Book Review: "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng

 

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★★★★☆
Characterization at its best

Summary

Celeste Ng's debut novel centers around a Chinese/American family in the late 70's. Their daughter is found dead under unclear circumstances. We learn not just what happened leading up to that day, but we also learn about the family's struggle—both family issues and the struggles that came with being a mixed family.

That Scary Thing Called "The Second Book"

 

As I'm putting the final touches on my debut novel and getting it ready to give to an editor to proofread, I am already thinking about my next novel. I know I can write the second one. I even have a few ideas. The question is—will it be any good compared to the first one?

The Third Thing You Wish Your Non-writer (and loving) Friends & Family Understood About Writing

That writing isn't just typing.

You're sitting deep in thought, staring at your laptop screen when your roommate walks in. "Come on, let's go to the mall!"
"Can't. I'm writing," you mumble without looking up.
"Writing? You're just staring at a blank page. Maybe a break will be good for you."
What she doesn't realize is that you may be staring at the screen, but that is exactly what you need to be doing at that moment.

There's the actual writing process: brain storming, outlining, writing a synopsis, planning the chapters, writing the scenes, etc etc. This looks different to all writers. Then there's a process to the actual writing process, which usually begins with a lot of thinking. A LOT. After that comes the part when we're so ready to write but when we attempt to, not one inspired word appears. We might even wonder how we ever thought the story line was any good. Or perhaps how we dare calling ourselves a writer. But that's okay. It's part of the process. Because not until after that can what many non-writers refer to as writing, begin: the typing.

If we gave up on writing for the day just because we hadn't seen any words come out in half an hour, we'd never see that book finished. I would like to meet the person who wrote a book without ever just staring at the screen. If it was that easy, we'd all have hundreds of books finished by now, right?

The Second Thing You Wish Your Non-writer (and loving) Friends & Family Understood About Writing

That taking a break can actually be bad for your creative flow.

It's Sunday morning, and you're just getting ready to sit down to write. You're fired up and feel inspired, which—let's be honest—is not that common. Most of the time you have to write without that magic inspiration that everyone keeps talking about. As your fingers start to type, you receive a text: "Wanna grab brunch?" You quickly reply "Sorry, writing," and put away your phone. Then another text: "What about a late lunch? You need to eat. Just take a 1 hour break. It'll be good for your writing." Damn, I should have turned my phone off.

First of all—both you and your friend know that a Sunday lunch never takes just one hour. Second, if you're anything like me, a "break" will break your focus as well, and you will most likely not get it back after lunch. It would be different if you were having lunch with a fellow writer, and actually talk about writing. Don't you wish your friends would realize that writing requires a certain state of mind and that when the spell is broken, it takes a lot of energy to get it back. Solution: turn off your phone an hour before you even start to write. And yes people—that includes the iMessage on your Macbook as well.

The First Thing You Wish Your Non-writer (and loving) Friends & Family Understood About Writing

That you actually can't—and probably won't—just do it tomorrow.

Since your day job has consumed most of your braincells during the week, you've made plans to write all weekend. You're not sure how much time you have to spend on your writing over the next few weeks, so you want to get a solid number of pages down. And if you're honest with yourself, you haven't made writing a priority over the past weeks at all, not even during the weekends. So you've stacked up on food, run your errands, even done your laundry, to make sure nothing will interrupt you in your focus. Saturday morning your friends decide that they're going to Palm Springs for a short weekend and want you to go with them. "Come just one day! You can write tomorrow!" Their pleads make you feel like you're neglecting them.

"Just do it tomorrow" quickly becomes a habit and if you're anything like me, it can take months to break that habit once you've given in to it. And it's hard enough to know you're missing out on social events while you're home writing, without your friends' pleads. But stay strong, help them to understand that even though you may not be a paid writer yet, you have to treat your writing as if you were, or it'll never become reality. And therefore you have to make priorities. Otherwise, the dream of being a paid writer, will forever be just that—a dream.

Of course life isn't only about writing and working. It's about friends and loved ones as well. It comes down to planning and sticking to it. Perhaps you decide that every Sunday is writing day. Then Saturdays are free. Perhaps every other weekend is your designated writing time. Unless there's a wedding or birthday celebration, stick to it. Sooner or later they will begin to take your writing seriously. But you have to start taking it seriously first.

There's Always Something Going on in San Rafael

I’ve lived in San Rafael for only a few weeks (moved here from L.A.) It’s a gorgeous little town just outside of San Francisco. I actually used it as a setting for one of my TV pilots that I wrote. What is so interesting about this town is that there is almost always something going on: a street fair, a farmers market, marathon, artist fair, etc. I admit that when I am woken at 6:30am on a Sunday from the sounds of things getting set up, I am less than thrilled. But it’s pretty fabulous that you can just take the elevator down and there’s tons of activity right there.

My First Post!

Hi and welcome to my new blog and my first post! In this blog I will share things that inspire me or things that I feel inspired to share: general and introspective thoughts—because I have a lot of opinions and love to share them; book reviews— because I love to read; fashion—because like many other girls, I am inspired by fashion; and writing— because I'm a writer who will soon publish my first novel on Amazon; and anything else that I feel like posting.

I am open to any feedback you may have on both the content and the design of the blog. So feel free to share it either in the comment field or send me an email using the contact form that can be found under "Contact" above.

Coming Soon