Ask the Author: Maggie Shen King
Answered Questions (3)
Maggie Shen King
My advice to aspiring writers is to schedule time to write and actually do it. Give yourself a word count goal for each session. I try to write five hundred words, four times a week. That's two double-spaced pages each session—not very much—but pages add up over time. Thoughts, ideas, and grand schemes are not a book. You cannot polish, receive feedback, and make your book better until you have something to work with on the page.
And of course, read, read, and read.
And of course, read, read, and read.
Maggie Shen King
For me, writing is more a question of my willingness to engage with the blank page and not be distracted by life, email, social media, and news stories. So far, I've found that if I can get my "bottom in the chair"—I work at a standing desk in my kitchen—ideas will usually come. The trick for me is to show up consistently and stay on that blank page.
Maggie Shen King
I moved to the U.S. from Taiwan when I was in high school, and unusual news stories from that side of the world always grab my attention. About six years ago, I read a NY Times article about gender imbalance in China. At the time, I was ready to write a second novel and played with the idea in a short story. I went on next to explore the viewpoints of the other three main characters and found that I liked telling the story from this symphony of voices. I kept alternating point of view characters, and after a year and a half of consistent work, I finished the first rough draft of An Excess Male.
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