On Writing What We Know...and Don't by Justina Chen
Five novels. Five lives. Five perspectives. Over the years, I’ve written about a mixed race teen. A girl who grows up breathtakingly wealthy. One with a port wine stain birthmark on her cheek. Another with a newly fractured family. And in my forthcoming novel, a girl so popular with boys she needs to take rather alarming measures to keep them away.
The one and only book where I’ve been taken to task for the right to write—the only one where I actually received a death threat—was for my debut novel, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (and a few white lies). And that for daring to imagine the thoughts and insecurities of a mixed race girl: half Taiwanese, all-American. For daring to use the Hawaiian term for mixed race people: hapa. For daring to write what I had never experienced firsthand.
Isn’t it interesting that I’ve never been questioned for writing about an almost-pro snowboarder (I’m a cross-country skier whose idea of catching air is breathing in oxygen while hiking in the mountains)? Or about the crazy-rich (I’m still working for a living)? Or about living with a port wine stain (in fact, people with birthmarks have written to thank me for putting their experience into words)? Or for that matter, I find it remarkable that I’ve never once been questioned about writing from a white girl’s perspective.
Whatever character I choose to inhabit, I do an intense amount of research—interviews with pro snowboarders, pediatric dermatologists, architects, professors, photographers. Name a character, and I can point to troves of reading materials. And all of that is necessary to capture the truth of a single unique character’s experience. That’s my job as a writer. But my hope as a storyteller is that my readers can draw some insight that deepens their understanding about themselves and the world.
My books are not meant to be the definitive voice of anyone I choose to write about, but a voice of one person’s reality: her hopes, her dreams, her fears, her ambitions, her hurts, her triumphs. Race and ethnicity certainly play a role in how my characters view the world—and respond to challenges. And learn. But so do socioeconomic standing. And familial upbringing. And the friends they choose. And the enemies they make. And the life circumstances thrust upon them.
In my mind, there’s more than enough diversity in all of life experience for any one writer to tackle. It’s especially wonderful to be part of this current renaissance in YA literature where the past, present, and future are all fair territory. Where voices of all races and ethnicities and orientations are fair game. Where we have a chance to learn about how people other than ourselves approach life, heartbreak, setbacks, and triumph. And that is the purpose of story.
Justina’s latest novel Return to Me is Eat, Pray, Love for teens–a book about turning the dust of betrayal into the stardust of a new life.
Justina Chen is an award-winning novelist for young adults whose most recent book, Return to Me, was called an “uplifting story” by Publishers Weekly. North of Beautiful was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and Barnes & Noble. Her other novels include Girl Overboard and Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies), which won the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature. Additionally, she co-founded readergirlz, a cutting-edge literacy and social media project for teens, which won the National Book Foundation’s Prize for Innovations in Reading. When she isn’t writing for teens, Justina is a communications strategist for executives and was the speechwriter for a president of Microsoft. She conducts popular corporate storytelling workshops and has presented at prestigious organizations ranging from the Mayo Clinic to NASDAQ and AT+T to Disney.
Website: www.justinachen.com
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