For the first year, I’m attempting to write a novel for NaNoWriMo. I always thought about putting down my history on paper. It’s not egotistical… Okay maybe just a bit. More than that, I’m interested in my past and the lifestyles of generations before me.
I never really knew what my grandparents went through. They don’t talk about World War II, and I can’t even begin to imagine what they went through. Then, without the Communist Revolution, I wouldn’t exist. Several generations ago, my mom’s side was fairly well off and living in a city, while my dad’s family were and are mostly farmers. Without the equalizing forces, they wouldn’t have a chance to meet and I wouldn’t be here.
My own life is quite unique as well. I still remember the discrimination I faced living in the small college town of Goettingen in Germany. The locals were inundated with all these foreign immigrant families with husbands, mostly, getting their PhDs. My best friends Hannah and I were the first local/immigrant best friends duo, and we forced our friends to hang out with each other. Same thing happened in Houston when I first moved there. The Hispanics would shout down the street “China! China!” Yes, I’m Chinese. I’m aware.
So I want to put this all down on paper, and NaNoWriMo is a great community to do it. I love their philosophy of write now and edit later. Get your words down first because you’re often your worst critic.
If your interested in supporting my efforts, I need to raise $200 to join the Night of Writing Dangerously Write-a-Thong… err.. Thon. I’d really appreciate your help in getting me there.
Click here to donate. I’ll keep you post on the novel writing process and will post segments as I’m working.
I’m also going to do a lot of research into Chinese history and interview my relatives to get more insight on the first parts of my novel. My goal is to write something as colorful and descriptive as Junot Diaz and Gabriel Garcia Marquez… we’ll see.
Thanks!
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