Summary of Amy Tan’s Masterclass on Fiction, Memory, and Imagination

12 key takeaways from the author of The Joy Luck Club

masterclass.com

1. Remember a time when you thought you were going to die. That’s not what you’re going to write about. Remember another time when you thought you were going to die. Don’t write about that either. Think harder again, and ditch that idea too. Now go deeper into your memory one more time. Remember a time when you thought you were going to die. Now write about that time.
2. Fiction isn’t a bunch of lies, it’s one of the best ways to find truth. Write about the uncomfortable truths, the things that many of us probably thought, but never dared to speak out loud. It’s through fiction that we can let those uncomfortable truths out, for the reader to discover and resonate with. When your fiction crosses the page and into their hearts as they read it, it becomes their story. When they tell you that you’ve written their life, and exactly what they were thinking, you’ve succeeded.
3. Don’t write exactly how it happened, use the emotions around what happened to create new stories. Many writers will use a large part of their actual life events in their first book. However, it can actually cause the writing to become stiff, because you’re trying hard to make it factual. Try instead to focus on the feelings you felt when those things happened, then…