it, I was drawn to it, just like the first time. A simple story that is not simple. Here lies the paradox. Anyway, we don't have to resort to all the sensational thrills to thrill the reader/ audience but write a simple story that illustrates a human truth; its quiet power would move the reader/audience much more profoundly than those "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Success

2010-06-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

Success is desired by everyone with a dream in every field. Success is perceived differently by each individual. I like what John Wooden said about success. He told his basketball players, "Success is to be the best you can be." To be the best we can be is not an easy thing to do because it means we need to maximize our potentials. I believe I'm doing just that. I've been honing the writer's craft, writing every day, and reading like a writer. Yes, there's a big difference between reading as a reader and reading as a writer. The former is mainly for enjoyment; the latter for a writer's craft.

You might argue: We need to dream big. Who doesn't? But, how many writers make it as big as Dan Brown? As Steven King? I'd like to sidetrack a little bit. The famous Chinese-American woman figure skater Michelle Kwan, who had won eight World Championships; however, her dream of winning the Olympic gold was never fulfilled. Could we say she wasn't successful? I'm sure she did her best in her every performance. So, to be happy but without losing sight of my dream, I like John Wooden's words: "Success is to be the best you can be."

Rejection

2010-05-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

Since I graduated with an MFA, I've been writing and have "trained" myself how to greet, how to receive, how to deal with rejection. Over the years, I've grown not only as a writer who writes but also as a writer who knows how to greet, how to receive, how to deal with rejection. Having thick skin is one thing; knowing how to receive it in a constructive way is another. Take the sentence in the form letter "This doesn't reflect you as a writer" or "This doesn't reflect your writing ability" as truth. This is what I mean to take it constructively. And I treat the rejection in two different ways: When I receive a form letter, I treat it as an acquaintance and tell myself, "Such is competition. You can't win all the time." Besides, I like the saying, "You win some, you lose some." When I receive a letter with the editor's handwritten comments, I treat it as a friend. If an editor takes his/her time to handwrite you something, what does he/she want to tell you? Unfortunately, such rejection letters don't come by often. Because they seldom come, welcome them, embrace them, treat them like good old friends who take the trouble, despite their hectic schedule, to pay you a visit.

The Myth of Sisyphus

2010-05-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

From the Myth of Sisyphus Albert Camus derived his philosophy of the absurd. When I first heard of it in college, I understood his interpretation of the myth. Like any other myths, Chinese myths included, can be interpreted in various ways. Such is the strength and depth and the richness of a myth. The way I interpret the Myth of Sisyphus is not futility and absurdity as Albert Camus saw it. I see something totally different from his interpretation; I see three Ps: perseverance, persistence, patience. The three qualities a writer must have.

In his essay, Albert Camus concluded, " . . . . One must imagine Sisyphus happy." As a writer, I am happy because I have what it takes to be a writer: perseverance, persistence, patience. Since I started writing plays at graduate school, my patience has been tested and is still being tested. And, over the years, I've persevered and persisted. With so many odds against me--being a non-native English speaker, who didn't start writing until at the age of forty-one, and writing in the third language, and not many theatres across America having Asian actors--I continue to write for American theatre up to today. Rejection has frustrated me but has never intimidated me. I keep writing and keep sending my work out into the world.

If, according to Albert Camus, Sisyphus is happy, forever pushing the boulder up a mountain but the rock keeps rolling back down, I am happy doing what I've been doing since 1992 to be a playwright/writer.

Thirty-five Years Later

2010-04-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

Three more days, it'll mark the 35th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. Thirty-five years ago, I tried to escape with the frantically departing Americans but failed. Thirty-five years later, I'm striving to make a name for myself as a well-established writer in America.

Looking back, my ten-year living under Communist rule has left a painful mark on me that still gives me flashbacks but at the same time has enriched my life because now I know first-hand what it was like living in a dictatorship, a dictatorship in general, a Communist dictatorship in particular. A political system that had affected people in half of the globe. And Vietnam shut its door for ten years. During those ten years, the government oppressed and persecuted us--people of the South. When most of us--the unwanted--left the country, it opened its door. Now the Communists welcome us back. I do want to return to see how much remnants of their former brutality could still be traced. Probably none. Shrewd and sophisticated, they know how to whitewash every bloodstain.

I do want to go back for another reason: to touch my mother's urn that my sister has put in a temple. My mother, the most important person in my life, died the second year I resettled in America. Without her, my life would have been a totally different story.

Twenty-fifth Anniversary

2010-04-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of rebuilding my life in America. It's been one quarter of a century since I lived in the U.S. coming as a refugee. Looking back, I was amazed at what I had done. Thanks to my mother who sent me to an English language school in Vietnam during the 60s, though I didn't graduate, I had a foundation to build on in order to pursue my writer's dream in my adopted country whereas such dream of mine would never be fulfilled in my homeland. Coming alone as an older adult in my thirties and without a high school diploma and having lived in a cultural desert--Communist Vietnam before opening its door in the late 80s--for ten years, I was enrolled in Kishwaukee Junior College three months after my arrival in DeKalb, IL, and at the same time working on my GED. In seven years, I earned my MFA in English and playwriting.

So far I'm most proud of myself for having transformed myself from a high-school dropout to an MFA holder. And I did it in my third language.

Fresh Eyes

2010-04-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

I like to talk about eyes a lot, don't I? In my previous entries, I wrote about a writer's eyes, objective eyes, and so on. Now I'm writing about fresh eyes. For a writer, she can get fresh eyes from two sources: 1) a writer friend, a free-lance editor included, 2) herself. I'd like to talk about my own fresh eyes. How can I look at my work with fresh eyes? This is what I'd do--putting the "finished" writing away for a while and then revise it. For my novel, I didn't work on it for six month. Yes, six months. From July 2009 to Dec. Last January, I took it out and looked at it and saw problems I hadn't seen before. That's what I mean: my own fresh eyes. Quite reliable. For some writers, six months would be too long. For me, it's worth the "delay" because I want my first novel to be the best I can write. Also, my past writing experience has taught me a good lesson--I was too eager to get my work out into the world and only to receive rejection after rejection. It turned out to be a waste of my time, my money, and my energy.

After revising my novel for three months, once again I let it cool down, for a month only. I believe when I rework on it in May, I'll see it with fresh eyes.

A Track Record

2010-03-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

A track record is important to both free-lance editors and writers, playwrights included. A track record helps editors get editing jobs and writers get grants and publication. As a writer, with a couple of publication credits online and in print, my track record is insignificant; however, as a playwright, with a long list of recognition, grants and awards, my track record is quite impressive. My first short play that I wrote while attending graduate school was awarded a finalist along with my professor's. My first full-length play, thanks to the help of Dr. Williams and Dr. Gianakaris, it was also a finalist of a prestigious national playwriting competition. Ever since, I've received recognition, staged readings, and productions of my plays and won grants.

With a knee injury and the loss of income, I searched for emergency funds for writers only to find I wasn't qualified for being a writer. However, as a playwright, my artist's resume showed almost every other year I accomplished something, such as being a finalist; I was awarded a grant from the Dramatists Guild. If I hadn't built my credits, I wouldn't have been qualified.

Now I'm working hard to build my track record as a writer. Brick by brick, shovel by shovel, I'm building.

Objective Eyes

2010-03-09T11:05:00.000-08:00

We writers all know we need someone to read our work to give us some feedback. Even Steven King would let his wife read his ms and give him constructive criticism. How many writers are that lucky to get their spouses' help? I don't know how many and I'm not one of them. Most of the time, I'll show Wes my writing after I finish it. He is a superb reader, no doubt about that; however, he doesn't know how to give useful feedback. Every time after he reads my writing, he'll say, "It's very good." That doesn't help, does it?

It's hard to see what's there and what's not there but should be there in our own writings because everything is in our heads and we automatically think everything is there. It happens because we can't it objectively. Finally, I developed my own pair of objective eyes, not 100% objective, though. It takes lots of writing, rewriting, and reading, and of course time to get myself that pair of eyes. Nothing comes easy. It takes practice. And, with the objective eyes, I'll be benefited for the rest of my writer's life. Try it. You'll enjoy the extra pair of eyes you've acquired.

A Writer's Eyes

2010-03-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

In a non-writer's eyes, what comes to mind when she sees an egg? Scrambled. Poached. Or sunny-side-up. In a writer's eyes, however, an egg can become a symbol, a metaphor, a simile, or a motif in a play, a short story, a novel, or a poem. That's what I mean "a writer's eyes."

From my own experience, a writer's eyes differ from what she writes. For years, I've had a playwright's eyes because I worked on nothing else but plays. Since I explored literary writing, I've had a poet's eyes, a fiction writer's eyes, a creative nonfiction writer's eyes. And I've found that although the kinds of writing mentioned above belong to literary writing, a poet's eyes differ from a fiction writer's, and so on. And writing haiku gives me another pair of writer's eyes. You have to write different genres to see what I mean.

In summary, I think the more eyes a writer has the better.

Figure Skating & Writing

2010-02-22T12:16:00.000-08:00

Figure skaters have to pack all the required elements into their two-and-half-minute short programs and their five-minute long programs. A fiction writer has to include all the required elements in her short story and novel. When I first watched figure skating in the 1990s, I simply enjoyed a sport. A sport that has beauty, artistry, and elegance. Years later, sinceI explored literary writing, I've watched the sport with a pair of writer's eyes, paying attention to how the skaters put their programs together.

Interestingly, judges, who reward a skater with high score, look for many qualities. Among them are detail and transition. Aren't detail and transition also what we writers have to heed? In truth, there're other aspects, from which I can draw parallels between the sport and writing. I pick these two because I've found that they're the areas I need to work on.

With the winter Olympics going on in Vancouver B.C., I can feast my eyes with all the graceful movements and at the same time enjoy being reminded of what it takes to be a good writer.

Purple Prose

2010-02-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

Personally, I'm not a fan of purple prose. The writing itself is impressive; however, I read it somewhere this kind of writing belonged to writers of the Nineteenth and the early Twentieth Centuries, because writing in the Twenty-first Century, writers are competing with so many things resulted from technology: TV, computer, laptop, Smart Phone, IPhone, IPad, video games, to name a few. According to some statistics, only 60% of readers who put down the book will pick it up again. And purple prose tends to slow down the story. It's the place where a reader closes up the book and puts it away.

Someone may argue: purple prose is stylist and literary writing. I won't argue that one. I believe writers have their own tastes and preferences. As a writer, I prefer simplistic and direct style and have been writing in such manner. Also, another sign of good writing is vigorous writing. Purple prose tends to lack the vigor. Agree? Or disagree?

Self-Editing III

2010-02-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

While I'm self-editing my first novel The Jade Pendant Tale, I can't stop writing about self-editing. It's fun but also a lot of work. The important thing is to keep a pair of objective eyes. It's easier said than done. That's why we writers need professional editors to give our manuscripts a pair of fresh eyes.

The other day, I found a "new" way to self-edit my novel. I'll use the new-found skill and see how much it'll help me. Plenty, I believe. Since I'm still in the first phase of self-editing, I don't have to search for an editor now. When I'm close to finishing up all the necessary steps I can do for my novel, I will definitely look for a free-lance editor. A good one. One with a track record.

Self-Editing II

2010-02-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

Self-editing takes a lot of work but is also a lot of fun. Like I said last time, I'd focus on one thing at a time. My first step is to tighten up the plot. So far, I haven't cut much but have re-arranged the happenings in the story to make it tighter. Chapter by chapter, not even halfway through, I'm making satisfactory progress.

To cut the fat is one of the self-editing steps, but I'm not there yet. It's interesting that "lean" is also the word for writing. In our meals, we watch out for the saturation fat, and in our writing we do the same. Happily, I haven't come across this kind of bad stuff in all the chapters I've revised. Maybe because when I write, I keep in mind: "Keep it lean and thin like myself." For some people, I'm bony. So, if my writing gets too lean, I can add some meat to it, but no fat.

While talking about self-editing, a book comes to mind. Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works with Words by Bruce Ross-Larson. I'll refer to it when I clean up the words and sentence structure. It'll be a while before I take that step.

Self-Editing

2010-01-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

Writing is rewriting, rewriting is self-editing. Before we send our work out to agents or to a professional editor to polish up the manuscript for us, self-editing is one step we can't skip. In the past, when I self-edited my first novel The Jade Pendant Tale (still a work-in-progress), I tried to do everything all at once. It was a big mistake. From my own mistake, I learn that I need to tackle one thing at a time. Multi-tasking sounds good in corporate offices and some other places, but definitely not in self-editing. Doesn't it take up a lot of time? Of course. And I believe a professional editor, who is so experienced, will do multi-tasking. Not me. Not right now.

When self-editing, I will look at self-help writing books for punctuations, sentence structure, to name a few. As to revising the story, I simply ask myself questions. Self-help writing books can't help with the story. Otherwise, how can the story be unique?

A Cat's Language

2010-01-17T15:26:00.000-08:00

I never had a cat in Vietnam and my perception of cats was that they were aloof. My landlord's cat in DeKalb, IL, reassured me of that perception. For a dog lover, cat's aloofness was perfectly fine with me. However, that image of cats changed when Wes's cat Samantha welcomed me and sat with me the first time I visited him and his grandmother in Seattle. I was impressed by her friendliness and began to like cats.

Then, Hermia our cat transformed me into a cat lover. Her attachment to us, especially to me, is amazing. She follows me everywhere I go in the house, even to the bathroom. I also begin to pay attention to her language. She makes different sounds for different "occasions," such as seeing birds on the deck, letting me know she wants water or food, feeling upset when I tell her to go away because she's become a nuisance, alerting us to get up in the morning. The noises she makes all sound different. I remember years back, I ran into a book in a bookseller's catalogue called How to Talk to Your Cat. At the time I didn't care about cats at all but thought it interesting.

Now, do I want to learn how to talk to Hermia? Probably not. I think we communicate well enough that we know each other's wants and needs. For example, when I don't want her to follow me around in the house, she understands what I say. On the other hand, when she sees birds outside, I know she wants to go out there and catch them. Unfortunately, she's an indoor cat, so she has to stay inside. Now that I'm laid up with a knee injury, I believe she's happy that she wasn't home alone all day long until we returned from work in the evening. Now we enjoy each other's company, especially when I'm done with my writing and Wes is still at work.

Diversity in Genres

2010-01-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

To my delight, new genres in all kinds of writing pop up every so often. Just for essays, there're flash essay, standard essay, personal essay, memoir essay, and lyric essay. Which kind should I writer if I want to express my thoughts and feelings in an article? The upside is that I can have different types to choose from; the downside is that I have to decide, and making a decision takes time.

One kind of essay that intrigues me now is the lyric essay. After googling it to find out more about it, I think I'd like to explore this genre. I love lyric poetry, so I might as well try my hand at it. Before I start, I should think of what I want to write in a lyric essay. From what I learned from the Internet, the Internet is an amazing learning tool, a lyric essay jumps around a lot. What's the best subject for me to write in this kind of essay? When I'm day dreaming? Anyway, someday I'll write a flash lyric essay. There we go. A "new" genre has just popped up: Flash lyric essay. A writer is an explorer. Sure enough.

Fresh Eyes

2010-01-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

For six months in 2009, I worked on my genre-bending (blending) novel The Jade Pendant Tale and finished the revised draft and let it cool down. For the rest of the year, I worked on different things, such as plays, haiku, and personal essays. Now that 2010 is here, as scheduled, I return to the novel. When I looked at it on New Year's Day, I spotted quite a few of problems, seeing the novel with a pair of fresh eyes. My discovery didn't frustrate me; instead, it brought me joy. For me, the six-month hiatus worked. For some other writers, though, six months might be too long a cool-off time. The long put-off is just for the novel. I won't grant a short story months' time-off. A month should do the job.

A Humongous Christmas Present

2009-12-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was a weird Christmas. For the whole month I was home all day every day because of my knee injury. With short-term disability, I can't work. And the orthopedic surgeon said it'd take nine months to let the torn meniscus heal. With no worker's compensation, no income, and no unemployment benefit as a self-employed interpreter, I looked for sources for "income." I checked out a couple of emergency funds for writers sites and found myself unqualified: writers who would get help must be published authors. I had some publication credits, but that's not enough. Then, through Fidelma at Artist Trust who gave me an e-address. It turned out to be The Dramatist Guild in NYC. I used to be a member, but currently I'm not. So I wondered if I was qualified but gave it a try anyway, sending Sue a letter and a copy of my artist's resume. I got a response asking me to fill out the form. I was still not sure if I'd get it.

Yesterday, December 26, I received a letter from the Guild. Before I opened it, I suspected it was a rejection letter. To my surprise, it came with a check! I wanted to cry. The grant became my biggest Christmas present I'd ever received. The help I received did not only touched my heart but also encouraged me to keep writing. I will.

A Gainful Loss II

2009-12-20T14:06:00.000-08:00

It's been the fourth weekend since I was laid up with my knee injury. I was so active before the accident: I went to my interpreting assignments by bus and on foot, braving all kinds of weather--95 degree heat, gust, pouring rain, cold, and the combination of some of these, such as cold with rain and wind. Now I don't have to go through all this for a while but stay home and work on my writing. Writing full-time is what every writer yearns for. So, Wes said my injury is a blessing in disguise. I myself strongly believe this must have some sort of meaning, and something good will come out of it; as to what it is, I can't predict.

For the past four weeks, I've put Chinese philosophy and Buddhism into good use. I'm grateful to my illiterate mother for having given me an education that gave me the ability to not only read ancient Chinese books but dig deep into Chinese philosophy.

And, I can't end this without saying thank-you to Wes for all his support.

A Gainful Loss

2009-12-13T13:17:00.000-08:00

Three days before Thanksgiving I had an "accident" between my interpreting assignments--a trip and fall on the sidewalk--which left me with a badly injured knee. I considered that Monday my personal black Monday; ironically it was in the same week of Black Friday. Unlike Black Friday, my black Monday would turn my bank account into red, not black. The reason? I am self-employed as an on-call interpreter and thus I am not covered under worker's compensation, nor can I apply for unemployment benefits during the period of having a short-term disability.

My loss of income did cause me concern. However, I succeeded in turning the misfortune into my advantage. For three weeks, I've been productive in writing. Before long, I'll have my work sent out to writing competitions. For me it's a gainful loss. There's a gain in a loss, and there's a loss in a gain.

Not Escapism

2009-12-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

When Wes told me The Road, the movie, didn't have a wide release, I was surprised. Based on a best-selling novel and a Pulitzer Prize winner, the movie wasn't open in most of the theatres. After giving it some thoughts, I came to see why. Its gloominess doesn't fit the mood of our time. It's not a movie that people would want to watch to lose themselves in the fictional world for a couple of hours. Although it deals with courage and love, the image of what our world would come to is too bleak, and too horrific.

However, The Road, the book was a best seller. http://modern-american-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_road_review_of_the_book When the book came out in 2006, the unemployment rate wasn't above 10%. Timing is everything.

Something To Be Thankful for?

2009-11-29T11:26:00.000-08:00

The movie The Road based on a novel--a post-apocalyptic tale--opened on the eve of Thanksgiving. I found the timing interesting. Did it mean to say we humans have something to be thankful for surviving the end of the world? Thanksgiving Day is a day we tend to find something or someone to show our gratitude. In real life, surviving an accident, an injury, an economic hard time, anything that flings us out of our normal state is something to be thankful for.

The scenario of the end of the world is scary; no wonder some movie critics view it as a horror film. And apocalyptic theme seems to fascinate some writers and movie makers and will probably continue to do so. I was wondering how many more books will be written and published on the same theme, and how many more movies will be made based on those books.

Wes and I planned on seeing The Road on a big screen on Thanksgiving Day. With a knee injury, I can't go anywhere for at least a while. So, we'll wait till it comes out on DVD. The experience wouldn't be the same, though.

To Prologue or Not to Prologue, That Is the Question

2009-11-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

A prologue to a novel is like an appetizer to a meal. Some writers like to have a prologue and do it well, but not all readers would want to read the prologue. Once I talked to someone who said she and some of her friends picked up a fiction book with a prologue, they skipped it and came right to Chapter 1. As a reader, I read everything. As a writer, I know those writers who do prologues have a good reason behind it; in other words, a prologue is necessary. For example, in Sherlock Holmes, and later, in the TV series Law & Order, the crime scene that opens the story/drama is equivalent to a prologue. Therefore, to prologue or not to prologue is up to the writer, and it also depends on the genre. Certain genre works better with a prologue. My work-in-progress fantasy novel has a prologue, and I know it is needed.

A Certified Writing Coach?

2009-11-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

I always thought a writing coach is a writer who's had enough publication credits to be qualified. But recently I "discovered" something interesting. One day I went on a writer's blog (whose name I've forgotten), and one sentence caught my eye: "So and so (the writer's friend) is a certified writing coach." Immediately, it raised a question in my mind: How is a writing coach certified? I know how to become a certified interpreter: A would-be interpreter goes to a state-sponsored agency, takes a two-part test--oral and written--in English and the native language, if passes, he/she will become a certified interpreter. But a certified writing coach? I wonder how. It's something "new" to me. Does a would-be writing coach do the same thing an interpreter do to get certified? Going to a writing program and taking the test, if passes, he/she will become a certified writing coach?

Writing Fantasy

2009-11-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

I like fantasy and I've been working on a genre-blending novel that mixes fantasy with mystery and history. It's a lot of fun because writing fantasy allows my imagination to run as wild and as far as it can go, even the sky is not the limit. I like fantasy because it reveals a part of the human psyche; namely, when we're in danger, we want an immediate exit. That wish is fulfilled in fantasy as the character wraps himself in a cloak and he disappears. However, some people consider fantasy low-brow and don't take it seriously. In truth, a writer can say something very profound in her fantasy novel other than good versus evil, something that can be as profound as that in literary fiction. In addition, even Shakespeare's great tragedy has fantastic elements in it. Read one and you'll know what I'm talking about. So, what a fantasy writer needs to do is to fantasize her fictional world populated with interesting characters and writes a fantastic story that fascinates the reader.

Genre Blending or Genre Bending

2009-11-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

Years ago, I learned the term "genre blending" from articles in writing magazines. I found it very interesting and thought it a good way to write a novel. At the time I was writing plays and kind of ignoring it. Years later, in 2007 when I started writing fiction, I gave "genre blending" my serious thought.

To my delight, Jonathan Lethem did just that for his first novel in 1994, according to last week's The Seattle Times book reviewer Mark Lindquist. Mr. Lindquist wrote: " . . . was a weird blend of science fiction, hardboiled detective and literary fiction. "Genre bending" is how it was often described. I was a fan but didn't expect Lethem to find a wide audience. I was wrong about that." Mr. Lindquist used "genre bending" to describe a novel that combined two, three genres. In truth, both terms "genre blending" and "genre bending" say the same thing: mixing genres.

Because I like "genre blending," I combine three genres in my work-in-progress novel: fantasy, mystery, and history. And, of course, before we do so, we need to know each genre well. How many genres are there altogether? More than ten, fantasy, detective, romance, to name a few. If you like the idea, pick two, three genres you're famliar with or you love and write your "genre bending" novel. According to my own experience, it's a lot of fun writing "genre blending" fiction. Try it and you'll know what I mean.

Changing Faces

2009-10-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

A big fan of figure skating, when the sport is in season, I seldom miss an event watching it on TV. Since I watched it in the early '90s, I've seen change. By that, I don't mean the change in the scoring system, but the faces on the podium. At one point, the Russians dominated in almost every category in the international competitions, such as the Grand Prix and the World Championship; then, winners from America, Canada, France, and the other European countries alternately took the medals. When we marched into the Twenty-first Century, skaters from Japan and China emerged. The Chinese pairs and the Japanese women and men respectively got on the podium. Even South Korea is catching up. Besides, on the American team there're Chinese and Japanese Americans. I consider the change of faces in the sport a version of globalization. When it comes to globalization, many people tend to think of economy. If we look outside that box, we'll see different versions of globalization.

As I said on Facebook, I can draw parallels between skating and writing. Like writers, skaters need to pay attention to detail. They also have to heed transition, flow, and other things. It takes lots of skills and practices in both skating and writing.

On Writing: Strong Characters

2009-10-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

What makes a story great? There're numerous ways. One of them is to create strong characters, especially the P and the A. So, it's important to populate our fictional worlds with strong characters. A strong and memorable character that comes to my mind at the moment is Scarlet O'Hara. What makes her strong and memorable? If you've read Gone with the Wind or seen the movie, you get the idea. I read the book once years ago and saw the movie several times. Every time I saw it, I enjoyed it just like the first time I watched it.

I'm glad to have let my fantasy novel cool down for a few months. During this period, I read books outside the genre and discovered that I have a lot of thinking to do before the next revision. The down time has served me well.

On Polygamy

2009-10-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

I like to poke fun at the world. When America had a shortage of flu vaccine in 2004, I had to go to Canada for a flu shot. Afterward, I wrote a ten-minute play Invading Canada to make fun of it. When America had a presidential election focused on "change" in 2008, I wrote some haiku to commemorate the unprecedented event mockingly. When I penned a memoir essay about my polygamist father, I wrote a limerick to ridicule polygamists in general, my father in particular. Here's the limerick:

"A middle-ager who was a polygamist,
had a dozen women on the mailing list.
Every night he had to choose,
every ounce of his energy oozed.
And he bragged about womanly conquest
being a polygamist."

Well, my father would probably frown on it and rise from his grave and shout: "How dare you poke fun at me!"

What do you think I should say to him? Any suggestions?

On Our Firsts

2009-10-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

Do you remember your first day at school? I don't remember my first day at a Chinese language school, nor do I remember my first day at an English language school in Cholon, Vietnam. But I remember, part of it, my first day at Kishwaukee College in Malta, IL in 1985. It was very exciting! A brand-new life, a hope, and a dream burst in front of me!

As a writer, I remember the first time I received recognition for my play. It was the first play I'd ever written in my life and I wrote it at age forty-two and with no previous playwriting experience. I was awestruck when I saw my short play being a finalist of George Kernodle Playwriting Competition in 1991 along with my professor's. It was a playwriting competition open to playwrights all over America.

One thing I got out of this is: you're never too old to start writing. Unlike athletes who, after reaching a certain age, will have to stop playing, no one will or can tell me that I'm too old to write as long as I remain mentally sharp and know the crafts and arts of writing. Look at some of our best-selling authors, such as David McCullough, Jimmy Carter, and J. R. R. Tolkein's son, are all over eighty years of age. Writing is one of the professions that know no age discrimination. Boy, am I not delighted to be in the right business.

Lost in Description

2008-06-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

For journalists, there're two schools--the old school and the new one. Marching into the 21st Century, we writers also have found the new and the old schools. The old school would choke the reader with page and page of description. What is new school, then? You got the picture through the definition of the old one. To avoid choking the reader, some writers resort to minimalistic approach. They run the risk of not being able to take the reader to the place. Insufficience is as bad as excess. What do we do, then? Use your common sense. A writer's common sense will let us know what is enough and what is not. Happy writing! Make up your mind if you'll stick to the old school or choose the new school.

Something to Ponder:

Again, I'd like to share with you some quotes from A Dictionary of American Proverbs:

1) "Easy writing makes hard reading."

2) "Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, writing an exact man."

3) "All words are pegs to hang ideas on."