Her success as an author began when she was fired as a writer.
She was the accounts manager at a technical writing business. But when she told her boss she wanted to do more of the writing, he refused.
Her strength, he said, was taking care of the clients, doing estimates, going after contractors and collecting bills.
All the things she hated.
At that moment she could believe him - or believe in herself.
But she refused to be bullied: she reminded him that she was a partner in the business and it wasn’t just his decision.
That was when he dropped a bombshell; she thought he had signed the papers making her a full partner - but he never had.
She told him she was quitting. He said: “No, you’re not, I’m firing you.”
He asked her what she would do now; she told him she would set up on her own as a freelance technical writer.
He laughed and told her she would never make a dime as a writer.
She set out to prove him wrong, setting up on her own as a freelance technical writer just as she had said she would. By the end of her third year she was racking up ninety billable hours in a week, working like a John Grisham lawyer on coke. She had no sleep. She had no life.
She had more clients than she knew what to do with.
She was making a lot of money.
So why wasn’t she happy?
What she really wanted was to write fiction, so whenever she could she worked on a semi autobiographical novel based on her American-Chinese heritage.
The book was called The Joy Luck Club. Her name was Amy Tan.
Published in 1989, the book explored the relationship between a group of American-Chinese immigrant mothers and their Chinese-American daughters. The Joy Luck Club is the name they give their group, who meet every week to play mah-jong; the novel itself is structured like the game, with four parts divided into four sections.
The woman ‘who would never make a dime’ had just written the longest-running New York Times bestseller for that year.
It was translated into 25 languages, and Tan co-wrote the screenplay for the movie.
Her other books, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses and The Bonesetter’s Daughter, all made the New York Times bestseller list.
Her story is one of stubborn resilience. Her parents had told her from a child that she was going to be a doctor - and in her spare time she would be a concert pianist.
(So no pressure then.)
She also remembers when a school friend died of leukemia, her mother took her to the funeral parlor, where her friend lay in her coffin.
As she leaned in for one last look at her friend’s lifeless body, her mother whispered: This is what happens when you don’t listen to your mother.
But Amy Tan’s story is so much more than: I’ll show you. Yes, she had the strength of character to go her own way, despite her family pressures; and yes, she persevered at her craft when others said: you can’t do it.
But she also transcended the fractures in her own life - her novel explores the very painful threads that separated her from her own mother, so that she finally found peace with her family and her past, as well as revealing them for the reader.
If we want joy and luck in our own lives, the story of Amy Tan reveals as much about how to go about it, as the book itself.
Her story says that whatever we want to do in life, we can’t let anyone tell us - you can’t do it.
But if it helps to get you started, here, let me say it: ‘Nah, you’ll never make a dime …’
Your blogs are always interesting, and that’s what separates you from other bloggers. I find many bloggers just want to lecture about writing, or roll a few of their thoughts around. My new website is being constructed and I’m going to take a cue from you in the way I write my blogs. Good job, Colin.
Thanks Julia! And I do find Amy’s ‘I’ll show you’ attitude inspiring … love to know if she rang up the guy who said ‘you’ll never make a dime’ or if she let the NY Times bestseller list do the talking for her!
Great story, as usual! My dad once said I was too mousy to be a journalist. I made him eat those words. Be gutsy enough to do exactly what people who think they know you think that you can’t do.
My football coach used reverse psychology on me, only it was deliberate. I always used to play best when he told me he was thinking of dropping me. I got the MVP that year!
I love Tan’s books and had no idea how she started. What an inspiration!
I found Joy Luck Club too confusing, though i loved the writing. But that’s just me. But I loved her story too. She backed herself 100%
Whew! I don’t want to make a dime. I want to make dollars. Lots and lots of dollars.
I think I’d like Amy Tan. The quickest way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t (when it’s not someone trying to manipulate me to do something I don’t want to do anyway). I suspect it’s the same way with most authors. Not like it’s a stable career for the majority of us.
Some would say it’s because all writers are unstable, Kristy! I’m sure they don’t mean me or you
We each have kids, Colin. I think the stable train passed us (and all parents) by a long time ago. Throw writing into the mix and yeah, they probably mean us.
I love the book The Joy Luck Club. It is one of my favorites, and the film is amazing too. I had no idea what Amy Tan overcame to become a published author. Thank you for sharing her inspiring story with us and for the naysaying at the end. We’ll show you, Colin!
Glad to help, Jess!
Great post, as always!
I’ve read a couple of Tan’s books, but not that one. Thanks for the stellar writeup!
As a side note, I saw her live onstage with Stephen King’s band in LA last year. She is spunky!!
You saw Stephen King’s band! I’ve always wanted to do that and now you mention it, I remember him saying that Amy was in it. I picture her doing lead guitar in a black jumpsuit! Definitely not demurely playing keyboard somewhere at the back …
We can never have too many stories such at this and I always appreciate you sense of humor, Colin. Excellent blog.Thanks.